Kevin Slowey News

REUTERS/Andy King Carl Pavano, shown here facing the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series, helped the Twins reach the playoffs last season.

Roger Clemens. Randy Johnson/Curt Schilling. Jarrod Washburn. Josh Beckett. Schilling again.

Posted on December 3rd, 2009 3:08 PM By La Velle Here are a few tidbits as I gather information for my winter meetings preview, which will appear in Sunday's editions.

A glance at the Twins' Minor League system shows a particular abundance in three areas: promising young arms, up-and-coming outfielders and a fascinating array of passports.

The free-agent market will officially be open for business at 11 p.m. CT Thursday and with it comes the opportunity for the Twins to begin exploring the market for ways to improve their club for another run at the postseason.

Following the acquisition of JJ Hardy, there are two major needs on this Minnesota team.

The Twins' 40-man roster continued to get some alterations on Monday, as right-hander Armando Gabino was claimed by the Orioles on outright waivers.

In both my 2009 postmortem and my 2010 offseason plan, I laid out two key points.

To clear room on the 40-man roster, the Twins outrighted infielder Brian Buscher to Triple-A Rochester on Tuesday.

Baseball Prospectus' Pre-season Projection : 76-86, fourth place Actual record: 87-76, first place They do have arguably the best all-around player in baseball, and one of the best managers.

Posted on October 12th, 2009 10:32 AM By Joe Christensen Several baseball writers ended up at Maxwell's on Sunday night after bidding goodbye to Major League Baseball at the Metrodome.

The didn't have much chance of doing so until about two weeks ago, and only found out for sure about 18 hours before the first pitch of the Division Series.

After coming out on top in a close American League Central race, the Minnesota Twins look to have all the momentum in the world.

So many things happen during a 162 game season. The Twins and Detroit Tigers have each played 161 games, and they each have 85 wins.

The Twins' traveling party has a few extra bodies on this final regular-season road trip.

He's a big reason why. Cuddyer homered, doubled and drove in three runs Wednesday and the Twins beat the Cleveland Indians 7-3 for a three-game sweep.

He just knows that for right now, the rookie starter is right where the Twins need him.

Starting today, Francisco Liriano is a reliever for the Minnesota Twins. The ballclub activated Liriano from the disabled list before Wednesday's game, and manager Ron Gardenhire has said the lefty will almost certainly stay in the bullpen for the rest of the 2009 season.

The Twins' starting rotation has been better of late. And Scott Baker is a big reason why.

While rumors abounded in recent days about the possibility of the Twins making a trade with the Cubs for right-hander Rich Harden or the club placing a claim on right-hander Brad Penny, neither scenario unfolded for Minnesota on Monday.