Minnesota Twins

With catchers and pitchers reporting to camp and spring training just around the corner, anticipation for the baseball season is at its highest. With the season a little more than a month away, it is the perfect time to make predictions for the 2011 MLB season.

Joe Mauer has good reason not to believe in the "Cover Jinx."

After winning the 2009 American League Most Valuable Player Award, the Twins catcher was featured on the cover of MLB 10: The Show. While he didn't win the MVP again last year, Mauer hit .327, won his third Gold Glove and took home his fourth Silver Slugger Award.

The team that started the whole bobble-head collectible scene for Major League Baseball is at it again, this time with a figurine immortalizing a highly controversial play from the 1991 World Series between the Atlanta Braves and the Minnesota Twins.

This coming season will be the 20th anniversary of what ESPN ranked as the best World Series ever played.

The bobble head commemorates one of the most memorable plays of a World Series filled with them. 

Joe Mauer is the face of the Minnesota Twins. His list of credentials is impressive.

In six full seasons of Major League Baseball he has earned three batting titles, three Gold Gloves, four Silver Slugger awards, four All-Star game appearances and was named league MVP in 2009. He's been featured on the cover of Sony's PlayStation MLB the Show for 2010 and again this year.

This season will mark Ron Gardenhire's 24th with the Twins organization and his 10th as manager.

In the 110 years of the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins franchise, Gardenhire ranks third all time with 803 coaching victories with the third longest tenure as manager.

His .550 winning percentage is also third best for the franchise behind Billy Martin (.599), who only coached the 1969 season, and Walter Johnson (.570), who coached from 1929 to 1932.

Everyone always focuses on the NL and AL East Divisions, even though the AL Central usually goes down to the wire.

In 2009 the Twins beat the Tigers in a one game playoff, and in 2008 the White Sox beat the Twins in a one game playoff.

So why doesn't the AL Central get much love? Because they are in the Midwest, which means they can't get the same publicity as the East and West Coast. 

So relax, AL Central fans. This article is for you.

Francisco Liriano may be on the trading block just days after coming to agreement on a one-year, $4.3 million deal for the 2011 season.

The report from Joe Christensen of the Star Tribune may come as a surprise to many, but it may show some forward thinking on behalf of the organization.

I’ll continue my previews of the upcoming seasons of each major league team with the Twins. I’m trying a different format for this one. My previews for the Reds, Phillies, Yankees and Giants were long, sprawling, analyses/rants/speculations that seem to read too much like research papers and not enough like journalistic pieces, so I’m going to go the slideshow route here.

Michael Young, the Rangers' long-time star infielder, has had just about enough of Texas.

The 34-year-old Young has recently stated that the Rangers have "misled and manipulated" him and he is now requesting a trade from Arlington.

So, where is the best option in my opinion?

The Minnesota Twins.

Our 2011 fantasy baseball projections will be released one-by-one until the top 100 players have been revealed. These rankings consider past achievements, current performance and expected future results based on standard 5×5 H2H settings.