Twins president Dave St. Peter believes the American League Central will be so competitive that even the 2015 World Series champion Royals could finish last in the division this season. “I don’t think there is any doubt that every team is probably capable of winning it (the division title), and every team is probably capable of finishing in last as well,” St. Peter told Sports Headliners by telephone from Florida.
The Twins jumped from a 70-92 record in 2014 to 83-79 last year. That record gave Minnesota a second place finish in the division behind the Royals (95-67). The hope St. Peter has now is the club will continue its improvement in 2016 and reach the playoffs.
Unlike last year, the Twins will have starting pitcher Ervin Santana and young slugger Miguel Sano on the roster for the entire season. The overall personnel, including the addition of South Korean DH Byung Ho Park, could be the best in years. “We believe we can compete for a division championship, “St. Peter said.
A lot of baseball authorities, though, think the Royals will repeat as division champs, and there are minimal predictions the Twins will finish first. The Twins were listed No. 22 among 30 MLB teams in a ranking of MLB teams by the February 15 issue of Sports Illustrated. Minnesota’s Central Division rivals all had higher rankings, with the White Sox No. 17, Tigers 16 and Royals 10.
Don’t expect the team’s won-lost record in spring training to be a precursor of regular season success or failure. At the top of the team’s goals is to have its best players available when the season opens in Baltimore April 4. “We want to make sure we maintain the health of our team,” St. Peter said. “So far so good.”
Look for Sano, Park and center fielder Byron Buxton to log a lot of playing time in spring training. Sano is adjusting to a new position, right field. Park, playing in America for the first time, is acclimating to the highest level of baseball. The team’s center field job is vacant and the speedy Buxton has been anointed as the regular for awhile but must prove he can hit big league pitching.
Among the Twins’ best prospects is outfielder Max Kepler, the 23-year-old native of Germany who probably isn’t ready yet for the big league. St. Peter, though, said he will be surprised if at some point this season Kepler doesn’t play for the Twins. “We have high hopes for him,” St. Peter said.
Twins legend Rod Carew, who could find out this summer if he can have a heart transplant, is in spring training with the team and assisting daily with hitting instruction. Carew will be with the club in Fort Myers through March 15. “He is working hard,” St. Peter said. “He feels great.”
With American and Cuban relations becoming friendlier, the Twins may be fortunate to have a special connection on that baseball crazy island. Cuban native and Twins legend Tony Oliva has a brother in Cuba who is prominently involved with baseball. Decades ago the Twins were aggressive in signing Cuban players including Oliva and Zoilo Versalles who was the AL MVP in 1965. Oliva regularly visits Cuba to see family members.
St. Peter said tickets remain for the team’s home opener on April 11 against the White Sox. He expects a sellout to be announced later this month.
Worth Noting
The Minneapolis City Council votes March 18 to approve details for renovation of city-owned Target Center. A $130 million renovation funded mostly by the city and Timberwolves is expected to move ahead with work starting in May, including enhancements to most of the Target Center suites, and installation of a new scoreboard. Next spring and summer the building will be closed for events, including Lynx games, so that more thorough renovation can be done.
Look for an announcement later this year on where the Lynx will play in 2017 while Target Center is being renovated.
Vikings Head coach Mike Zimmer and family are starting the Mike Zimmer Foundation to honor his deceased wife Vikki who died in 2009. The foundation’s mission is to better the lives of children including through learning about healthy, active lifestyles.
The Gophers’ football offense had its struggles last season and finished 13th in the Big Ten in scoring offense at 22.5 points per game. Minnesota coach Tracy Claeys was asked Monday what the strengths of the offense will be. “Wide receiver; we should be awfully good and…tailback pretty good. I would argue tight end wise we can be as good as anybody. I think everything is a strength on offense. If we get our offensive line straightened out, then I think we’ll score a lot more points than we did this last year.”
The Gophers hold their Pro Day on Monday for players who have used up their eligibilities. Pro football evaluators are expected to look at these players from last year’s Gophers team: Brian Bobek, Briean Boddy-Calhoun, De’Vondre Campbell, Theiren Cockran, Antonio Johnson, KJ Maye, Peter Mortell, Eric Murray, Miles Thomas and Rodrick Williams. Pro Day will be held at the Gibson-Nagurski Football Complex and is closed to the public.
The Capital Club, featuring local sports figures as speakers, hosts Claeys April 13 at Town & Country Club in St. Paul. For more information about membership, contact Patrick Klinger, Patrick@thebrandenhancementgroup.com.
Over 100 people at the club listened to former North Stars player and executive Lou Nanne earlier this week. He had the audience laughing with his many stories. Nanne, who started doing TV analysis 52 years ago at the boys high school hockey tournaments, is working the Class AA games this year. He told Sports Headliners the most challenging experience over the years has been monitoring emotions when his son Marty, and grandsons Tyler and Louie, played in the tournament.
MIAC men’s basketball regular season champ St. Thomas hosts a four team opening weekend NCAA Division III tournament this Friday and Saturday. The 24-3 nationally- ranked Tommies are the only program in the country with 11 consecutive conference titles, 11 straight NCAA appearances, and 11 consecutive 20-plus win seasons.
The Tommies will play Iowa Conference playoff champion Central College of Pella, Iowa (19-9) starting at 8 p.m. Friday in Schoenecker Arena. The 5:30 p.m. game matches UW-Oshkosh (18-9) against Elmhurst (Ill.) (21-6). The winners meet Saturday at 7 p.m. for advancement to the Division III Sweet 16.
Waseca’s four overtime 103-100 boys basketball win over Marshall last night is drawing lots of media attention today including online from the Washington Post. The game will long be remembered as a Minnesota prep classic.
Author Patrick Mader said about 1,000 copies have been sold of his book “Minnesota Gold: Conversations with Northland Athletes Competing on the World Stage.” Mader, whose book came out last October, profiles 57 Minnesotans, including past Olympians, and details their lives and accomplishments. More at Patrickmader.com.
The Minnesota Wild, looking better in recent days for its playoff drive, are in Buffalo tomorrow afternoon. The Wild is 6-2-2 in its last 10 games against the Sabres. A year ago January, Minnesota goalie Devan Dubnyk shutout the Sabres 7-0—the largest margin of victory in Wild franchise history.