Twins – Page 105 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Molitor Optimistic about Twins’ Season

Posted on March 26, 2019March 26, 2019 by David Shama

Paul Molitor told Sports Headliners during a telephone interview yesterday he is “optimistic” about the Twins having a successful 2019 season. The former Twins manager likes the team’s potential and he was down in spring training recently watching the club he managed from 2015-2018. He likes the roster’s potential.

Many odds-making authorities believe the Cleveland Indians will win the AL Central Division. The Indians, winners of three consecutive division titles, are in town for a three-game series against the Twins starting with Thursday’s season opener at Target Field. This week Bovada, the popular online gambling site, had Cleveland as the favorite to win another division championship, with the Twins next and followed by the White Sox, Tigers and Royals.

Sports Illustrated, though, has a different forecast than the trend to favor the Indians, who boast perhaps baseball’s best starting staff but didn’t upgrade the overall roster enough to win the magazine’s full confidence. In the publication’s MLB preview issue that came out late this month, S.I. ranks the Twins No. 5 among American League clubs, and predicts Minnesota will win the division with a 90-72 record. The Indians will finish 89-73 and one game behind the Twins in the standings.

There is optimism about the Twins, 78-84 last season, because there are multiple promising additions to the roster—and their division is perhaps the worst in the 30-team majors. “The Twins lineup has been beefed up, and the (pitching) rotation boasts surprising depth,” said S.I.

Quotes in the magazine from an anonymous scout included comments about mystery players Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano. “…Byron Buxton has all the talent in the world, but he essentially got the previous regime ousted with how he crapped the bed,” the scout said. “Miguel Sano is always hurt and always fat, but there’s hope for Buxton and Max Kepler, who needs to lift the ball with more authority.”

If S.I. is correct in predicting the Twins will lose in the postseason to the Yankees, that will be the sixth time New York has ended Minnesota’s advancement in the playoffs.

Molitor is in ongoing discussions with the Twins about a future role with the club. He was fired after last season with reportedly two years remaining on his contract. He was AL Manager of the Year in 2017 when he led the 85-77 team to the playoffs.

The popular 62-year-old Minnesota native said he remains open to managing again in the majors but he is using time away from the game to be with family including 12-year-old son Ben who accompanied him to spring training.

Worth Noting

Molitor is friends with Golden Gophers baseball coach John Anderson whose team has its home opener at Siebert Field starting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. Minnesota is 7-13 overall, 2-0 in the Big Ten.

Former Gopher football wide receiver Drew Hmielewski, who gave up football last year to focus on baseball, hit his first career home run for Minnesota on Sunday in a win over Penn State. He is a redshirt sophomore outfielder.

With his outstanding play in regular season and tournament games in March, Gophers junior forward Amir Coffey might now project as a late first round pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. Coffey will test NBA interest in the coming weeks. He is better than some players on current NBA rosters, but he might benefit from gaining more physical strength and experience by returning to Minnesota for his final season of eligibility.

This is the first school year in University of Minnesota history the Gophers have won a football bowl game (December against Georgia Tech) and NCAA Tourney basketball games (last Thursday, Louisville; Saturday, Michigan State).

The opinion here is Kevin Harlan, who called the Gophers’ two NCAA Tournament games for CBS last week and was the original radio voice of the Timberwolves, is the best play-by-play guy ever to work in Minneapolis-St. Paul calling professional or University of Minnesota sports.

If Scott Layden doesn’t return as Timberwolves general manager after this season, Calvin Booth might be a candidate to replace him. Booth is assistant general manager of the Nuggets and previously worked in the Wolves’ front office.

Media outlets, including the Kansas City Star, were reporting yesterday that Rochester John Marshall five-star forward Matthew Hurt will announce his college choice April 19. Presumably the University of Kansas is still a finalist, although speculation is Jayhawks coach Bill Self could one day be coaching in the NBA where his name has been linked to the Bulls, Spurs and Thunder.

Hopkins star point guard Paige Bueckers is on spring break this week in Billings, Montana, where she is instructing youngsters at the free “Buckets With Bueckers” clinics. Paige’s mom, Amy, lives in Billings.

