40-year old lefty swinging DH Jim Thome finished 18th in the voting for the A.L. MVP Award. 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 2,329 games in his 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. The Twins would like to bring Thome back but he’s not going to come as cheaply as he did last season as he looks like he has quite a bit left in the gas tank.

25-year old righty swinging outfielder Delmon Young finished 10th in the voting for the A.L. MVP Award. Young played in 153 games for the Twins last season and he was 170 of 570 (.298 avg, .826 OPS) with 77 runs scored, 21 homers, 112 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. He has now played in 605 games in his first five years in the majors and he is 675 of 2,311 (.292 avg, .760 OPS) with 288 runs scored, 59 homers, 344 RBIs and 33 stolen bases. It was nice to see Young put up the kind of year the Twins were expecting out of him when they acquired him from the Rays. They hope last season was just the start of great things for Delmon Young.

27-year old lefty swinging catcher Joe Mauer finished 8th in the voting for the A.L. MVP Award. 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 and 75 RBIs. He has now played in 836 games in his first seven years with the Twins and he is 1,011 of 3,092 (.327 avg, .888 OPS) with 507 runs scored, 81 homers, 472 RBIs and 35 stolen bases. Mauer might get another MVP Award at some point in his career because he’s an outstanding hitter and a solid defensive catcher.

26-year old righty swinging 3B Danny Valencia finished in 3rd place in the voting for the A.L. Rookie of the Year Award behind Rangers’ closer Neftali Feliz and Tigers’ CF Austin Jackson. Valencia played in 85 games for the Twins last season and he was 93 of 299 (.311 avg, .799 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 7 homers, 40 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. 3B has been a Black Hole for the Twins lately so they are very excited about Valencia and his future.

27-year old lefty starting pitcher Francisco Liriano tied with Detroit’s Justin Verlander for 11th in the Cy Young Award Voting in the A.L. this year. Liriano pitched in 31 games (all starts) for the Twins last season and he was 14-10 with a 3.62 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. He has now pitched in 108 games (89 starts) in his 5 years with the Twins and he is 38-32 with a 3.97 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. The Twins just hope that Liriano stays healthy in the future as he’s just plain nasty.