Minnesota Twins

Continuing the previews of Major League Baseball teams and divisions, next up is a breakdown of the AL Central.

Really, this division has been dominated by three teams over the last couple of years, with the Tigers, Twins, and White Sox taking control.

It's the home to arguably the best hitter in the American League, Tigers' first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

The Twins have won this division six of the last nine seasons, and the Indians and Royals have had little to no success.

Minnesota Twins pitchers and catchers are set to report to Fort Myers in less than two weeks!

The start of spring training means that the warm spring weather cannot be far behind.

After the type of winter that has pounded most of the country this year, I know I can be counted among many who cannot wait for the snow to melt away!

With every spring training there comes a renewed hope. Hope that this will be the year, the year the Minnesota Twins turn the corner from being a consistent AL Central division winner and make it to the next round of the play offs. 

The Minnesota Twins won the American League Central last season despite injuries to some of their biggest stars.

Joe Nathan, an All-Star closer, was lost after a significant tear in the ulnar collateral ligament forced him into Tommy John surgery last March.

From 2004-2009, Nathan was one of the most dominating closers in all of baseball. Nathan's 246 saves over six seasons are the most in the majors during that span.

As spring training approaches, there is one question on the mind of Minnesota Twin fans: Will first baseman Justin Morneau be ready for Opening Day?

GM Bill Smith believes so.

The American League Central Division is filled with very good starting pitchers.

Starting pitchers can obviously determine where a team goes in the postseason, or if they even go at all.

The Minnesota Twins are looking to three-peat, and they bring back the exact same rotation that they sported during the 2010 season, resigning everybody necessary to make a deep run.

The same can be said about the Chicago White Sox, who were the last AL Central team to win the title when they did so back in 2006.

As the Minnesota Twins prepare to head down to Fort Myers for spring training, they'll be doing so without utility infielder Nick Punto for the first time in seven years. Last week Punto signed a one-year deal with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Punto was a favorite of much of the Twins Territory faithful, and while his productivity was never much to speak of (with the exception of 2008 when he batted near .300), he still managed to make a good living in Minnesota.

Still, Punto's productivity declined in 2009 and 2010 as he failed to reach a .240 average each season.

In this day and age, everyone always mentions who has cheated the game of baseball rather than those who followed the rules.

Understandable as it might be, some of these tainted sluggers probably made others succumb to their lowliness by peer pressuring them into trying it.

Nowadays all we hear about are the users, and often times we do not recognize those who have never been mentioned in the steroid talks.

Since I put "cleanest" and "active" in the slideshow's title, you will obviously not see the likes of Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz or Miguel Tejeda.

The Twins have a minor league system loaded with good young players. In part one of this series I highlighted players ranked six through ten in the Twins' farm system.

6. Alex Wimmers: RHP

7. Adrian Salcedo: RHP

8, Liam Hendriks: RHP

9. Carlos Gutierrez: RHP

10. Max Kepler: OF

Who makes the cut as the top five players in the Twins' farm system?

The Twins haven't won a World Series since the 1991 team beat the Bobby Cox led Braves. Ever since then it has been quite a rocky road for the team in the Twin Cities. In the playoffs, they have gone 6-21 since 2002 and 0-9 since 2004. Their most hated postseason opponents are clearly the New York Yankees, who have eliminated them the last two times the Twins have made the playoffs (2009 and 2010).

It's hard to believe it has been 20 years since the Twins won their second World Series Championship.

Known as the "Worst to First" series because both the Minnesota Twins and the Atlanta Braves finished the 1990 season in last place in their divisions only to advance to the pinnacle of the baseball world in 1991.