BYRON BUXTON – Page 2 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Looks Like Vikes Commit to Running Game Most in KOC Era

Posted on June 16, 2025June 16, 2025 by David Shama

Enjoy a Monday notes column.

The Vikings’ recent contract extension with backup tight end Josh Oliver adds to speculation the offense will be more committed to the running game than at any time in head coach Kevin O’Connell’s three previous seasons. Oliver is a superb blocker and superior with that skill to starter T.J. Hockenson.

Kevin O’Connell image courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings

According to Pro Football Focus, Oliver led NFL tight ends with a 74.2 run blocking grade in 2024 (minimum 50 percent block snaps played) and earned the fourth-highest grade during the 2023 season with a 73.9.

Offensive coordinator Wes Phillips has indicated there will be times the Vikings will have both Oliver and Hockenson on the field to add size and muscle. While the two could be in the game for blocking, Hockenson is one of the NFL’s most gifted big yardage receivers and could break off the line of scrimmage and run an explosive pass pattern.

The Vikings are expected to emphasize the run game to ease the transition and workload on new quarterback J.J. McCarthy. The 22-year-old, who missed his rookie season after injuring a knee, figures to hand the ball off on at least 50 percent of the snaps to his running backs.

That RB roster includes Aaron Jones, last year’s starter. The Vikings signed him to a multi-year contract in early March before he could hit free agency. He started all 17 games for the Vikings, with career highs of 255 carries, and 1,138 yards. He also had 51 catches for 408 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns.

In another March move that has potential to aid the running game, the Vikings worked a trade with San Francisco involving draft choices and Jordan Mason, the 49ers RB who led the team in rushing last season with a career-high 789 yards. Mason, who will be in his fourth NFL season in 2025, ranked sixth in the NFL in yards after contact per rush (3.62) according to TruMedia, and seventh in yards per rush (5.2). Among players with a minimum of 150 rushing attempts last season, he led the NFL in missed tackles forced at 37.3 percent, according to Next Gen Stats.

Look for times next fall where both Jones and Mason are on the field together, Phillips indicated recently. Maybe with two tight ends, too.

College basketball coaches are usually former players, but the Golden Gophers program is a bit different. Head coach Niko Medved is a former student manager under ex-head coach Clem Haskins at Minnesota in the 1990s. Medved assistant coach Aaron Katsuma and his director of scouting and analytics Drew Evenson are both former managers with the Gophers.

Ryan Saunders, the former Gopher player and Timberwolves head coach, is no longer an assistant coach with the NBA Nuggets. New head coach David Adelman, son of former Wolves head coach Rick Adelman, has reorganized the staff.

At 39 Saunders is probably open to taking a college coaching position for the first time in his career.

Saunders’ wife Hayley gave birth to daughter Grace Leigh on February 23. That would have been the 70th birthday of Ryan’s dad Flip Saunders, the deceased former head coach of the Wolves and a savvy point guard who was a Gopher basketball favorite.

Tim Connelly, the Wolves president of basketball operations, should have fans on the edge of their collective seats as to what’s next with the roster. Since being hired in the summer of 2022, he has pulled off dramatic trades that first brought Rudy Gobert here and later traded away Karl-Anthony Towns.

The Twins, 5-9 in June, have pitching problems that probably have already sunk their chances of winning the Central Division and threaten earning a wild card entry in the playoffs. The starting pitching rotation is troubled, and third baseman Royce Lewis is sidelined with yet another hamstring injury.

Staff ace Pablo Lopez is on the 60-day Injured List. His replacement, Zebby Matthews, is on the 15-day. Bailey Ober, a mainstay in the rotation with Lopez, Joe Ryan and Chris Paddack, is struggling with his mechanics.

The Twins were swept by the Astros over the weekend. Minnesota entered yesterday’s game with a staff ERA of 6.39 in June. That compares with 3.11 in May and 3.54 March-April.

Minnesota is 3-8 in its last 11 games, and 8-13 in the previous 21. At 36-35, the Twins are barely holding on to second place and are nine games behind the Central Division leading Tigers.

FanGraphs gives the Twins a 7.2 percent chance of beating out the Tigers but 42.1 percent likelihood of making the playoffs. That could be optimistic for a pitching staff down two starters and a bullpen that while elite has been taxed with a lot of innings already this season.

