Twins – Page 126 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Twins Buy-Sell Decision Still Too Early

Posted on June 25, 2017June 25, 2017 by David Shama

A Sunday notes column with the Twins leading off:

The Twins are a surprise contender for the American League Central Division title, and this morning were only a half game out of first place. The turnaround from 2016 when Minnesota finished with a 59-103 record doesn’t predict, however, whether the front office will be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline July 31.

Club president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners on Friday it’s too early to determine what direction the franchise will go with its roster by the end of July, and even in August when MLB teams can still make moves through waiver deals. He made it clear that whatever course the club determines will be decided by Derek Falvey, the chief baseball officer who was hired last fall.

“We’ll try to do what’s best for our club,” St. Peter said. “I have great confidence in Derek Flavey to lead that decision making process. … It’s a little early to get into where we stand in that. Obviously our club has been competitive but it’s also obvious we have a lot of work to do.”

Falvey and others involved with the Twins leadership, including general manager Thad Levine, are taking a long-term view in rebuilding the franchise. While it’s a positive to be playing above .500 with a 38-34 record, the goal is to become a consistent winner that can deliver championships. The Twins have holes on their roster, including at times an alarming lack of quality pitching. The farm system only has a couple of prospects who will make top 100 lists of baseball’s most promising players.

“There are a lot of positives with this (current roster) group of players,” St. Peter commented. “That said, we’ve also seen challenges and we need to find ways to get better. I am optimistic that Derek is going to explore every avenue going forward, and not just in the short-term but probably more importantly over the long-term.”

On July 22 the Twins celebrate the 30th anniversary of their 1987 World Series championship team during a pregame ceremony at Target Field before Minnesota plays the Tigers. That Twins won the first world title by a Minnesota pro sports team since the 1954 Minneapolis Lakers were NBA champs.

The 1965 Twins were in the World Series, the 1981 North Stars reached the Stanley Cup Finals, and the Vikings lost four times in Super Bowls in the 1970s, but St. Peter said Upper Midwest sports fans are “eternally grateful to that group (the ’87 Twins) for actually bringing home a world championship.”

The ’87 team wasn’t a preseason favorite to reach the World Series. Part of the love affair for fans with that team was how they surprised most everyone with their success. “It’s by far, in my opinion, the most popular group-team in Minnesota sports history,” said St. Peter who expects many members of the team to be in Minneapolis for the reunion.

Earlier this year the Twins’ Eduardo Escobar represented the club in a cow milking contest against the Angels’ Blake Parker in Anaheim. St. Peter said a milking contest could be part of his franchise’s plans for next season and help celebrate agriculture.

Asked about potential Twins to participate, St. Peter identified Escobar and Chris Gimenez who he said was known as a “decent milker” while participating in cow milking with other clubs. Years ago the promotion was popular at Met Stadium.

It’s not believed (just kidding) cow milking skills or experience will be factors in determining the Twins’ roster coming out of spring training in 2018.

Longtime Wolves followers might wonder about the reported relationship between Jimmy Butler and coach Fred Hoiberg during the last two seasons in Chicago. Butler, the All-Star small forward traded to the Wolves last week, was apparently critical and challenging of Hoiberg’s coaching. Hoiberg, who played for the Wolves and worked for the organization years ago, is a terrific person and classy guy.

Westgate sports book moved the Wolves from 100-1 to 60-1 to win next year’s NBA title after the Minnesota-Chicago trade, according to a Friday online story by Todd Dewey for the Las Vegas Review–Journal. The Bulls’ odds went from 100-1 to 200-1.

Athlon Sports is celebrating 50 years since its inception and its Big Ten football magazine now on newsstands includes a feature ranking the 50 top college players dating back to 1967. Minneapolis’ Larry Fitzgerald Jr., the wide receiver who played at Pittsburgh, is No. 23. Former Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss, who scored at least one touchdown in each of his college games at Marshall, is No. 22. Running back Herschel Walker, who also played for the Vikings and won the Heisman Trophy while leading Georgia to the national championship, is No. 1 on the list.

Teddy Bridgewater’s rehabilitation of his knee is ongoing but optimism about his chances of playing quarterback again for the Vikings is more certain than several months ago.

Jennifer Hines, tournament director for the 3M Championship, is one of three women in the country directing PGA tournaments. Another director is Hines’ sister, Tracy West, with the Valspar Championship in Palm Harbor, Florida.

This year’s 3M Championship is July 31-August 6 at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine. Jack Nicklaus will be among the golf legends expected to play in a special event. Joe Durant won the tournament last year. Admission is free all week.

Creative Charters, the Stillwater-based fan tour company, is offering a package with more than football for the Gophers game on September 9 in Corvallis against Oregon State. The trip includes activities on the Oregon coast with fishing, whale watching, wine tasting and more. Details at Creativecharter.com.

The 29th annual Bruce Smith Golf Classic last Monday at Faribault Golf Club included former Gophers Seth Helgeson, Darrell Thompson and Ben Utecht. The fundraising event benefits Faribault schools and has generated about $225,000 over the years. It honors Bruce Smith, the Faribault native who won the 1941 Heisman Trophy playing for the Gophers.