Former Gophers football coach Jerry Kill, now athletic director at Southern Illinois, will be in Minneapolis next week for the Final Four and plans to see friends he made here from 2011-2015.

Game time for the annual Gophers Spring Football Game has been set for 11 a.m. Saturday, April 13 at TCF Bank Stadium.

The top three overall seeds in the NCAA men’s hockey playoffs are schools from the state of Minnesota, with No. 1 St. Cloud State, No. 2 Minnesota Duluth and No. 3 Minnesota State. A college hockey authority told Sports Headliners that’s a historical first for Minnesota hockey.

The Minnesota Wild, with five games remaining in the regular season, are likely to make the playoffs if goalie Devan Dubnyk is at his best. A playoff spot will be a positive with season ticket holders who are seeing an increase in the cost of seats for 2019-2020.

Former Vikings draft choice WR Moritz Böhringer of Germany is on the Bengals practice squad as part of the 2018 NFL International Player Pathway Program.

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Sano Absence May Impact Division Race

Posted on March 20, 2019March 20, 2019 by David Shama

Enjoy a Wednesday notes column leading off with the Twins, and including basketball and football newsmakers.

The Twins start playing meaningful games next week when the regular season begins, and they are a popular pick to finish second in the mediocre AL Central Division. The more optimistic fans and media were thinking division title during the offseason, but now maybe less so with puzzling slugger Miguel Sano not expected in the lineup until May.

The Indians have won three consecutive division championships and while the roster doesn’t look as formidable as in the past, the club is anchored by probably baseball’s best starting staff. Those starters could lead the way to 90+ wins, while the Twins are a smart choice to win 80 to 85.

Sano told Sports Headliners a few years ago he might be capable of producing Miguel Cabrera type hitting numbers. “I can be better than Cabrera, I think,” he said in the summer of 2015. Sano, though, isn’t even close to matching the numbers of the future Tigers’ Hall of Famer. The Twins’ third baseman began his MLB career in 2014 and his play has been characterized as much by injuries as production at the plate.

The 6-foot-4 Sano, with a .199 batting average, didn’t even come close to hitting his weight (260) last season. He is out until possibly the time of his 26th birthday on May 11. Sano, whose latest problem is with his heel, tantalized the Twins in 2017 with his 28 home runs and 77 RBI. His presence in the lineup from the beginning of this season would have added confidence to those predicting a first Twins division championship since 2010.

It will be interesting to see how the Twins’ pitching staff develops including the late innings situation. Perhaps the club will not have an ace closer, instead using a few different relief pitchers in that role.

Minnesota’s regular season and home opener against the Indians will be played late afternoon on Thursday of next week, with Accuweather.com predicting a day time high of 56 degrees. The three-game series with the Indians also has scheduled day time dates at Target Field on March 30 and 31 when temps are predicted to be in the 40’s.

On opening day the club is giving away Twins puffer vests to the first 30,000 fans. Former Twin and AL MVP Justin Morneau will throw out the ceremonial first pitch, with Minneapolis song writer and performer Sean Tillman (aka Har Mar Superstar) singing the National Anthem.

As of this morning on the Twins’ ticket website, there were tickets available for the opener ranging in cost from $17 to $31.

There were rumors last week junior Gophers forward Michael Hurt will transfer to the college destination of his superstar brother Matthew Hurt, a senior at Rochester John Marshall. The possibility was mentioned to me months ago but I chose not to write about the speculation.

Michael would be eligible to play next season with his brother who has yet to announce his college choice, and could be destined to the NBA in another year via the 2020 league draft. Michael is a three-year reserve who this season is averaging 1.7 points per game and is 1 of 13 on three point field goal attempts. If he were to leave Minnesota, that presumably opens up a scholarship for the Gophers who have multiple roster needs for next season and should be shopping for junior college help.

Matthew, 6-foot-9, is so skilled he can excel at multiple positions. The bluebloods of college basketball, including Duke and North Carolina, would welcome the five-star recruit, and perhaps his brother—allowing the twosome to play one year together.

