A note to White Sox fans as you wring your hands and agonize over the American League Central Division standings: You're not alone. The Twins do this to everybody. | MLB page | White Sox swept up by Twins

They do more with less than any franchise in baseball, maybe in professional sports.

They scratch and claw and scrimp and save, staying above water in a land of 10,000 lakes. They scout well, draft well and spend wisely. They play hard and play smart.

And come late September, they celebrate a division championship or, as is the case this year, contend for one on the final weekend.

A whirlwind trip to Minneapolis this week included attending a game of the White Sox-Twins series. As the Twins' lineup was introduced, two names were familiar: catcher Joe Mauer and first baseman Justin Morneau. The rest could be answers to an AFLAC trivia question.

Who plays second base for the Minnesota Twins?

"Uhhh …"

Alexi Casilla.

Who plays right field?

"Uhhh …"

Denard Span.

In short, who are these guys?

Beats me, but the folks up north seem to love them. We all should, though Sox fans can freely loathe the only obstacle in their playoff path.

The rest of us should respect and admire an organization which annually ranks in the bottom third among Major League teams in payroll, yet is chasing its fifth AL Central title in seven years.

The current Twins are 24th of 30 teams with a payroll slightly above $62 million. The White Sox nearly double that, ranking fifth at just over $121 million.

Still, they are approaching the wire together, a testament to the Twins and an indictment of their small-market brethren who view limited resources as a license to lose.

If the have-nots had their way, the Twins would be wallowing with them. They would be the Pirates, the Nationals, the Reds, the Royals. They would aspire to mediocrity, claiming it is the best their money could buy.

The Twins want more, demand more. They aren't interested in fielding a team, but rather, a competitive team built and trained to win.

They hit the cutoff man, take the extra base, get bunts down and catch balls in the gap. The pitchers throw strikes and the hitters work the count. A lot of teams talk about doing those things. The Twins get an earful if they don't do each and every one.

They are a living, breathing instructional video the rest of baseball would do well to watch … the gold standard for squeezing every ounce from what they have.

That has been especially true this year. The Twins lost star centerfielder Torii Hunter to free agency in the offseason. They also traded Cy Young Award winning pitcher Johan Santana to the Mets, realizing they could not afford to sign him to a big-money, long-term contract.

They got three pitchers and promising young centerfielder Carlos Gomez in return. Gomez took a .258 batting average, 76 runs scored, 57 RBI and 32 stolen bases into Thursday night's series finale against the White Sox. He also had 425 putouts and eight outfield assists.

He is a piece in a puzzle handled deftly by manager Ron Gardenhire, arguably the best in baseball at what he does.

Gardenhire isn't in the same tax bracket as Joe Torre or as loquacious as Ozzie Guillen or have the longevity of Lou Piniella or Tony La Russa.

He just takes what management gives him, what it can afford to give him, and wins. He is guaranteed a sixth winning season in seven years, sitting at 619 victories and counting.

That's an average of 88 wins per season, enough to keep you in the hunt most years. So don't take it personally Sox fans.

The Twins do this to everybody.

Randy Kindred is a Pantagraph columnist. To leave him a voice mail, call 820-3402. By e-mail: rkindred@pantagraph.com. The Randy Kindred Blog is at www.pantagraph.com/blogs