FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Minnesota Twins closer Joe Nathan will miss the 2010 season because of a right elbow injury that will require surgery.

Nathan, who leads the major leagues with 246 saves since 2004, made the decision after playing catch with Twins pitching coach Rick Anderson for 10 minutes on Sunday.

"It didn't go like we hoped," Nathan said. "We knew it was a longshot, but I think this will clear my head. There definitely was no gray area. It was definitely on the dark side. We know now that we're going to need to go in and have some surgery done and get this thing taken care of."

Nathan hopes to have Tommy John surgery within two weeks to repair the torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He was injured on March 6 during a 20-pitch outing in a spring training game against the Boston Red Sox.

"The one thing we didn't want to do was work on this for two or three months and then have the surgery," general manager Bill Smith said.

The 35-year-old right-hander signed a $47 million contract two years ago that guarantees him $11.25 million both this season and next. The Twins have a $12.5 million option for 2012, with a $2 million buyout.

Nathan has set his sights on returning at the start of the 2011 season.

"I'm very confident," he said. "I've talked to the doctors. The percentages of coming back are very good. You never want to say 100 percent, but it's pretty close to being 100 percent of the time."