Miguel Sano – Page 5 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Twins Expect Leadership from Donaldson

Posted on February 6, 2020February 6, 2020 by David Shama

The Minnesota Twins start spring training in Fort Myers later this month with considerable attention focused on third baseman Josh Donaldson, the $92 million free agent the club recently signed. Expectations are in place, and not just on the field.

“For Josh, it starts with his play on the diamond but…what he brings off the field is going to be equally important. Much like Nelson Cruz did a year ago,” Twins president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners.

Veteran DH Cruz was a clubhouse leader on last season’s team that won 101 games on its way to the AL Central title. Now Donaldson adds more leadership and offensive power to a lineup that hit a MLB record 307 home runs in 2019.

Donaldson, 34, struggled with injuries in 2018, but played 155 games last season with the Braves. He was named National League Comeback Player of the Year after hitting 37 home runs, with 94 RBI, 96 runs scored, 100 walks, and a .379 on-base percentage and a .900 OPS, per statistics provided by the Twins.

He finished fourth in league walks and was one of only two players in the majors with at least 30 doubles, 35 home runs, 90 RBI, 90 runs scored and 100 walks. He was second among all MLB third basemen with 15 defensive runs saved (per FanGraphs), trailing only the Athletics’ Matt Chapman (18).

Since 2013, Donaldson ranks second in the majors in Wins Above Replacement, trailing only Mike Trout of the Angels, according to both FanGraphs (40.6 to 62.6) and Baseball Reference (43.6 to 61.5). During that seven season period he ranks seventh in the majors in walks (541), 10th in home runs (209) and runs scored (617), 11th in RBI (608), extra-base hits (430) and slugging percentage (.520), and 13th in OPS (.895).

“He’s been one of the elite third basemen in the game,” St. Peter said. “He plays a great defense (and) he had a really strong offensive year in Atlanta bouncing back from a year of injuries. I think we’re confident we’re getting a great player.

“We (also) like the intangibles that Josh brings. He brings, I think, an intensity. He brings an urgency to his game that we think can be a very positive thing for our club—particularly young players in…modeling some of those things that may be difference makers for our team.”

St. Peter expects the presence of Donaldson will give manager Rocco Baldelli even more flexibility in making out his batting order. Depending on the game, Donaldson could hit anywhere from two through five. “I think for the most part that’s where Rocco sees it,” St. Peter said.

Miguel Sano (photo courtesy of Minnesota Twins).

The arrival of Donaldson is all but a no-brainer in strengthening the club’s infield defense because erratic third baseman Miguel Sano will now be the regular first baseman. Sano has previous experience playing first and will work with various instructors in spring training including coach Tony Diaz. Twins Hall of Famer and former first baseman Justin Morneau is likely to be an instructor, too. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see Justin spend a fair amount of time with Miguel early in spring training,” St. Peter said.

Sano, 26, has struggled with his weight in the past and with injuries. “He’s in great baseball shape,” St. Peter said. “He’s ready to roll. He’s healthy, and I know he’s very excited to be in Fort Myers.”

Sano, who the Twins signed this winter to a new three-year contract worth $30 million, hit all 34 of his home runs last season after May 1. That was the sixth most in the American League following that date.

Worth Noting

The Twins have a pending trade to acquire starting pitcher Kenta Maeda, according to multiple reports. The 31-year-old native of Japan pitched for the Dodgers last season, compiling a 10-8 record and 4.04 ERA.

St. Peter said earlier in the week three of the team’s five starting pitching spots appear committed to Jose Berrios, Jake Odorizzi and Homer Bailey. Presumably Maeda could now fill a fourth spot, with several other candidates competing for the fifth during the season including Michael Pineda and Rich Hill who won’t be available early in the year.

It wouldn’t be that much of a surprise if with more frequent off days early in the season, manager Rocco Baldelli and pitching coach Wes Johnson decide to use a four-man starting rotation for awhile.

Today’s composite 247Sports 2020 college football recruiting rankings have Minnesota’s class No. 36 in the nation. Big Ten West Division rivals ahead of the Gophers are No. 20 Nebraska, No. 25 Wisconsin, No. 33 Purdue and No. 34 Iowa.

Gophers point guard Marcus Carr had 10 assists last night, more than the entire Badgers team in Minnesota’s impressive 70-52 win over Wisconsin. The Big Ten victory improved Minnesota’s chances of earning an NCAA Tournament invitation in March.

Last Sunday’s Super Bowl prompted dedicated Gophers basketball fan Steve Hunegs to email Sports Headliners regarding Minnesota’s January 28, 1990 upset win over coach Bobby Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers at Williams Arena. That game 30 years ago was played on Super Bowl Sunday with No. 21 ranked Minnesota defeating No. 12 Indiana, 108-89. The surprise Gophers, coached by Clem Haskins, went on to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.

