Joe Mauer, the catcher for the Twins, didn’t catch a whole bunch of attention in 2009 but he had one of the best seasons ever for a player at his position. He hit .365, had an on-base percentage of .444, a slugging percentage of .587 and an OPS of 1.031. His more tradition stats were stout as well — 28 homers, 96 RBIs, 94 runs and 30 doubles.

The 26-year-old from St. Paul, Minnesota set career-highs in homers, RBIs, batting average, on-base percentage and OPS. The only possible case you can make against him is the fact that he missed the first month of the season due to a back injury. But game for game, there’s no one in the American League that can sniff his production.

We’ll find out if the attention that Jeter and Teixeira got this season will beat out Mauer’s true value. Hopefully not, for baseball’s sake.

Here's the 2009 AL MVP in Action (Image: Zuma Press)

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According to reports, Cabrera was drunk and got into a fight with his wife over the weekend. His wife called 911 and he was taken to a police station. While there, Cabrera registered a 0.26 blood alcohol level — more than three times the legal driving limit of 0.08 in Michigan.

Dave Dombrowski, the general manager of the Tigers, picked up Cabrera at the police station. With Detroit desperately needing a win in their three-game series against the Chicago White Sox, Cabrera responded by going 0-for-11.

On Monday, a day before the Tigers play the Minnesota Twins in a tiebreaker game for the AL Central, Cabrera released a statement.

“I am sorry this has become a distraction, and I apologize to the Tigers, my teammates, and all of the fans. I would appreciate it if you would respect my family’s privacy as I prepare for our next game.”

If Cabrera doesn’t produce in the tiebreaker game against the Twins, Tigers fans will have a difficult time forgiving the team’s superstar slugger.

Miguel Cabrera was drunk and fighting his wife (Image: Zuma Press)

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On Tuesday, they were officially eliminated after losing to the Los Angeles Angels by a final count of 5-2. Bobby Abreu homered in the first inning and the Angels never trailed again. Angels starter Sean O’Sullivan pitched five innings to improve his record on the season to 4-2.

With the Rangers out of the picture, that means that the Boston Red Sox have clinched the wild card. With a record of 91-66, the Red Sox are considered by many to be the favorite in the American League — even though they will be the wild card.

The only race in the American League that is still up for grabs is the AL Central. Currently, the Detroit Tigers lead the Minnesota Twins by two games.

There will be no playoffs for Josh Hamilton and the Rangers (Image: Zuma Press)

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In seven innings, Greinke gave up only one earned run while striking out eight batters. The win improved his record to 16-8 and lowered his ERA to 2.06. His ERA is the lowest by any starting pitcher in the majors. And his record is impressive considering that the Royals are 64-92 on the season.

In the month of September, Greinke has allowed only two earned runs in 33 innings of work. Going back to the end of August, Greinke has given up only two earned runs in his last 42 innings.

For the Twins, this was a big loss. They trail the Detroit Tigers by only two games in the AL Central. But beating Greinke — as many teams can attest — is no simple task.

Zack Greinke - 2009 American League Cy Young Award (Image: Zuma Press)

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Trailing 2-1 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning, the Twins got hot. Jason Kubel hit a two-run single to give the Twins the lead. Then Michael Cuddyer put the game away with a three run homer as Minnesota beat Detroit by a final count of 6-2.

With the win, the Twins are 76-72 and just two games behind the 78-70 Tigers in the AL Central. The Tigers have lost three straight games and nine of their last 12 contests.

The AL Central race promises to be a fun one to watch down the stretch. On Sunday, the two teams play once again. Then between September 28th and October 1st, thhe wto teams play four more times. Get ready for a photo finish!

Michael Cuddyer and Joe Mauer Celebrate (Image: Zuma Press)

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With Morneau out for the season, don’t expect the Twins to make the 2009 baseball playoffs. They are 5.5 games out with a record of 72-72. Save for a monumental collapse by the Tigers, the Twins will have to wait another season to make postseason noise.

On the season, Morneau finished with 30 homers, 100 RBIs and a batting average of .274. The 28-year-old from Canada finished with at least 20 homers and 100 RBIs for the fourth consecutive season.

Morneau, who won the American League MVP in 2006, should be healthy by spring training. No surgery is planned at this point.

Said Morneau: “I’m being shut down for three months but it’s also something that should heal on its own.”

Justin Morneau - Minnesota Twins (Image: Zuma Press)

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He started the game with a solo homer in the fifth inning that tied the game at 1-1. In the seventh, he hit another solo shot to put the Red Sox up 2-1. Those home runs were number nine and number ten on the season for Varitek. Those power numbers are impressive considering he hit just 13 homers last year and hasn’t hit more than 20 since 2005.

Varitek’s night really heated up in the bottom half of the seventh inning. After Josh Beckett was obviously disappointed by the home plate umpire, Varitek came to Beckett’s defense and ended up getting ejected from the game. Red Sox manager Terry Francona joined the argument and he was subsequently ejected.

Oddly enough, the Twins lost their catcher and manager in the top half of the seventh. Catcher Mike Redmond got a quick ejection and then manager Rod Gardenhire was also ejected after a short argument.

Following the two Varitek homers and the four total ejections, the Red Sox were able to hold on to a 3-1 victory over the Twins.

Here is the Jason Varitek video showing his two homers and his ejection:

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Jake Peavy Staying in San Diego (Image: Zuma Press)

The White Sox undoubtedly have to be depressed by Peavy’s decision. They desperately need an improvement in their starting pitching and he would have definitely made the team better. It has to hurt even more considering that the Minnesota Twins had just scored 20 runs against the White Sox.

Some league experts think that we haven’t heard the end of this deal. The Padres seem to be pushing for a Peavy trade and will likely continue to shop him up until the trade deadlines. If San Diego doesn’t get an improved offer, they may ask Peavy to once again consider a move to Chicago to play for the White Sox.

Sources close to Peavy seem to think that he’d be fine with a trade, however he’d like to stay in the National League and closer to the West Coast. Currently, Peavy is 3-5 with a 3.82 ERA.

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Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins (Image: Newscom)

Getting Mauer would undoubtedly be a huge boost for the Twins. At 9-9, Minnesota is currently fourth in the AL Central.

Mauer is a two-time All-Star who also won two batting championships and two Silver Slugger awards. Last season, Mauer also won his first gold glove.

Though Mauer’s injury was mysterious for much of the last few months, the catcher is now reporting that he’s feeling much better. In a recent minor league outing, Mauer had two RBIs, went 2-for-4 and was able to stay behind the plate for seven innings.

The 26-year-old is a St. Paul native who has a career batting average of .317.

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The contract Crede signed has a base salary of $2.5 million but with incentives, it could rise to as much as $7 million in value. Last season, Crede made the American League All-Star team but his bad back has plagued him the last two years.

In 2008, Crede hit .248 with 17 homers and 55 RBIs. The 30-year-old played less than 100 games last season, after playing less than 50 games in 2007. His bad back has required two surgeries during that time frame.

However, to begin last year’s campaign, Crede was swinging the bat as well as anyone in the majors. Although his bad back took away some of his pop as the season progressed, the Twins could have gotten a major steal if he can remain healthy during the 2009 baseball season.

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