27-year old lefty swinging Joe Mauer is an outstanding all around catcher for the Twins. Mauer played in 137 games for the Twins last season and he was 167 of 510 (.327 avg, .871 OPS) with 88 runs scored, 9 homers, 75 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Mauer’s power was down but he kept his average up which he will be expected to do once again in 2011. In his 7 years with the Twins, Mauer has won three batting titles, 1 MVP Award, 4 Silver Sluggers, 3 Gold Gloves and he has been a A.L. All-Star 4 times. Look for him to add to his trophy case in 2011. Mauer only made 3 errors and he had 4 passed balls in 112 games behind the plate for the Twins last season. He threw out 15 of 72 (20.8%) runners trying to steal on him last season and Twins’ pitchers had a 3.82 ERA with him behind the dish. Mauer will be the best catcher in the A.L. once again in 2011.

27-year old righty swinging Drew Butera will be Mauer’s backup and he is a great field, no hit type of catcher. Butera played in 49 games for the Twins last season and he was 28 of 142 (.197 avg, .533 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 2 homers and 13 RBIs. Butera is a hacker at the plate as he only walked 4 times last season so don’t expect hit batting average to rise any time soon. Butera had 5 errors and 4 passed balls in 47 games behind the plate so he has some things defensively that he needs to improve on. Butera threw out 14 of 37 (37.8%) runners trying to steal against him last season and Twins’ pitchers had a 4.10 ERA with him behind the plate. The Twins hope that Butera brings up his batting average a tad this year.

31-year old righty swinging Steve Holm will likely get stashed at AAA for the Twins this year. Holm played in 82 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 56 of 228 (.246 avg, .725 OPS) with 34 runs scored, 4 homers, 37 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He is a solid defensive catcher as he only had 2 errors and 2 passed balls in 68 games behind the plate last season.

27-year old righty swinging Rene Rivera will also likely be stashed in AAA for the Twins in 2011. Rivera played in 44 games in AA+AAA-ball last season in which he was 47 of 162 (.290 avg, .824 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 7 homers and 28 RBIs. Rivera had 1 error and 4 passed balls in 27 games behind the plate in the minors last season.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE TWINS CATCHERS IN 2011: A

The Twins have designated 26-year old righty reliever Rob Delaney for assignment. Delaney made his major league debut for the Twins last season (his only appearance) and he was 0-0 with a 9.00 ERA and a 3.00 WHIP. He also pitched in 61 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball last season and he was 7-9 with 4 saves, a 4.72 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. Delaney did whiff 92 batters in only 80 innings in the minors last season and that might be a reason for some team to claim Delaney on waivers if the Twins can’t trade him.

UPDATE: (1/28/2011) - The Tampa Bay Rays have claimed Rob Delaney off waivers.

The Minnesota Twins have claimed 28-year old lefty reliever Dusty Hughes off waivers from the Kansas City Royals. Hughes pitched in 57 games (0 starts) for the Royals last season and he was 1-3 with a 3.83 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. He has now pitched in 65 games (1 start) in his first two years in the majors and he is 1-5 with a 4.09 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. If Hughes buys into the Twins’ plan of throwing strikes he could fit in very well with them. He has walked 32 batters in 70 1/3 innings so far in his major league career. I’m very surprised to see the Royals give up on Hughes.

The Twins have signed 35-year old righty starting pitcher Carl Pavano to a 2-year, $16.5 million dollar contract. Pavano pitched in 32 games (all starts) for the Twins last season and he was 17-11 with a 3.75 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. He was a workhorse for the Twins last season as he led the A.L. in both complete games (7) and shutouts (2). Pavano has now pitched in 44 games (all starts) in two years with the Twins and he is 22-15 with a 3.97 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. It was a smart move for the Twins to bring back Pavano as he was the ace of the staff last season.

The Minnesota Twins have re-signed 40-year old lefty swinging DH Jim Thome to a 1-year deal worth $3 million bucks plus incentives. Thome played in 108 games for the Twins last season and he was 78 of 276 (.283 avg, 1.039 OPS) with 48 runs scored, 25 homers and 59 RBIs. Thome has now played in 2,392 games in his first 20 years in the majors and he is 2,216 of 7,982 (.278 avg, .963 OPS) with 1,534 runs scored, 589 homers, 1,624 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. It is interesting to see Thome come back to the Twins because he isn’t guaranteed much P.T. as he didn’t start really playing until Justin Morneau got hurt. But, the Twins are a better team to have him back no matter what his role will be.

59-year old starting pitcher Bert Blyleven had to wait until his 14th year on the Hall of Fame ballot to make it! Blyleven pitched 11 years for the Minnesota Twins in which he worked in 348 games (345 starts) and was 149-138 with a 3.28 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. Blyleven is #4 in Twins’ history in games started (345), #3 in wins (149), #3 in innings pitched (2,566 2/3), #2 in whiffs (2,035), #3 in complete games (141) and #3 in shut outs (29). Blyleven made it onto the A.L. All-Star team in 1973 for the Twins. Blyleven pitched in 692 games (685 starts) overall in his 22 years in the majors and he was 287-250 with a 3.31 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. He is #5 in major league history with 3,701 strikeouts! It’s good to see Blyleven finally rewarded for a great career.