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Musical Chairs for Twins Lineup

Posted on August 10, 2016August 10, 2016 by David Shama

The Twins are experimenting with players at different positions as they close the last months of a disappointing season, while looking ahead to 2017 and beyond.

Is this Twins-version of musical chairs a big problem?

Or is it a positive the Twins are developing players who can play multiple positions, while rebuilding a roster for future seasons?

First base exemplifies the sorting out process club officials face in coming seasons. Joe Mauer, the $23 million per season local hero, has two years remaining on his contract and is the regular first baseman. Mauer, 33, switched to first base from catching after the 2013 season and his concussion history won’t allow a return behind the plate.

First base is often the favored position for a good-hit, not-so-skilled player in the field. If that sounds like a fit for second-year slugger Miguel Sano, pat yourself on the back. Sano has faltered defensively this year in both right field and at third base. Mostly a third baseman during his minor league career, Sano could improve in the future but his huge frame (6-4, 262) and potential as a 40 home runs guy per season makes him a natural for first base. He has homered in four of his last five games.

Miguel Sano (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Twins)

Sano is only 23—far too young to be mostly a designated hitter. His path the next couple years might be a mix of third base, DH work and test drives at first where he could replace Mauer as the starter in 2019.

Then there is Byung Ho Park. Remember him? The Twins made headlines last offseason by signing the South Korean slugger to a contract through 2019. Besides being a DH, Park’s position in the field is first base. Park has been a flop in his debut big league season and was demoted to Triple-A Rochester earlier this summer. But at 30 years old with a reported $12 million commitment, the Twins aren’t going to give up on him yet.

The Twins have no choice but to be patient with DH/first baseman Park, and the same is true with Kennys Vargas who is also limited to the same roles as Park. Another guy with a classic first base body, Vargas, 6-5, 289, is in his third try with the Twins. He shows slugger potential but isn’t consistent. After a productive stretch following his recall from Rochester, the 26-year-old Vargas is hitting .218 in his last 15 games.

Deciding who plays where in the infield and outfield is a puzzle Twins management must figure out. Brian Dozier, the team’s leading home run hitter and an American League All-Star in 2014, owns second base. Team president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners Trevor Plouffe is considered the regular third baseman when healthy (which he hasn’t been), but trade speculation is persistent about the 30-year-old whose departure from Minneapolis would open more playing time for Sano. The last couple of seasons Eduardo Escobar has had a lot of starts at shortstop, but Eduardo Nunez took his job for the first half of the season and now rookie Jorge Palanco might claim it. Palanco, whose best position might be second base, has also played third with the Twins.

Center fielder Byron Buxton’s inability to hit big league pitching got him demoted again to Rochester. That outfield position has been unsettled for years and the Twins are now trying to fill the spot with left fielder Eddie Rosario. Danny Santana, a converted shortstop who the Twins turned into a centerfielder, has now been playing left field. And, yes, Santana has played in the infield this season.

St. Peter expressed a positive view regarding players at multiple positions. He talked about how the 25-man rosters of major league teams are top-heavy with pitchers, making it important to have versatile position players.

“There’s no question,” St. Peter said. “I think it’s absolutely critical that a manager has players who are versatile, that can play multiple positions. …Give the manager flexibility over the course of a season to deal with injuries, give opportunities for players to get rest (and) to deal with different pitching matchups, and ultimately just to have more options late in the game to pinch-hit, to pinch run, to put in defensive specialists. All those need to come into play.”

It’s certain, though, that if the Twins are to move forward in the standings in future years, they will need established players at various positions in the field—individuals who can excel and play 150 games or more at their spots. Star players like the Twins had years ago with Mauer catching, Justin Morneau at first base, and Torii Hunter and Michael Cuddyer in the outfield.

“There’s a lot of young guys who are looking to establish their footing in the big leagues and to earn that opportunity, that privilege to be penciled in every day at a certain position. We’re just not quite there yet,” St. Peter said.

