After facing contraction talks at the previous winter meeting, and coming out of a second-place finish in the AL Central with a pitching staff with only two players with an ERA under 4.0, the 2002 Minnesota Twins won their division and made it to the 2002 American League Championship Series (ALCS) with the youngest team in the league, and with a new manager, Ron Gardenhire. The Twins had a solid first half of the season (45–36), but had a better second half (49–31), which led them to being the division champions.