The past two Octobers have found the Minnesota Twins playing in the American League playoffs, winners of the AL Central Division title.

If the Twins are to secure a three-peat in the Central in 2011, good health will need to be on their side. Injuries nearly derailed their title drive a season ago, and a healthy season would help bolster the Twins’ chances.

First baseman Justin Morneau is coming off a concussion that shelved him for the second half of last season. Closer Joe Nathan missed all of last season after surgery, forcing Minnesota to acquire closer Matt Capps from the Nationals at the trade deadline.

Minnesota figures to have the eighth and ninth innings locked down with Nathan and Capps. The Twins also added Japanese Pacific League batting champion Tsuyoshi Nishioka to the lineup, and Joe Mauer returns as one of the top players in the game.

The Twins open the regular season April 1 at Toronto. Following a seven-game road trip through Toronto and New York, Minnesota opens the home portion of its schedule April 8 against Oakland.

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Liriano is considered the ace of the staff and the club believes he will finally show his best stuff again this year.

They believe he has completely recovered from his previous Tommy John surgery and is set to be a dominant pitcher.

The Twins apparently aren’t looking to deal Liriano, but could potentially be talked into doing so.

I’m not sure how much that really says, though, as any team could be talked into a trade for their best player if they received enough in return.

Thome’s career appeared to be over following the 2009 season, but he joined the Twins and played well in 2010.

He did not attract much interest on the free agent market given his age, injury history and inability to play the field.

He hit .283 with 25 home runs in just 340 plate appearances last year, making him a real bargain.

Thome also gives the Twins some insurance given the uncertainty surrounding Justin Morneau’s health.

It’s somewhat surprising it took this long for Pavano to be signed by a team considering how well he pitched last year.

The Yankees had some interest in Pavano, but weren’t willing to give up a top draft pick if they signed him.

They hoped to work out a sign and trade with the Twins, but Minnesota was not interested in such a deal.

The 35-year old right-hander went 17-11 with a 3.75 ERA and seven complete games last season.

The Twins already had to win a bidding war for Nishioka just to have the right to negotiate with him.

Nishioka can play both shortstop and second base, and the Twins have openings at both positions.

The team recently traded shortstop J.J. Hardy to the Baltimore Orioles, and it looks like Nishioka will end up there.

He hit .346 in Japan last year and became the first player to top 200 hits in a season since Ichiro Suzuki.

Gardenhire has so often found himself as the runner-up in the voting while managing the small-market Twins.

In total, Gardenhire has finished in second place in the voting for the manager’s award five different times.

He said he has an outstanding coaching staff and that the reward is reflective of the work they have done.

Along with the award, the club also announced that his contract has been extended for two years through the 2013 season.

New York wrapped up the series at home, which continues their recent postseason dominance over Minnesota.

The Yankees now advance to the American League Championship series where they will face the Texas Rangers.

The Yankees do not have homefield advantage in the series, but that matters very little when it comes to baseball.

New York is looking to win their second straight World Series title after more than a decade-long drought.

The Twins were able to get the job done despite missing first baseman Justin Morneau for a big chunk of the year.

A victory over Cleveland combined with a Chicago White Sox loss clinched the division, causing a big celebration in the clubhouse.

It also means that the Twins will be division champs in their very first year at the new Target Field.

It sure did help that the White Sox absolutely collapsed down the stretch, playing very poorly after acquiring Manny Ramirez.

In the short-term view of things, the Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers are moving in opposite directions.

But baseball rewards the full body of work across 162 games across six months, and in putting their 2010 campaigns together, the Twins and Rangers both look headed to the postseason.

Minnesota travels to Texas to open a four-game series starting Monday, both teams in control of their respective division leads. The Twins sit atop the AL Central, five games ahead of the Chicago White Sox. Texas leads Oakland and Los Angeles by eight games in the AL West.

But the Rangers have struggled recently, going 2-5 on last week’s road trip. The Angels and A’s could not take advantage, cutting just one game off Texas’ advantage.

The Twins, meanwhile, are playing their best baseball of 2010. Minnesota has won eight of its past 10 in opening up a nice margin in the Central.

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Manager Ron Gardenhire made the ever unpopular decision of removing Slowey from the game and allowing his bullpen to polish off the victory.

Gardenhire said he understood the booing from the home crowd and would have done the same thing himself.

However, he noted that he would have made the same decision 1,000 times considering all the facts.

Slowey had thrown 106 pitches and missed his previous start with elbow tendinitis, making it a rather easy decision for the manager in the midst of a playoff race.