the Braves in Game 3 of the 2002 National League Division Series and was a late-inning replacement in Game 5 as the Braves were defeated by the San Francisco Giants. In January , Blanco signed a $1.3 million, one-year contract with the Braves. The Braves repeated as Eastern Division champions in 2003 however, Blanco's batting average dropped to .199 and he was left off the post-season roster in favor of catcher Johnny Estrada as, the Braves lost to the Chicago Cubs in the 2003 National League Division Series. When the Braves assigned him to the Triple-A Richmond Braves at the end of the season, Blanco opted for free agency and, in December 2003, he signed a one-year, $750,000 contract to play for the Minnesota Twins. Blanco became a valuable member of the Twins when rookie catcher Joe Mauer was injured early in the 2004 season. He was credited for helping the Twins pitching staff with his game-calling skills, guiding them to the lowest team earned run average in the league. Twins pitcher, Johan Santana, gave Blanco credit for helping him win the American League Cy Young Award. He caught the majority of the Twins' games helping them to clinch the American League Central division title. Blanco posted career-highs with 10 home runs and 37 runs batted in, while leading the American League catchers with a 49.2% caught stealing percentage. He started all four games of the 2004 American League Division Series, hitting 1 home run along with a .250 batting average as the Twins lost to the New York Yankees. After failing to reach a contract agreement with the Twins after the season, Blanco opted for free agency again and, in December 2004 he signed a two-year, $2.7 million contract to play for the Chicago Cubs. He worked as a backup catcher to Michael Barrett although, many of the Cubs pitchers preferred pitching to Blanco as his 2005 catcher's earned run average of 3.58 was almost 1 run lower than the 4.45 average posted by Barrett. In the 2006 Caribbean Series, Blanco had a walk off double off the top of the opposing shortstop's head in the championship game to give the Leones del Caracas the series championship win over the Tigres del Licey. In the 2006 major league season, he hit for a .266 batting average with a career-high 37 runs batted in and, in November, signed a two-year