The way it looks now the Twins will have at least two representatives on the American League All-Star team for the July 15 All-Star Game in Atlanta. Center fielder Byron Buxton, 31, should be a starter because of his hitting, fielding and base running this spring. Reliever Johan Duran, 27, has saved 10 games working out of perhaps baseball’s best bullpen, and has a 4-2 record with a 1.64 ERA.

This would be Buxton’s second All-Star Game, having homered in two at bats as a reserve in 2022. Duran would be making his debut.

Buxton signed a seven-year contract for $100 million in December of 2021, according to MLB.com. That deal includes staggered bonus amounts if he places in the top 10 for the league MVP Award. He won’t win the award this year (would bring $8 million) but he receives $3 million for a finish between sixth and 10^th.

Duran is a steal for the Twins at a reported $4.15 million.

Ryan, among the winningest pitchers in the majors this season, could also represent the Twins as a first-time member of the AL All-Star staff. Ryan, 29, with a 7-2 record and ERA of 2.93, is the club’s best pitcher with Lopez sidelined.

Sam Udovich, the Cretin-Derham Hall senior who recently won the boys’ golf 3A state tournament, will be on scholarship at TCU where the program celebrates its 100^th year in 2026.

Humor department: My friend Bob Klas remembered the late Murray Warmath’s take on golf. The Golden Gophers football coach said he’d do anything to improve, “except practice.”

Comments Welcome

Sources Surface on Minnesota Twins Ownership Sale

Posted on March 19, 2025March 19, 2025 by David Shama

(Updated 3:25 p.m. March 19, 2025)

Enjoy a Wednesday notes column.

A sports industry source who has been in Fort Myers this winter told Sports Headliners he believes there are two entities offering $1.65 billion to buy the Twins franchise from the Pohlad family.

If so, that means Twins representatives have leverage with competing potential buyers. It’s been thought for some time ownership wants more than $1.65 billion to sell the MLB franchise they have owned since 1984.

The asking price might be $1.8 billion. Forbes valued the Twins at $1.46 billion early last year, but that number will increase when new valuations come out soon.

The Orioles sold for a reported $1.7 billion last year. It could be argued the Twins are the more valuable franchise because the Baltimore-based Orioles are less than 40 miles away from another MLB franchise, the Washington Nationals.

The source described the competing entities as “very much interested” in acquiring the franchise. He predicted a sale of the club, which relocated to Minnesota from Washington D.C. in 1960, could happen by July, although it’s also been made clear the Pohlads won’t sell for anything less than their desired price range.

Another source outside the organization, who has passionately followed the club for years and knows Twins authorities, said he is told there are more than two potential entities, probably three or four. “At least one is local, I believe,” he said.

That source expressed some confidence that a change in ownership could happen in the next 60 days.

It was widely reported last month that Chicago-based billionaire Mat Ishbia is no longer interested in buying the Twins. He has a minority interest in the White Sox and the thought is he could be poised to become the majority.

BTW, what’s the over-under for the Twins often frequently injured trio of Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa and Royce Lewis playing in a combined 300 games or more this season? Prediction here is a cautious yes!

Qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs this spring could have implications for the Wild next summer. The Wild will have about $22 million more in salary cap space for next season starting July 1 when NHL free agency begins. Minnesota wants to present the image of a winner to free agents and after missing the playoffs in 2024 has to be hoping for a successful run in the postseason.

Winning at least one playoff series could make the franchise more appealing to free agents. So, too, would word next summer that the team’s superstar, forward Kirill Kaprizov, is signing an extension on his five-year contract that runs through 2025-2026.

The Wild, currently positioned as a wild card entry, is 4-5-1 in the last 10 games but got an important win Monday night at home, 3-1 over the Kings.

Wild owner Craig Leipold ranks No. 11 overall among the 32 NHL owners, per a survey of fans done by The Athletic. In an article by James Mirtle on Monday he wrote: “Leipold was ranked sixth for his willingness to spend on the team and eighth for treatment of the fan base, although he ranked middle-of-the-pack in organizational stability and franchise vision.”

Mirtle noted that Wild patrons had the most responses to the survey of any fan base.

St. Paul mayor Melvin Carter, with his last name on the back of a Wild jersey, walked in the city’s St. Patrick’s Day parade on Monday. Green Wild jerseys were everywhere among the crowd watching the parade near Rice Park.

The transfer portal opens for college basketball players on Monday. More than ever where a player lands is about opportunity to play right away and earn significant money. With the Big Ten and other power conferences expected to budget more than $20 million in revenue sharing to be used on football, men’s basketball and a few other sports, athletes will enrich themselves way beyond just NIL earnings.