Kaitlin Langer, who finished her senior season at St. Thomas as the D3Hoops.com Player of the Year, majored in real estate studies and is “affiliated with a RE/MAX office in Rosemount,” according to the latest issue of the University of St. Thomas magazine.

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Twins Need Santana Momentum Tonight

Posted on June 20, 2017June 20, 2017 by David Shama

A Tuesday notes column with items about the Gophers, Timberwolves, Twins and Vikings.

Losers of four consecutive games and now out of first place in the American League Central Division, the Twins are yet again counting on Ervin Santana. He starts tonight’s game at Target Field against the White Sox and he has won almost 25 percent of Minnesota’s games so far this season.

The Twins were outscored 28-8 by the Indians in their four losses from last Friday through Sunday. The Indians now lead the Twins by 2.5 games in the division and the two teams play this coming weekend in Cleveland. Before going on the road, the 34-33 Twins have three games at home against the White Sox, who are 31-37 and in last place in the Central Division.

Santana is 8-4 with a 2:56 ERA. A win tonight will keep him near other major league pitchers for most victories this season. Santana could finish the season as a 20-game winner and the club MVP. The 34-year-old right hander has exceeded expectations and the Twins need one of his better efforts tonight to end their slide.

The Twins have lost 12 of their last 16 home games.

Six of the team’s games at Target Field have been impacted by weather this spring. Three games were delayed and three postponed.

It was 40 years ago that the Twins’ Rod Carew made his famous run to become baseball’s first .400 hitter since Ted Williams in 1941. Carew was a national story and appeared on the July 18, 1977 cover of Time magazine. Carew finished the season at .388, the highest of his Hall of Fame career.

Williams, who played for the Minneapolis Millers before joining the Red Sox, hit .406 in 1941 and is still the last man to average over .400 for a season. Williams, when he was 39 years old in 1957, led the American League in hitting with a .388 average.

When the Gophers play Miami at Williams Arena next November as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, they will see five-star shooting guard Lonnie Walker. The freshman is projected to be the No. 8 selection in the 2018 NBA Draft, according Nbadraft.net.

The website has former Apple Valley five-star shooting guard Gary Trent Jr. leaving Duke after one season and being the No. 9 player taken in the first round. J.P. Macura, the shooting guard from Lakeville North, will be a second round pick at No. 44 after completing his senior season at Xavier.

Nbadraft.net doesn’t project any Gophers being selected in either the first or second rounds in 2018. The Gophers, though, have a few players, including sophomore forward Amir Coffey, who might work their way on to hypothetical draft boards in the next nine months.

Florida State forward Jonathan Isaac, who led the Seminoles to a home win over the Gophers last season, seems like the right fit for the Timberwolves when they use the No. 7 selection in Thursday night’s NBA Draft—if he is still available. Isaac, 6-10, is a slender but versatile defender who reportedly could bring the kind of defense and toughness the Wolves need. He was a freshman All-American last season.

The Wolves, who would surprise no one if they trade their No. 7 pick, are hosting draft night parties from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday night at Kieran’s Irish Pub in Minneapolis, The Liffey in St. Paul, Bunny’s Bar and Grill in St. Louis Park, and Champps in Eden Prairie.

P.J. Fleck, the Gophers’ 36-year-old football coach, talking about all he has experienced at a young age: “It seems like I should be 67 by now and retiring. My high school gave me the lifetime achievement award in the hall of fame. I got that when I was 34.”

Former Gophers trainer Jim Marshall turns 87 on July 3, the same day ex-Minnesota and Minneapolis Lakers coach John Kundla has his 101st birthday.

Former two-time Gophers All-American tackle Bobby Bell was 77 last Saturday.

Sam Richter, a St. Louis Park native and former Gophers football letter winner, was inducted last week into the Minnesota Speaker Hall of Fame by the National Speakers Association. Richter is only the 28th person ever inducted into the Hall of Fame. Richter, who was an Academic All-American, is considered one of the world’s leading experts on sales intelligence and digital reputation management.

Nemer Fieger, the St. Louis Park-based marketing agency, is working with the Gophers athletic department to better communicate the successes of women’s sports, according to Julie Manning.

Manning, executive associate athletics director, also said the department has launched a campaign to raise $10 million over three years to provide additional resources for head coaches of women’s sports.

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer will be in Dallas this weekend for a family wedding. After eight eye surgeries, there probably isn’t a player in the NFL who question’s Zimmer’s toughness.

After two rounds through yesterday, Minikahda Club teaching pro Jeff Sorenson was among the leaders in the PGA Professional Championship in Sunriver, Oregon, according to news from PGA.com. Sorenson finished third in the 2013 tournament at Sunriver Resort.

The Minnesota Youth Football Summit is a free event this Saturday at U.S. Bank Stadium that will look at how young players can have a better experience. More information, including online registration, is available at myas.org/football.