It will be a major surprise if Matthew isn’t announced as the state’s Mr. Basketball winner at the Timberwolves game on March 26. Hurt, who averaged about 37 points per game this season, won’t be in attendance because he will play among the nation’s elite players at the March 27 McDonald’s All-American Game in Atlanta.

A member of John Marshall’s varsity since eighth grade, Hurt has closed out his high school career never having played in the state tournament. Lakeville North has blocked Marshall’s path to the state tournament by winning seven consecutive times in the section finals.

Among the favorites to win the Class 4A Tournament this week is Hopkins with star center-power forward Zeke Nnjai. He is committed to Arizona for next season but if Wildcats coach Sean Miller leaves the program speculation will start about Nnjai’s college destination.

The Gophers, in search of a point guard all season, could have filled that opening two years ago by successfully recruiting Champlin Park’s McKinley Wright, who as a sophomore at Colorado has been named first team All-Pac-12. He also was an honorable mention choice for the league’s all-defensive team.

CBS lead sportscaster Jim Nantz, who will be here for the Minneapolis Final Four, gave a shout-out to 99-year-old Star Tribune columnist Sid Hartman on last Saturday’s telecast of the Minnesota-Michigan Big Ten Tournament game, and he told the listening audience he will speak to the Twin Cities Dunkers when he is town. The downtown-Minneapolis based Dunkers dates back to 1948 and Hartman has been a member since 1965.

Purdue, who the Gophers defeated twice in March, is an upset pick to make a run in the NCAA Tournament including a prediction by Seth Davis the Boilermakers will advance to the Minneapolis Final Four. Davis, the CBS in-studio college hoops analyst, is the son of Lanny Davis, the well-known lawyer and TV political commentator.

Steve Erban and Paul Dillion are among Gophers fans expected in Des Moines tomorrow for Minnesota’s NCAA Tournament game against Louisville. Erban emailed that the two are the only people who have seen every Gopher NCAA Tournament game dating back to 1989.

Gophers’ athletic director Mark Coyle said on the WCCO Radio Sports Huddle show last Sunday that about $130 million out of the $166 million targeted cost has been raised for the new Athlete’s Village on campus.

Gophers head football coach P.J. Fleck, new North Dakota State head coach Matt Entz, and former Vikings Matt Birk and Ben Leber are headline speakers at next week’s MFCA Football Clinic at the DoubleTree in St. Louis Park. More than 30 speakers and over 50 sessions are scheduled for the March 28-30 clinic. More at mnfootballcoaches.com

Karl-Anthony Towns had his 47th double-double of the season last night when he scored 26 points and got 21 rebounds in the Timberwolves’ loss to the Warriors at Target Center.

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer hosts his first Mike Zimmer Golf Classic at Bearpath Golf and Country Club in Eden Prairie on Monday, May 13. The event is part of the Mike Zimmer Foundation. Hole sponsorships starting at a $1,000 are available. More at Mikezimmerfoundation.org.

Looks like Zimmer and GM Rick Spielman were right about quarterback Case Keenum who they let walk as a free agent last year. The Broncos, who signed Keenum in 2018, traded him to the Redskins earlier this month and now have turned to another veteran, Joe Flacco, as their quarterback leader. Keenum is with his fourth team in four years.

Ex-Gopher Phil Nelson, who received a lot of media and fan attention last month for a no-look pass, has completed 58.4 percent of his passes for 513 yards, and thrown three touchdown passes and three interceptions, quarterbacking the San Diego Fleet of the Alliance of American Football, according to noextrapoints.com.

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Fleck High on Gophers Offensive Line

Posted on March 8, 2019March 8, 2019 by David Shama

Enjoy a Friday notes column with information on football, basketball, hockey, media and wrestling newsmakers.

Third-year Golden Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck expects his offensive line to be among the better ones in the Big Ten next fall. Offensive line performance has often been an issue in the program’s recent past and Minnesota hasn’t had a center, guard or tackle chosen in the NFL Draft for 13 years.