Potentially this is a win for the Gophers and their new coach (expected to be Niko Medved, see March 15 Sports Headliners). In a bidding war with a historical blue-blood program, Minnesota may be able to offer more playing time and money than a Michigan State, Kansas or Kentucky.

Medved’s Colorado State Rams are about a 2.5 points favorite to win their NCAA Tournament opener Friday against Memphis State in Seattle. TBS will televise the 1 p.m. Minneapolis time game.

Auburn, former college basketball coaches tell Sports Headliners, is the most talented team in the NCAA Men’s Tournament.

Bobby Jackson was in town earlier this month as an assistant coach for the NBA 76ers and the presence of the former University of Minnesota superstar prompted reflection about the all-time starting five for the Golden Gophers. Here’s the Sports Headliners lineup:

Guards, Jackson and Voshon Lenard. Forwards, Kevin McHale and Lou Hudson. Center, Mychal Thompson.

How about the all-time state boys’ basketball tournament team?

Guards, Khalid El-Amin and Tyus Jones. Forwards, Mark Olberding and Chet Holmgren. Center, Randy Breuer.

P.J. Fleck and others with the Golden Gophers meet with the media tomorrow to preview the opening of spring practice that day. The Gophers aren’t planning a Spring Game, following the trend of other programs to cancel the traditional gathering.

The public is welcome to attend the 4:15 p.m. practice April 15 at the team’s indoor facility at the Athletes Village. Dinkytown Athletes members may also attend the 4:15 p.m. practice March 26 at the same location.

Parker Knoll, the senior outfielder transfer from Lawrence University who was a D-III All-American last year, is sixth on the baseball Gophers in batting average at .259 while playing in 16 games and starting 14.

Minnesota, 8-10 overall, hosts 9-6 St. Thomas in a 6 p.m. game tonight at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Gophers are averaging about 17 fans per game in six home games at the bank this winter, per stats.ncaa.org.

The St. Thomas men’s basketball team that finished second in both the Summit League regular season standings and the conference tournament attracted only 20,117 total fans for 14 home games at Schoenecker Arena. The Tommies averaged 1,437 fans per game, playing to 65 percent of capacity, per stats.ncaa.org.

The Tommies, with a 24-10 overall record and 12-4 in league games, will play in the new Lee and Penny Anderson facility next fall with a basketball capacity of about 5,500. Despite the program’s winning legacy, dating back to Division III national championships, sell-outs have been rare at Schoenecker.

Remarkable and much-admired Tom Swain passed away earlier this month at age 103. He was a great advocate for the University of Minnesota and held various leadership positions starting with ticket manager for the Golden Gophers in the 1940s. He was a gentleman’s gentleman and much admired for how he related to people.

A Minneapolis native and Gopher fan, Tom told Sports Headliners in 2021 that he or his family had owned U football season tickets every year except one since 1921. “The year of my birth,” he said.

Regarding becoming a centenarian, Tom said in the column: “There are such few people that get there (to 100), I feel very gratified. I am very fortunate to have made it this far because growing old is a privilege denied to many. I am not sure why I deserve to get to 100 but I am very grateful.”

7 comments

Here’s a Guess at Minnesota Twins Opening Day Lineup

Posted on February 28, 2025February 28, 2025 by David Shama

Who starts for the Twins on opening day of the regular season March 27 in St. Louis against the Cardinals? Well, the lineup will likely include several players who were in the starting lineup for Minnesota in the opening spring training game last Saturday in Fort Myers against the Braves.

This was the lineup on February 22: Matt Wallner, right field; Carlos Correa, shortstop; Byron Buxton, center field; Trevor Larnach, DH; Royce Lewis, third base; Willi Castro, second base; Christian Vázquez, catcher; Ty France, first base; Harrison Bader, left field; and Zebby Matthews, pitcher.

Matthews, of course, won’t be the opening day pitcher. He will exceed expectations by making the five-man regular rotation of starters. Staff ace Pablo López likely receives opening day honors, with a relief corps that could be among baseball’s best backing up the 15-game winner in 2024.

Ryan Jeffers, the team’s more valuable catcher last season, probably gets penciled in for Vázquez.

Manager Rocco Baldelli might prefer to use Edouardo Julien at second, rather the multi-positional Castro who is one of baseball’s better subs. Neither player is a whiz there defensively, and Julien’s offense is in question after a .199 batting average last season.