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Signability Didn’t Dictate Twins Pick

Posted on June 13, 2017June 13, 2017 by David Shama

The Twins used the No. 1 overall pick in last night’s Major League Draft on a surprise choice, California high school shortstop Royce Lewis. Although management had dropped no hints, a lot of Twins followers probably predicted and hoped that another California prep, pitcher-shortstop Hunter Greene, would be the choice.

But Twins president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners today that money and the likelihood of signing the club’s No. 1 pick didn’t dictate choosing Lewis who he said was at the top of Minnesota’s draft board. MLB policy allows a slot value of up to $7.7 million for the draft’s No. 1 selection. “We believe we can get a deal done with Royce for the allotted slot, but also maintain some flexibility deeper in the draft,” St. Peter said.

If Lewis signs for less than $7.7 million it will allow the Twins to potentially spend more on subsequent choices through the draft’s many rounds. But St. Peter said his club’s decision wasn’t based on saving money, and he talked enthusiastically about Lewis’ attributes including speed, potential power, leadership, charisma, and even describing Lewis as someone who “could evolve to be a face of our franchise.”

St. Peter referenced “a lot of different elements that we thought were separators for (drafting) Royce Lewis,” and that the club looked at many potential number one selections before deciding in the last 48 hours prior to Monday night’s draft to take Lewis, despite an acknowledged need for pitching in the organization. “We considered him the best player for the Minnesota Twins,” St. Peter said. “Time will tell. We are really comfortable that we have a great fit for the Twins in Royce Lewis.”

Greene was the glamour guy of the draft, playing two positions, throwing 100 miles per hour fast balls and landing this spring on the cover of Sports Illustrated. The Reds took him in the draft right after the Twins chose Lewis.

Greene was the top ranked player by Baseballamerica.com. Lewis, was ranked No. 5. It’s interesting that the Twins used their first choice on a prospect who plays the same position as 21-year- old Nick Gordon. Gordon was the team’s No. 1 pick in the 2014 draft. Some authorities consider the young shortstop the No. 1 prospect in the Twins farm system. He is hitting .340 with the Double A Chattanooga Outlooks.

St. Peter said the Twins project Lewis as a player who can reach the majors as a shortstop. What about a potential competition some day between Gordon and Lewis to be Minnesota’s starting shortstop? “I put that in the category of a really good problem to have,” St. Peter said.

Lewis was a player Twins evaluators have been watching for a long while and St. Peter said it was an “incredibly collaborative” decision by the club’s talent evaluators to choose Lewis. He also said that even “more voices’ than in the past were involved in the decision of what to do in the first round. That leadership is led by new baseball executives Derek Falvey and Thad Levine who St. Peter hired last fall.

Worth Noting

Twins’ 23-year-old pitcher Jose Berrios is 5-1 with a 2.84 ERA since being recalled from Triple A Rochester. He won his first Twins game May 13 and he has five of the club’s 13 wins since that date.

Lou Nanne’s left hip replacement went well last Friday and he arrived home from the hospital on Saturday, a day early. The Minnesota hockey legend has had two knee replacements, plus rotator cuff and prostate surgeries over the years following a career of playing in the NHL with the North Stars, the organization he also coached for and served as president.

Now a senior managing director for RBC, Nanne, 76, passionately follows the NHL. After watching the Stanley Cup Finals, he thinks the Wild could be close to making a deep playoff run next year.

Frank Ragnow, the Arkansas senior from Chanhassen High School, is the first team preseason All-American center choice by college football magazines Athlon and Lindy’s. Ragnow is a second team offensive line All-American by Street & Smith’s college football publication.

Athlon ranks the 21 major college coaching hires during the offseason and lists the Gophers’ P.J. Fleck as No. 2 in the country. Tom Herman, the new coach at Texas, is ranked No. 1.

Nothing has been announced but there is speculation the Gophers have extended the contract of men’s hockey coach Don Lucia beyond the 2018-2019 season. A year ago Lucia’s contract only went through the 2016-2017 season but was extended two years.

It likely won’t be long before an announcement regarding the Gophers’ opponent for a December 2018 basketball game in U.S. Bank Stadium, but one factor complicating a deal could be a return game. Minnesota may have to assure another school the Gophers will play a game on that foe’s home court at a later date.

Race Thompson, the highly recruited Armstrong basketball player, leaves today for the prestigious NBPA Top 100 Camp in Charlottesville, Virginia. Thompson, who will be a senior at Armstrong next season, reportedly isn’t close to selecting a college from a list that includes the Gophers.

Minnesota war hero and motivational speaker John Kriesel shares his story on June 28 at the Capital Club breakfast gathering at Town and Country Club in St. Paul. Years ago a roadside bomb in Iraq blew away his legs and he lost two buddies in the explosion. Kriesel is a former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. In recent months Alan Page, Lou Nanne, P.J. Fleck and Patty Wetterling have spoken to club members. More information is available about the club by contacting Patrick Klinger, Patrick@thebrandenhancementgroup.com.

Dave and Linda Mona’s annual fundraiser assisting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is July 11 at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. The Wright Brothers, a favorite of Minnesota music fans, will perform in concert, and a silent auction includes items targeting sports fans. Learn more about the Camden’s Concert evening by calling 952-979-1111.

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