The enthusiastic Fleck said the Gophers, who begin spring practice next Tuesday, could have “incredible line play in the making.” Minnesota has several offensive linemen with starting experience returning from a 7-6 team that closed the year winning two of its last three regular season games, and then won a bowl game by the largest margin in program history.

Fleck believes a top offensive line is “the name of the game” in the Big Ten Conference. He knows programs that win at a high level consistently have offensive lines that excel and produce top players.

“It’s a very, very physical conference,” Fleck said. “It’s a long season. It’s nine conference games. …It is a battle every single week, especially up front. If you can have bigger, stronger, more athletic, smarter (linemen), and you continue to develop that every single year, I think you’re going to have a lot of success.”

Fleck’s returnees include Connor Olson, a starting guard who could move to center and replace Jared Weyler who was a senior last fall. Fleck said it’s also not clear yet whether Blaise Andries, another starter last season, will end up at tackle or guard.

Fleck couldn’t talk about his offensive line without quickly discussing a tight end roster that is loaded with big bodies who are counted on to complement the blocking of the center, guards and tackles. The tight end group includes 6-foot-4 Jake Paulson, a starter last season, who has bulked up from 245 pounds to 270.

Minnesota has eight returning starters on offense and the competition at some positions will be intense. The running back roster, for example, will be one of the better such units in the country with returnees Shannon Brooks, Mohamed Ibrahim, Rodney Smith and Bryce Williams. Fleck said the foursome have already accounted for “6,500 yards and 52 touchdowns” during their careers at Minnesota.

“I would call that a lot of productivity coming back in the running back position,” the coach added.

Minnesota’s first practice open to the public will be March 15 starting at 4:45 p.m. The location has yet to be announced.

In Lindsay Whalen’s first season as Gopher women’s basketball coach, home attendance has increased from an average of 3,130 in 2017-18 to 5,738 in 2018-19. The regular season finale last Sunday against Michigan State had announced attendance of 7,707 and was the third largest home crowd of the season.

This has been a historical week in Minnesota for female play-by-play announcers on television, with Marney Gellner doing the Twins’ spring training game from Fort Myers Sunday, and Sloane Martin describing games Wednesday at the boys’ state high school hockey tournament in St. Paul. Never before in Minnesota have women done TV play-by-play for the Twins and the boys’ hockey tournament.

The Pioneer Press chose John Mayasich as the No. 1 all-time Minnesota prep hockey player in its recent series listing the 75 best ever. He had a great prep career at Eveleth High School and was a four-time All-American for the Gophers in 1952, 1953, 1954 and 1955. The newspaper named South St. Paul’s Phil Housley No. 2.

Best guess to win the “sweepstakes” to get Rochester John Marshall basketball superstar Matthew Hurt is Duke and its legendary coach Mike Krzyzweski, who in past years has landed Minnesotans Gary Trent Jr., and brothers Tre and Tyus Jones.

The Gophers’ chances? Slim to none, according to those who have followed the recruiting of Hurt.

Coach Richard Pitino’s Minnesota men’s basketball team closes its regular season at No. 24 Maryland tonight, after upsetting No. 11 ranked Purdue Tuesday at Williams Arena. A Minnesota win will be the first time since 1993 (excluding vacated seasons) that a Gopher team has won back-to-back games against ranked opponents.

Among those in attendance at Tuesday’s game was 1952-53 All-American Gopher guard Charley Mencel. He also played for the NBA Minneapolis Lakers, and is among the Gopher greats whose jerseys are displayed in the Williams Arena rafters.

At No. 1 Gable Steveson, the Apple Valley freshman with a 27-0 record, is Minnesota’s highest seeded wrestler as the Gophers go into Saturday and Sunday’s Big Ten Championships at Williams Arena, but others, of course, will be counted on to contribute. “We have 10 guys who can go out and score points,” coach Brandon Eggum said.

Shortstops can be the best athletes on their teams, so maybe the Twins don’t face a logjam for eventual playing time with incumbent Jorge Polanco and valued minor league prospects Nick Gordon, Royce Lewis, and Wander Javier.

It wouldn’t be surprising if a Fortune 500 CEO is hired to replace retiring Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany in June of 2020.

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