Perhaps it will all work out for the Twins. The club has played over .500 baseball since July and won nine of its last 13 games.

Worth Noting

The 35-year-old Morneau, signed in June by the White Sox, is hitting .300 with 3 home runs and 9 RBI in 70 at bats.

St. Peter said he has daily conversations with Korn Ferry regarding the team’s search for a head of baseball operations. The firm was retained earlier this summer to assist the Twins in replacing dismissed executive and general manager Terry Ryan.

St. Peter said “the interview process will commence soon, but we’re not there yet.” The organization is still defining what it is looking for in a candidate. The goal is to hire a person by season’s end.

Despite all their winning in recent weeks the Twins still have the worst record (46-67) in the American League. The Twins are the lowest ranked American League team in ESPN’s rankings of the 30 major league clubs. The Twins are No. 27, while the Cubs are No. 1 and have been for the last three weeks.

Talented junior Gophers defensive tackle Steven Richardson could be All-Big Ten after this season. “It’s definitely one of my biggest goals,” he said. “I definitely wanted to get it last year and obviously I fell short due to injury. I felt like if I wasn’t injured, I definitely could have been a contender for it.”

Richardson is short, admitting to 5-10 without his football shoes, but he is exceptionally strong and difficult to block. He missed playing time in 2015 with a reported calf injury. He said this offseason the defensive linemen spent more time than in the past on preemptive training including abdomen workouts to prevent back injuries.

Richardson wasn’t the only defensive lineman injured last season and he expects the collective health of the unit to be better this year. “(Expecting) to have a much more durable D-Line because we were dropping like flies out there (last season),” he said.

Gophers senior quarterback Mitch Leidner did some offseason bonding with his receivers when he took them to the family cabin near Cromwell, Minnesota. “It was a great time, just to get to know people,” said senior receiver Eric Carter.

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Rivalry Games Already on U Radar

Posted on August 5, 2016August 5, 2016 by David Shama

The Gophers begin training camp today, and yesterday it was evident players want to end past frustrations, and surprise sportswriters who are predicting a fifth place finish in the Big Ten’s seven-team West Division.

Senior corner Jalen Myrick didn’t hold back expressing his feels about Minnesota border rivals Iowa and Wisconsin. “I hate Iowa. … I hate Wisconsin. I want to beat them at least one time. I didn’t get a chance (because of injury) to play against each one of them last year. I got a big statement to prove in each of those games.”

The Hawkeyes won the division last season, the Badgers the year before. Minnesota’s record against Iowa since 2000 is 5-11. Dating back to 1990, the Gophers are a dismal 5-21 against Wisconsin including 12 consecutive losses beginning in 2004.

Senior quarterback Mitch Leidner joined Myrick and several other teammates yesterday to talk with the media prior to practice opening. Leidner predicted the Gophers will play with an edge this season and added he wants a Big Ten title before his college career ends.

Leidner knows the Gophers need to end the drought against the Badgers, and Minnesota head coach Tracy Claeys talked about that during an interview with Sports Headliners in June. “It bothers the hell out of me,” Claeys said. “We’re on our way to try to get that back to where it’s a rivalry. We gotta win sooner or later for it even to be considered a rivalry anymore.”

Worth Noting

Myrick also returns kickoffs for the Gophers and is considered the team’s fastest player. A recent NFL.com story identified him as the Big Ten’s fastest player. Myrick said he’s faster than last year. How much? “We’ll see,” he replied.

Myrick intentionally lost a couple of pounds to bring his weight to about 200, and he has speed on his mind. “Anytime I can build my speed, that’s what I am trying to do,” he said.

Leidner said he’s healthy after playing injured the last couple of years. He even acknowledged that in a 2014 game ligaments attached to a big toe were so torn the toe was “floating around” in his shoe.

Leidner predicted yesterday that senior offensive tackle Jonah Pirsig might be named an All-American this fall. The 6-9, 325-pound Pirsig has played much of his career with injuries. “This is the healthiest I’ve felt since I’ve been here,” Pirsig said.

