Minnesota Twins

Twins catcher Joe Mauer became a full-fledged hero in Minnesota, and across baseball for that matter, when he signed an eight-year, $184 million contract extension with his hometown club before the 2010 season.

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.

More than three years removed from Tommy John surgery, Francisco Liriano finally returned to near pre-surgery form in 2010.

With Micheal Cuddyer, Joe Mauer, and Justin Morneau yet to see any spring training games, Jason Kubel has been getting his cuts in the three-hole so far this spring.

Kubel is making those spring at-bats count, hitting .545 with a home run and four RBI's and a 1.636 OPS after a week of games.

"Right now, I'm just happy with the way things are going so far this spring, just with the way I've started off, the way I'm swinging, the way I feel," Kubel said.

There is no doubting that, when healthy, Francisco Liriano is among the best starting pitchers in baseball. 

The 27 year-old left-hander signed with the San Francisco Giants as an international free agent in 2000. He later was dealt to the Minnesota Twins prior to the 2004 season as part of a package that included Joe Nathan and Boof Bonser for catcher A.J. Pierzynski. 

The Minnesota Twins have started their Grapefruit League campaign without their two big guns—catcher Joe Mauer and first baseman Justin Morneau. 

Granted, we're only in the first week of the Grapefruit League, and there is plenty of time for the Twins to get ready as they look to win their third consecutive AL Central title, and the seventh since Ron Gardenhire took over in 2002.

It's been a big offseason for starting pitchers on the move.

After months of speculation, Cliff Lee signed a five-year, $120 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies in the free-agent frenzy of the winter. The Milwaukee Brewers emptied their farm system for trade-market equivalent Zack Greinke and the Chicago Cubs then gave up an arguably better package of prospects for the good-not-great Matt Garza.

Because they’re the Twins, people generally expect their rotation to come through as expected. 
But let's quickly run though their five projected starters:

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.

Justin Morneau is very much like Prince Fielder, in that you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get.

For Ron Gardenhire and the Minnesota Twins, winning the AL Central six of the nine years Gardenhire has been manager doesn’t mean a whole lot without a single World Series victory under their belts.

But for fantasy baseball fans, the Minnesota Twins offer more selection than most teams in the league. Whether you’re looking for a quality second- or third-round pick, or undeniable value in the back end of your draft, the Twins are sort of a one-stop fantasy baseball shopping mall.

The Minnesota Twins are hoping that history repeats itself with their Rule 5 draft pick Scott Diamond whom they selected from the Atlanta Braves. 

It was 11 seasons ago when the Twins received another left handed starting pitcher as a Rule 5 draft pick from the Houston Astros.