Minnesota Twins

This will be the third season for the Minnesota Twins at their new home, Target Field.

Many argue that it has more disadvantages than advantages for the hometown heroes, but that is simply because the Twins weren't used to the new digs. That and their lineup last season was decimated by injuries.

This year, however, the advantages of Target Field will be abundant, and it is going to give Twins fans something to cheer about.

For years under the direction of Tom Kelly, we constantly heard that the baseball season was a marathon and not a sprint.

"Take it one game at a time" was the mantra constantly repeated to the players, media and fans during Kelly's tenure as manager from 1986 to 2001.

Michael Cuddyer will not leave the Minnesota Twins before the end of the season via trade, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

He may walk when his contract expires at the end of the season, and if the team's announced intention to re-sign him falls through.

The Twins looked like they were going to escape Friday's game with a 1-0 win.

Nick Blackburn pitched seven solid innings.

"I think today everything was just down," said Blackburn, who had struggled earlier this month, "and that hasn’t been the case for probably the last four or five starts."

Joe Nathan took care of business in the eighth.

"He threw the ball very well," said manager Ron Gardenhire after the game. "He’s throwing the ball good."

What was once a position of great stability has turned into a position of dire need for the Twins over the last 16 months and has been further magnified over the last several weeks.

While Francisco Liriano had a good season in 2010 (14-10, 3.62 ERA) it is fair to say that he has only had one great year, way back in 2006 (12-3, 2.16).

Tommy John surgery in 2007 limited him severely for the following few seasons, but he is still regarded as a top starter in the American League.

Contract negotiations between Liriano and the Twins broke down before the season started and the lefty has struggled in the young season with a 7.40 earned run average.

One look at the AL Central division standings has a lot of people scratching their heads.

The order is almost the exact opposite from the end of 2010.

There are only two things still the same—Cleveland is about two games better than Kansas City and the Detroit Tigers find themselves in the middle of the division. 

It's been a rough start to the season for the two-time defending American League Central champions.

The injury bug has hit the Twins big time already, and players who are healthy have done little to pick up the slack from those injured.

With the 6-12 start to the season, the Twins are looking to win ballgames any way possible, and that should include looking into moving some players.

Ahead are four moves I feel the Twins have to make by season's end to be competitive, not just this season, but in years to come.

NOTE: THIS SLIDESHOW DOES NOT PREDICT TRADES AND FREE AGENT SIGNEES.

The Minnesota Twins have lots of good prospects, and although they are not doing too well now, they will be able to filter these young stars into the majors in the future. The Twins have turned from a "homegrown" team (where players who were in your farm system are now on the team) to a team with more free agents.

After losing to Johnny Damon and the Tampa Bay Rays twice in three days via walk offs, the 5-10 Minnesota Twins have stripped the closing title from Joe Nation and replaced him with Matt Capps.

But don't think it's the last time you'll see Joe Nathan in a Twins uniform in the ninth inning.