Millions of American workers ditched work this Monday following the Sunday Super Bowl between the Chiefs and 49ers. Last Friday “The Rundown” by Jeff Crilley (using information from a survey by Kronos Inc.) projected over 17.5 million workers to miss work Monday. About 11 million would use pre-approved time, with millions more calling in sick or just not showing up for their jobs.

Minnesota Wild president Matt Majka is the latest guest on “Behind the Game,” the Twin Cities cable TV program co-hosted by Patrick Klinger and Bill Robertson. “Behind the Game” episodes can also be viewed on YouTube.

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How Do Wilfs React to Viking Loss?

Posted on January 12, 2020January 12, 2020 by David Shama

What is Vikings ownership thinking today after Saturday’s embarrassing 27-10 loss to the 49ers that knocked its team out of the playoffs?

The Vikings won their opening playoff game January 5 with an impressive win over the Saints. In advance of that game, team president and owner Mark Wilf issued a statement of confidence in coach Mike Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman who have contracts only through this year. The Wilf ownership made clear it had “every intent” of retaining the two in the future.

Owner Zygi Wilf has been on record about his vision to see the team in the Super Bowl. The Wilfs have owned the franchise since 2005 without realizing their dream. Spielman has been a leader in formulating player personnel decisions since 2006 and had full authority since 2012. Zimmer has been head coach since 2014, making the playoffs three times and winning two NFC North titles with a Spielman produced roster led by a number of outstanding players.

Sometimes votes of confidence don’t last long. If the Wilfs decided in the coming weeks to move on from Spielman and Zimmer they would appease a mob of critics who want a change. Fans are hot after yesterday’s game that saw the Vikings look out coached, while generating just seven first downs and not able to match the aggression of the 49ers.

Fans can act passionately, even irrationally. Owners need to be more cautious. Despite their “warts” like a leaky offensive line that never seems to completely get repaired, the Vikings aren’t a broken team like so many in the NFL. Spielman and Zimmer are good at what they do. They are also high character leaders.

The question the Wilfs have to answer is whether those two give the Vikings the best chance of fielding an elite team? With that question comes another: If and when the owners want to make a change, can they identify the leadership that will take the Vikings to the next level?

Worth Noting

Former Vikings linebacker Ben Leber talking on KFAN Radio after yesterday’s game with the 49ers: “They Mike Tyson punched us in the face. That was about it.”

Jerry Burns, head coach of the 1987 Vikings team that won its first two playoff games in 1988 including against the 49ers on the road, turns 93 January 24 and still lives in the Minneapolis area.

While Target Field seating capacity for baseball is 38,544, a hockey insider told Sports Headliners 34,000 seats will be available for the 2021 NHL Winter Classic next January at the downtown Minneapolis ballpark. He predicted it will be several weeks before tickets go on sale, with Minnesota Wild season ticket holders having priority. He also said NHL representatives were in town last week to look at the outdoor venue that will match the Wild against an as yet unannounced opponent.

The Wild has lost four of its last five games and is near the bottom in the Western Conference’s Central Division. The Wild also trails division rivals in goals, and the team’s lack of scoring could result in the franchise missing the playoffs for a second consecutive year.

If that results in a coaching change, might South St. Paul native Phil Housley be the successor to Bruce Boudreau? Housley, an assistant coach with the Phoenix Coyotes, is friends with new Wild general manager Bill Guerin.

The guess here is the Twins won’t make the highest offer to free agent third baseman Josh Donaldson and he will sign with another team.

The Twins’ starting infield for their season opener March 26 in Oakland could be: Miguel Sano, first base; Luis Arraez, second base; Jorge Polanco, shortstop; Marwin Gonzalez, third base.

In 2021 that infield could look like this: Sano, first base; Polanco, second base, Royce Lewis, shortstop; and Arraez, third base.

Quoting Dick Jonckowski at the January 9 CORES luncheon in Bloomington: “If baseball is a religion, we should be in good shape with (Dave) St. Peter heading the Twins.”

March 17 will be the release date for Game Used, the book about longtime Twins TV broadcaster Dick Bremer. Author Jim Bruton said Bremer will do book signings in southwest Florida during Twins spring training.

Announced attendance for the Timberwolves home game Thursday night was 13,720 but a source said about 6,000 fans were in Target Center. Celebrities in the crowd included Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck and Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph.