Both Leidner and Pirsig praised new offensive line coach Bart Miller and the impact he’s had on that unit. “He’s completely changed the mindset around,” Leidner said.

Coaching staff decisions about starters will be made after 18 practices. Claeys said starters need 10 days of practices to prepare for the first game.

Prior to their September 1 opener against Oregon State, the Gophers have five practices open to the public. Practices August 6, 9 and 12 begin at 10 a.m. at the Gibson-Nagurski Football Complex. Two practices August 13 are also open to the public—starting at 9:10 a.m. at Gibson-Nagurski and 4:45 p.m. at TCF Bank Stadium.

Retired Twins executive Jim Rantz has talked recently with Terry Ryan who owner Jim Pohlad let go as the club’s general manager last month. Rantz and Ryan worked with each other for decades. Rantz said the 62-year-old Ryan is “doing fine,” still has passion for baseball and watches the Twins on TV.

Rantz’s guess is his friend will eventually get back into baseball. “I don’t think he’s going to call it a career,” Rantz said. “I think he’s going to hang in there, and we’ll see what happens here. I am sure he’ll hang out until the end of the year and then go from there.”

The Thursday morning Go 96.3 radio show offered a few critical comments about U.S. Bank Stadium’s debut sports event Wednesday night between soccer teams AC Milan and Chelsea. Comments included too much congestion inside the stadium, “spotty Wi-Fi” and at least one or two concessionaires running out of menu items. A sausage for $7 that cost $2 more for peppers and onions also prompted comment.

General manager Rick Spielman said the Vikings’ new practice facility and team headquarters in Eagan (opening in 2018) will be the best in the NFL and can contribute to attracting free agents. “Just like the new stadium (downtown), I think was a big factor this year,” he said. “(But) it’s always going to come down to your football team, and it will come down to the financial commitment you’re willing to make to the player. I think a lot of it has to do (also) with your coaching staff and our head coach. …”

It will be interesting to watch the development of high-potential Vikings second-season defensive lineman Danielle Hunter. Could Hunter, who doesn’t turn 22 until October, replace 10-year veteran Brian Robison this season? Robison, 33, might one day finish his career as a situational pass rusher.

At 6-5 and over 250 pounds the Vikings 2015 third round draft choice is an intriguing prospect. He had 33 tackles and six sacks last year. Hunter’s NFL.com draft analysis in 2015 described him as having a “freakish combination of size, athleticism and explosiveness.”

The Minnesota Wild will offer single game regular season tickets starting at $35. Tickets go on sale September 24. Pricing for single game regular season tickets is based on demand factors like rivalries, day-of-week, marquee teams or superstar players.

Former Gophers, Olympics and North Stars coaching legend Herb Brooks, who was killed in a 2003 August car accident, would have been 79 today.

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Kepler Top Rookie of Year Candidate

Posted on August 3, 2016August 3, 2016 by David Shama

With a three home run game on Monday night, and another last evening, the Twins Max Kepler is now a favorite to win the American League Rookie of the Year Award.

Despite joining the Twins after the season started and for awhile not being a regular, Kepler has hit 15 home runs this year, including seven in his last 15 games. His home run total leads all American League rookies, and a baseball authority predicted yesterday he could finish the season with 25 homers.

Kepler is averaging a home run every 13.6 at bats. When former Senators and Twins great Harmon Killebrew played his first full season in the majors in 1959 he homered every 13 at bats.

Kepler’s home run totals have probably surprised everyone. In six minor league seasons through 2015 he homered every 46.8 times at the plate. His minor league batting average was .281.

Max Kepler (photo courtesy of Minnesota Twins).

“He’s got that kind of bat that he’s going to hit for average and show a little power,” former Twins executive Jim Rantz told Sports Headliners back in April.

