In ESPN: The Magazine's baseball notebook section, Peter Gammons lists "the five biggest ifs this spring," and number one is Mr. Mauer.

"If Joe Mauer comes back to catch 140 games, he'll be the single most important addition to any team," says one AL GM. "He may be the best catcher in the game." The 21-year-old Mauer caught only 32 games for the Twins because of knee problems. There's been speculation he might not be able to catch again. "That's not what we, he or the doctors believe," says GM Terry Ryan. In his 107 ABs, Mauer had a .939 OPS and batted .308. Give Mauer and 1B Justin Morneau 1,200 plate appearances instead of 434, and the pitching-rich Twins may have the firepower to get to the Series.

(Thanks to the Commish for typing this out.)