Minnesota Twins

 Ron Gardenhhire's Minnesota Twins are well on their way to winning the AL Central.

This would be Gardenhire's sixth division title in nine years.

Another division title in 2008 was within reach, if not for a 1-0 loss in game 163 against the Chicago White Sox in 2008.

Since he took over for Tom Kelly in 2002, Gardenhire's record is 792-644, a .551 winning percent.

When the Minnesota Twins got Matt Capps in a trade with the Nationals, Twins fans cheered.

This ushered in the era of another fantastic arm in the bullpen, a fill-in or replacement for Joe Nathan if he can't return to form, and an upgrade from Jon Rauch.

The question everyone in Minnesota is asking right now is simple: Can this year's Twins team finally make it past the ALDS?

The answer is yes—even without former AL MVP Justin Morneau in the lineup.

The dog days of summer are waning, and the cooler drier air of fall is not far away.

With fewer than 26 games remaining for the playoff contending teams of the American League, there are still a couple of questions that need to be answered.

Who will win the American League East?

Can the Chicago White Sox catch the Minnesota Twins?

With MVP candidate Josh Hamilton out of the line up and Cliff Lee missing a start, are the Texas Rangers in a free fall?

With 18 home runs for the season going into Saturday's game against the Texas Rangers, there was no doubt that Jim Thome would advance up the all-time home run list.

Just as he did to surpass former Minnesota Twin Harmon Killebrew, Thome blasted two home runs at Target Field, to tie and then move past Mark McGwire for eighth place on the all-time home run list.

After the acquisition of closer Matt Capps, the Minnesota Twins had a consistent bullpen. Every reliever knew what his job was going to be. Every reliever had his inning.

It was organized. Peaceful.

Flash forward a month.

The Twins acquired two more relievers: Randy Flores off of waivers from the Colorado Rockies and Brian Fuentes via trade from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of California of the United States in North America.

There was a serious fantasy fallout with Brian Fuentes being traded to the Minnesota Twins on Friday. One player’s stock soared for the final month of the season and one player’s stock went down.

Let’s take a look at the Fuentes trade from a fantasy perspective.

On Friday the Minnesota Twins acquired Brian Fuentes from the Los Angeles Angels.

On Saturday Fuentes earned his first Twins' save against the Seattle Mariners. For Fuentes it was his 24th save of the season.

For the Minnesota Twins, Fuentes gives their bullpen a proven closer—that makes three proven closers since Joe Nathan injured his pitching shoulder in spring training.

The Minnesota Twins, not satisfied with having the best bullpen ERA in the American League, went out last night and got themselves another bullpen arm.

For the past two seasons, 162 games were not enough to crown the AL Central Division Champion.

In 2008, the Chicago White Sox hosted game 163 at U.S. Cellular Field, defeating the Minnesota Twins 1-0 on a Jim Thome home run. 

In 2009, the Detroit Tigers were leading the division by three games with a mere 10 games remaining, including a four game against the second place Twins.