The Twins will host the Seattle Mariners tonight for the final season opener at the Metrodome in front of a sold out crowd. The Twins enter the season as the picks by many to win the AL Central, largely because the division is relatively weak again this year.

Late spring soreness in the shoulder of Scott Baker has given Francisco Liriano the opening day starter job for the first time in his career. He'll face of against Seattle's best, Felix Hernandez who was posted a 3.45 ERA and 175 strikeouts in just over 200 innings last season.

Overall, the Seattle Mariners are a weak team. They won just 61 games last season and did little to upgrade in the offseason. They're currently paying the price for their reckless spending spree of years past. To add to their troubles, perhaps their best player, Ichiro Suzuki has hit the Disabled list for the first time in his 8 year career with an ulcer.

The Twins have injury troubles of their own to start the season. I already mentioned Scott Baker, but the biggest blow will be the loss of Joe Mauer for at least a couple weeks. Mauer was hitting off a tee and doing some catching on the side in the waning days of spring training, so the hope is that he'll return by the end of April.

Boof Bonser, expected to be a member of the bullpen this year, will miss the entire season with a torn labrum and rotator cuff surgery. The loss adds more questions to what was already a thin bullpen. The Twins will rely on Jesse Crain to step up into the setup role and will hope the newer members of the bullpen such as Brian Duensing, Luis Ayala and Philip Humber can make a difference. More than anything though, they'll need the young rotation to minimize the innings needed from the bullpen throughout the season.

One thing to watch for as the game approaches is what Ron Gardenhire decides to do with the lineup in lieu of Mauer's absence. The lineup will likely start with Denard Span and Alexi Casilla, with Michael Cuddyer or Jason Kubel filling the 3-hole. Of Course, Morneau is locked into the cleanup spot.

Finally, opening day will give us our first look at Joe Crede, the Twins' biggest offseason signing. With the Twins' struggles to find an everyday third baseman since Corey Koskie left after the 2004 season, expectations are high that Crede can finally fill that void.

The game will be aired locally on WFTC 29. The start time is 7:10 CT.