Author: David Shama

Vice president of marketing Patrick Klinger said the Twins have sold out all but one home game this season.  Ticket availability for games in August is “very limited” even with standing-room-only sales.  “August is tough,” Klinger said. “Frankly a lot of families are trying to get in before the kids go back to school.”

Klinger said the Twins capped season tickets at about 25,000 but demand indicates the club could have sold a few thousand more.  The decision to put a ceiling on 25,000 ensures that more customers who can’t afford season tickets will attend games, he said.

While hundreds of names are on a waiting list for future season tickets, Klinger said the club hasn’t decided to go beyond the 25,000 mark in 2011.  It’s a decision that could be made in the next few weeks.

With a winning team and state-of-the-art Minneapolis ballpark, the Twins might be more popular than at any time in their 50 seasons history.  Klinger said Friday that TV ratings on Fox Sports North are up 26.4 percent over last year.

Football conflict: the Vikings play Denver at home on Thursday, September 2 in a game televised locally on KARE 11.  That same evening the Gophers will be on ESPNU in their nonconference opening game at Middle Tennessee State.

Presumably the Vikings will see rookie Denver quarterback Tim Tebow and former Gophers wide receiver Eric Decker.  The Gophers will play a Middle Tennessee State team that won its bowl game last December against Southern Mississippi and has an athletic quarterback in Dwight Dasher, smaller but similar to Minnesota’s MarQueis Gray.  The Blue Raiders are an early betting favorite in the game.

Vikings rookie running back Toby Gerhart comes from an athletic family.  He has a brother who is an offensive lineman at Arizona State, and triplet sisters who are college softball players.

Vikings coach Brad Childress talking about rookie quarterback Joe Webb and his early adjustment to the NFL:  “He is about like most rookie quarterbacks, just kind of swimming in all of the verbiage.  Some things he’s got cold but I think every situation is a new situation, whether it’s a short-yardage situation and the ball goes on the ground.  He’s a talented enough kid physically.  I would just like everything to straighten out in his brain and you know that is a process.  You can want that to happen but quite frankly most first-year quarterbacks are just about right there.”

The Packers are outspoken in their optimism about a 2011 Super Bowl appearance.  USA Today Sports Weekly reports in its August 4-10 issue that linebacker Nick Barnett plans to print T-Shirts with the slogan “Super Bowl or die.”  Coach Mike McCarthy describes his group in the newspaper as a “mature football team that is ready to take the next step.”

The Gophers could have an emerging standout in redshirt freshman defensive end Ra’Shede Hageman who is 6-6, 294 pounds.  Gophers coach Tim Brewster said Hageman has run a 4.7 40-yard dash.

Brewster also said former walk-on Mike Rallis, now a sophomore, has a “chance” to be one of the Big Ten’s best linebackers.

Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis is the likely site for the Big Ten’s first football championship game in 2011 but no commitment has been made beyond next year.  Minneapolis, if the city has a new Vikings stadium, is expected to receive consideration for future games.

The Gophers basketball team plays in the ESPN Puerto Rico Tip-Off tournament in November.  If Minnesota wins its opening game against Western Kentucky, and North Carolina is also a first round winner, the two teams will play each other for the first time since 1980.

The Wild were interested in adding depth to the center position with former North Star Mike Modano who signed with Detroit but will compensate with another veteran, new acquisition John Madden from the Blackhawks.  Madden, 37, has long been considered one of the NHL’s better defensive forwards.

Star Tribune columnist Jim Souhan suggested on July 11 that the Twins trade left fielder Delmon Young for a starting pitcher.  Since then Young has made a place for himself among baseball’s best hitters.  His performance indicates that following previous seasons of mediocrity he’s ready to make good permanently on his considerable offensive potential.

The opportunity to vote for shipping Young out of town for a quality starter could have created long lines at the polling booths earlier this year.  Souhan’s suggestion made sense then but now the 24-year-old Young is hitting .362 in his last 10 games with two home runs and nine RBI, and he’s fifth among American League leaders in both batting average at .330 and RBI with 82.

The Twins, though, may yet part with an outfielder in a trade, likely for a good starting pitcher.  That move won’t be this season but could come sometime in 2011 and involve either Jason Kubel or Michael Cuddyer, both of whom have played most of their big league careers with the Twins in the outfield.

The Twins have options on the contracts for both players next season.  After that, or before, the front office will need to make some decisions.

Kubel looks like the least expensive option.  He is finishing a two-year deal that pays $7.2 million, according to Cots Baseball Contracts website.   Cuddyer is in the last season of a $24 million three year contract, per Cots.

Ball players are usually not looking for smaller paychecks from their next contracts unless their careers are clearly near dead end.  That isn’t the case for Kubel, 28, and Cuddyer, 31, although age and money figure to be factors involved with decisions by the Twins on who to retain.

The Twins will have plenty of payroll demands in the near future including commitments to top earners Joe Mauer, Joe Nathan and Justin Morneau, and those looking for larger contracts like Francisco Liriano, Matt Capps, Denard Span and, oh yes, that left fielder named Young.  But if there are enough bucks in the piggy bank, Cuddyer seems the better option for the Twins to keep around.

Both are good guys but Cuddyer is more of a leader.  He’s also a superior fielder with a stronger arm.  Cuddyer is the more versatile player, too, able to play a fancy first base and even willing to help out at third base.

Cuddyer’s hitting resume is more established than Kubel.  Cuddyer began his career with the Twins in 2001, playing in eight games.  Coming into this season he had a major league average of .270 with 107 home runs and 429 RBI.  Kubel has played with the Twins for five seasons through 2009, compiling a batting average of .278, with 71 home runs and 279 RBI.  He hit 28 home runs last season while Cuddyer had 32, and both are figures that may remain career highs regardless of how long either plays.

Kubel hits left-handed but the Twins are already formidable from that side of the plate with Mauer, Morneau and Span.  And Kubel struggles hitting left-handed pitching.

The futures for Kubel and Cuddyer with the Twins are also likely to be impacted by Aaron Hicks and Ben Revere. They are both outfielders and two of the better prospects in the club’s farm system.  Both show promise as hitters and fielders, and like other beginning major league players their payroll cost comes cheap.

Throw out the payroll considerations (a heavy toss) and Cuddyer is the preferred choice to keep around for a few more years.  But regardless of who stays it sure looks like one of them is a bargaining chip to fill a major Twins need, another quality starting pitcher.