Slugger Jose Miranda figures to see plenty of opportunities during the season as a DH, or first or third baseman. He could be an opening day starter after hitting a career best .284 last season.

Miranda and Julien are in a group of several “shadow hitters” whose projected offensive production looks like a mystery in 2025. Add to the list Jeffers and all the starters in the spring training opener except for Buxton, Correa and Lewis. It’s a collection of bats that in past MLB seasons have produced inconsistency.

The Twins couldn’t sustain offense through the season in 2024 and this year could be the same. After playing some of the best baseball in the majors earlier in the season, Minnesota stumbled to a 12-29 record in the final 39 games. The club went through a stretch when it was two-for-19 with runners in scoring position. Even Lewis, a hitting phenom in two brief previous seasons, faded badly in late summer of 2024.

Tainting expectations for the offense this season is the always present drama of whether the big boppers, Lewis, Buxton and Correa, can avoid being out long periods with injuries. Their availability is crucial for a team that hopes for a rebound after winning the AL Central and a playoff series in 2023. The Twins will need their touted pitching to deliver all year, alongside sharp fielding and an ability to produce runs when the pressure is on, even if it means grinding out offense in the simplest of ways including hit-and-run, and savvy base running.

Optimism about the franchise isn’t lacking. BetMGM earlier this month made Minnesota the wagering favorite to win the Central Division which doesn’t have an elite team. Also, this winter club authority Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners: “We’re better than what the public thinks we are right now.”

Marshall Tanick, the prominent Minneapolis-based attorney and journalist, reported via email on the upbeat outlook of Twins personnel boss Derek Falvey when he spoke to the Minnesota Breakfast group in Naples, Florida last week.

Morneau, Falvey, St. Peter photo by Marshall Tanick

Tanick wrote that Falvey, who March 3 is elevated to the position of president, baseball and business operations, believes the organization is positioned to improve on last year’s disappointing late-season collapse after conducting a “deep post-mortem” while reflecting on the major weakness of “lack of ability to score consistently” to complement solid pitching.

He expects the club to improve on “offense” under new hitting coach Matt Borgschulte, now in his second stint with the organization after previously working with the club’s minor league teams. (Borgschulte was the Orioles’ hitting coach last season and between 2018 and 2021 was a minor league hitting instructor in the Twins organization.)

Former Twins first baseman and 2006 American League Most Valuable Player Justin Morneau, now a Twins TV analyst, agreed with Falvey’s upbeat outlook. He noted the club’s “renewed focus on fundamentals” in getting prepared for the season—which provides “a lot of reasons to be optimistic.”

St. Peter, who becomes a strategic advisor to the franchise on March 3 after about 22 years as president, told the breakfast attendees there is “no really definitive timetable” regarding sale of the franchise but he anticipates a transaction within “the next several months.”

Worth Noting

Going to Fort Myers to watch the Twins in spring training games? Ticket prices vary including almost $70 for a dugout box seat and nearly $50 for a home plate box seat. Parking is $15 at the Lee Health Sports Complex. All transactions, including concessions, are plastic only.

Happy birthday to retired Twins TV play-by-play voice Dick Bremer who turns 69 on Saturday.

Former Gophers public address basketball legend Dick Jonckowski has battled cancer in the past and must have periodic checkups. His latest report was all good, he told Sports Headliners.

Bobby Jackson, the superstar guard on the Gophers’ 1997 Final Four team, will join former teammate and power forward John Thomas as speakers Tuesday at the Twin Cities Dunkers gathering at Interlachen Country Club. Jackson, now an assistant coach with the 76ers, will be in Minneapolis for a game against the Timberwolves Tuesday evening.

Terrence Shannon Jr., the rookie who led the Wolves in scoring in last night’s loss to the Lakers, not only has exceptional physical skills but maturity, too. He turns 25 in July and has scored 17 and 25 points coming off the bench in his last two games.

Cody Lindenberg, the 2024 Gophers linebacker who is recovering from hernia surgery and unable to participate in the NFL Scouting Combine’s on-field activities this week, is represented by Minneapolis-based Institute for Athletes. The agency also handles Vikings linebacker Blake Cashman who played for the Gophers from 2015-2018.

Condolences to family, friends and the many followers of Minnesota tennis legend Bob Larson who passed away at 93 earlier this month. His passion for tennis, including through his publications, made him an icon in the sport here and far beyond.

A number of Minnesota golf courses, including in Minneapolis and Emerald Greens in Hastings, have been open for play in February.

1 comment