Tracy Claeys resigned during the season last fall as Washington State’s defensive coordinator and is now the linebackers coach at Virginia Tech. If not for that resignation, the former Gophers head coach might be positioned as an internal candidate for the head job at WSU which opened up last week when Mike Leach left for Mississippi State.

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No Twins Are Trade Untouchables

Posted on December 15, 2019December 17, 2019 by David Shama

MLB’s Winter Meetings have come and gone with no big moves by the Minnesota Twins to improve their roster. This doesn’t come as a surprise since the organization under the Pohlad family ownership has consistently been deliberate in making outside personnel changes, whether by free agency or trade.

While some teams used the gathering at the Winter Meetings to improve their clubs, there is still a lot of time to see what develops in Major League Baseball before next season including with the Twins. In an interview with Sports Headliners, team president Dave St. Peter spoke about the ongoing process to improve his roster. “We are obviously open-minded as to how we get better,” St. Peter said while indicating the possibility of acquiring players via free agency or trade.

The Twins improved so much last season they transformed themselves from mediocre into one of MLB’s better clubs. The Twins can court potential newcomers with a storyline that not only includes a talented team but also features a players manager in Rocco Baldelli.

“We think our story has gotten incrementally better over the course of the last 18 months,” St. Peter said. “We think that we have a great, compelling ball club for 2020 and beyond, and we are optimistic that one way or another we’re going to be able to add pitching.”

St. Peter mentioned pitching without being prompted, an indication of how Minnesota has prioritized finding offseason help on the mound. The Twins reined down home runs last season, setting a MLB record with 307. Every off season story on how the Twins will get better in 2020 and go beyond AL Central champs to a successful postseason run has Minnesota needing to improve the starting staff.

Who will the Twins offer up in trades for either pitchers or other players? St. Peter said the club doesn’t so much target specific individuals in their organization for potential trades as it does looking at where the organization has strength and depth. Although he didn’t mention left fielder Eddie Rosario as trade bait, Sportingnews.com reported three days ago other teams are asking about Rosario, and the Twins do have a terrific minor league prospect and possible replacement in outfielder Alex Kirilloff. It appears sooner (perhaps next year) or later Minnesota will need to make room for the 22-year-old Kirilloff who has a .317 minor league career batting average.

When asked, St. Peter couldn’t think of any Twins currently under contract who have no-trade clauses in their contracts. Does he believe any Twins are untouchable? “No, I don’t think so,” he answered. “…The reality of it is, there’s probably some players that practically speaking you’re just probably not going to move because I’m not sure that another team could offer us enough.”

Twins front office personnel decision makers Derek Falvey and Thad Levine have won St. Peter’s confidence since being hired in 2016. St. Peter said their relationships with other front office leaders are so important to the Twins as they search to make a team with 101 wins last season even better.

Although, loaded with offense a rumor is the Twins will sign free agent third baseman Josh Donaldson who hit 37 home runs last season for the Atlanta Braves. His acquisition would presumably send Miguel Sano from third base to first base and improve the infield defense.

Not referencing Donaldson, St. Peter was asked about the idea of moving Sano to first base. “It’s a possibility. We have not made that decision,” St. Peter said. “Right now Miguel is still penciled in at third base and we will be fine with that if we go to spring training. He is a difference-maker…particularly at that position. Yeah, we have to be open-minded for ways to get better. We talked about our infield defense maybe being an area that we could shore up. …”

Worth Noting

Tickets are on sale for TwinsFest at Target Field Friday, January 24 and Saturday, January 25. The annual event has typically been three days but next year will be held over two days. The Twins will be celebrating their 60th season of play since moving to Minnesota as the Washington Senators.

St. Peter is a college football fan and enjoys travelling to games. This fall he saw a game at Mississippi and last year was at Georgia.

LSU’s Joe Burrow won the famed Heisman Trophy last night, the award annually honoring college football’s best player. Bruce Smith is the only Golden Gopher who ever won the Heisman, doing so in 1941. In 1953 Minnesota’s Paul Giel finished second in Heisman balloting and seven years later the Gophers’ Tom Brown also was voted runner-up. In 1962 balloting Minnesota’s Bobby Bell finished third in the voting.

Condolences to family and friends of former Gophers and South St. Paul hockey coach Doug Woog, who passed away Saturday afternoon. A beloved hockey leader for decades, the 75-year-old Woog had been dealing this year with health care issues including Parkinson’s disease.

Former Timberwolves superstar Kevin Garnett “is a central figure” in a new Adam Sandler movie, according to a story in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated. In the film Uncut Gems Garnett seeks to acquire an Ethiopian black opal.

No one seems to know when, or if, former Lynx star Maya Moore will resume her career. She didn’t play last season and continues to focus on helping others via criminal justice reform.

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