27-year old lefty swinging OF/DH Jason Kubel finished 24th in the voting for the A.L. MVP Award. He played in 146 games for the Twins last season and he was 154 for 514 (.300 avg, .907 OPS) with 73 runs scored, 28 homers and 103 RBIs. Kubel has now played five years for the Twins appearing in 511 games in which he is 465 for 1,675 (.278 avg, .813 OPS) with 229 runs scored, 71 homers and 279 RBIs. All that has stood in the way of Kubel being a big time player is his knees and he showed what he is capable of when healthy.

26-year old lefty swinging catcher Joe Mauer has won the American League MVP Award. He played in 138 games this season and he was 191 for 523 (.365 avg, 1.031 OPS) with 94 runs scored, 28 homers, 96 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Mauer has now played in 699 games in his major league career and he is 844 for 2,852 (.327 avg, .891 OPS) with 419 runs scored, 72 homers, 397 RBIs and 34 stolen bases. Mauer is nowhere near his prime yet and if his power continues to improve he might win more awards like this one.

Ron Gardenhire of the Minnesota Twins finished 2nd behind Mike Scioscia for the Manager of the Year Award in the American League. Gardenhire led the Twins to a 87-76 record (53.4%) last season as they won the A.L. Central once again. In his 8 years in Minnesota, Gardenhire has compiled a 709-588 (54.7%) record during the regular season. With the Twins likely to bump up the payroll moving into a new stadium look for Gardenhire to continue to pile up wins.

The Twins have picked up 30-year old righty swinging RF Michael Cuddyer’s option for the 2011 season valued at $10.5 million bucks. Cuddyer really had a great year for the Twins in 2009 as he played in 153 games in which he was 162 for 588 (.276 avg, .862 OPS) with 93 runs scored, 32 homers, 94 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Cuddyer really stepped up for the Twins last season when Justin Morneau went down for the year as he replaced him at both 1B and in the cleanup spot in the lineup. Cuddyer has now played nine years with the Twins in which he has played in 843 games and he is 791 for 2,934 (.270 avg, .801 OPS) with 443 runs scored, 107 homers, 429 RBIs and 34 stolen bases. This was a good move for the Twins to reward a player who has been with them and productive for a long time.

UPDATE: Michael Cuddyer finished in a tie for 21st in the MVP voting in the A.L. He was tied with C.C. Sabathia and Victor Martinez.