Turns out Kepler is showing more than a “little power” with his line drives that are going over the fence and positioning him to possibly become the sixth Twins player to win the American League Rookie of the Year Award. The 6-4, 207-pound Twins right fielder is impressive at bat with a leveraged swing and exceptional plate discipline. He is hitting .259 with 46 RBI in 205 at bats with the Twins.

“We all thought that he was probably going to be a line drive type hitter that was going to put a lot of doubles up,” Rantz told Sports Headliners yesterday. “It’s a beautiful swing that he puts on the ball…(and) if he gets elevation, it’s going to go because when he hits a ball it carries.”

The German-born Kepler comes from an athletic family. His parents were ballet dancers. As a youngster Kepler played not only baseball but other sports including soccer, swimming, skiing and tennis. Mark Rozycki and Mary Kepler may also have raised the next AL Rookie of the Year.

“No telling how this is going to finish if he keeps going like he’s going,” Rantz said.“He’s liable to hit 25 before it’s over (the season).”

Worth Noting

Vikings owners and brothers Mark and Zygi Wilf didn’t attend yesterday’s groundbreaking event for a new privately funded practice facility and team headquarters in Eagan because their father is ill, a source told Sports Headliners. Leonard Wilf, Mark and Zygi’s cousin and another Vikings owner, represented the Wilf family.

General manager Rick Spielman, speaking at the event, predicted the new complex will be the most “unique and best” of its kind in the NFL. The 40-acre Vikings campus will have offices, a 100-yard indoor practice building and four outdoor fields including a 6,000 seat stadium that is likely to host premiere high school games.

While there’s been no announcement, it seems likely the Vikings eventually will move their preseason training camp from Mankato to Eagan. The new complex will be known as the Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center and TCO Stadium. It is scheduled to open in March of 2018.

Steve Poppen, the Vikings chief financial officer, said Eagan was “clearly” the best of three sites considered. Eagan mayor Mike Maguire said before the Vikings’ headquarters was built in Eden Prairie, the Eagan site had been promoted by a St. Paul developer in the 1970s.

Twins’ right-hander Tommy Milone, who this week was assigned to the bullpen, pitched five-plus innings in four of his last five starts after not achieving that in any of his first six starts this season. Milone hasn’t walked a batter in his last two starts.

Rob Antony, the Twins assistant general manager who could be a finalist to succeed Terry Ryan as the franchise’s baseball boss, started out in the media relations department. So, too, did Twins president Dave St. Peter and director of travel Mike Herman. The organization has long been known for its loyalty to employees and for promoting from within.

The Gophers open preseason football practice Friday. Saturday’s 10 a.m. practice at the Gibson Nagurski Football Complex is open to the public.

Former Gophers coach Glen Mason compared Minnesota senior quarterback Mitch Leidner to a 10-handicap golfer last week while doing analysis on the Big Ten Network. Mason said a 10-handicapper is inconsistent and Leidner needs to more like a five-handicapper.

Gophers coach Tracy Claeys told reporters at last week’s Big Ten media days in Chicago it will be important for he and new offensive coordinator Jay Johnston to give Leidner assignments that he is comfortable with during August practices.

A lot of college football programs, including the Gophers, are discounting tickets to boost sales. Big Ten rival Purdue has single game tickets starting at $5.

The U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team, with four Lynx players and Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve on the staff, has its first game in Rio de Janeiro Sunday. The U.S. team, favored to win gold, plays its opening game against Senegal starting at 10 a.m. CDT.

Vashti Cunningham, the 18-year-old daughter of former Vikings quarterback Randall Cunningham, isn’t expected to win the high jump in Rio but could surprise, and the Nevada native has already put Olympic coaches on notice she is a special talent.

Hamline has hired ex-Gophers women’s tennis star Julia Courter as its new head men’s and women’s tennis coach. The Pipers now have four former Gophers as head coaches with the others being Becky Bauer Egan (volleyball), Natalie Darwitz (women’s hockey) and Cory Laylin (men’s hockey).

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