Twins – Page 141 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Authority Lines Drawn for Wolves Leaders

Posted on April 22, 2016April 22, 2016 by David Shama

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor expects new hires Tom Thibodeau and Scott Layden to agree on decisions “95 percent” of the time.

Taylor signed Thibodeau, his new coach and president of basketball operations, and Layden, the franchise’s new general manager, to five-year contracts on Wednesday. Thibodeau has more than 25 years of NBA coaching experience and Layden has been with league teams since 1981 in coaching and front office work. Taylor said the two men like and respect one another, making it possible for them to mostly work in agreement.

But what happens with decisions when Thibodeau and Layden don’t agree?

Taylor told Sports Headliners in an interview yesterday there are defined areas of authority. He wouldn’t identify all of those areas but mentioned free agents and the NBA Draft as examples where Thibodeau and Layden know who has the final word.

Taylor said Layden might want to sign a certain free agent but if the coach doesn’t want him that won’t go further. Thibodeau has the final word on what personnel will comprise his roster. Layden will run the NBA Draft for the Wolves. Taylor also mentioned analytics as another area of authority for Layden who most recently has been assistant general manager for the Spurs.

Glen Taylor (photo courtesy of Minnesota Timberwolves).

Few problems are anticipated by Taylor who by coincidence signed Thibodeau and Layden on the owner’s 75th birthday. “They’re two seasoned guys who are going to work off of each other and (they) know that both of them sometimes may have to comprise a little bit, but they aren’t going to move ahead unless they resolve the issue,” said Taylor who expressed clear confidence they will.

Thibodeau made a reputation for winning games as head coach of the Bulls for five seasons, never missing the playoffs. His .647 winning percentage ranks seventh in NBA history (minimum 200 games).

Known for his attention to detail and demanding ways including on defense, Thibodeau will sometimes use his starters for long stretches. Taylor asked Thibodeau about the reputation that his regulars play too many minutes. The coach suggested the Wolves’ owner talk to guys who have played for him. “The way he said it, he would be confident they aren’t going to be critical of him,” Taylor said.

Taylor’s representatives did speak to players who said Thibodeau worked them hard and was demanding but the owner isn’t worried about his Wolves playing too many minutes. “Not after a long discussion with him on it, I am not concerned about it,” Taylor said.

Thibodeau and Layden spent hours interviewing with Taylor by telephone and in person. The interviews with the two were separate. “I just think that I can trust these two guys now to make the decisions that need to be made,” Taylor said. “I don’t think they’re going to rely on me. …”

Major financial decisions about salaries will be an area where Thibodeau and Layden come to Taylor. The three have talked salary cap but Taylor didn’t elaborate on his willingness to exceed the NBA maximum, indicating various details enter into such decisions and the timing of them. It seems likely, though, if Taylor is convinced extra money will bring the franchise closer to its first ever NBA title he will green-light Thibodeau and Layden.

Taylor said his new hires were his first choice when he looked for staffing to leading his basketball department. “I was very fortunate,” he said.

Worth Noting

The late Flip Saunders, who was Taylor’s coach and president of basketball operations, owned a small percentage of the team. Taylor asked Saunders’ widow, if she wanted to sell but Debbie answered the family wants to keep its ownership.

Watch the first period tonight with extra interest when the Wild, trailing 3-1 in its best of seven playoff series, plays the Stars in Dallas. “See if Dallas comes out swinging (focused), scores a couple of goals and takes the life out of the Wild,” a hockey industry source told Sports Headliners.

The Wild has just eight goals in four games and the team’s lack of offense was problematic during the regular season too. One issue, the source said, is lack of chemistry between the older and younger players. The club also doesn’t have a leader, with no one stepping forward to claim that role, he said.

The Stars can gain much valued playoff rest if they close out the series tonight and wait a few days for their second round games. That’s a real incentive but no more than what the Wild is playing for—a chance to stay alive in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and force a Game 6 in St. Paul Sunday.

Vikings defensive tackle Shariff Floyd will autograph memorabilia for $15 and $25 tomorrow (Saturday) from 1 to 2 p.m. at Southtown Shopping Center in Bloomington. His appearance is part of the two-day Saturday-Sunday Triple Crown Sports Collectibles Southtown Show. Show hours tomorrow are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Gophers, Twins, Vikings and Saints will all be playing home games the night of September 1. In three Minneapolis stadiums—within at the most six miles of each other—the Gophers have their opening nonconference game, the Twins face Central Division rival Chicago and the Vikings play their first ever preseason game in U.S. Bank Stadium. In St. Paul the Saints will host Winnipeg. More than 130,000 fans likely will be watching the four games.

Scheduling conflicts are routine in this overcrowded sports market. Last week, for example, the Timberwolves had a season-ending game in Target Center while a block away the Twins were playing their second home game of the year.

The Twins have opened on the road six of the last eight years but don’t look for that trend to change much in the future. The club doesn’t want to risk multiple postponements in Minneapolis because of bad weather in late March and during the first few days of April.

The Twins, now 5-11, lost their first nine games of the season, including six straight on the road. After yesterday’s loss to the Brewers in Milwaukee, Minnesota’s road record is 1-7.

While the Twins have struggled to find offensive production from their catchers since moving Joe Mauer to first base in 2014, Wilson Ramos is off to a fast start this spring with the Nationals. Ramos, who the Twins traded to the Nationals in 2010, is hitting .314. Last year he hit only .229 but had 15 home runs and a career high 68 RBI. The Twins figure to see Ramos this weekend during a three-game series at Washington that starts tonight.

The April 18 issue of Sports Illustrated includes former Gopher Eric Decker, Minneapolis native Larry Fitzgerald Jr., Burnsville native Lindsey Vonn and the Timberwolves Andrew Wiggins on its first ever Fashionable 50 list. Victor Cruz of the New York Giants ranks No. 1 among stylishly dressed athletes. Decker, Fitzgerald, Vonn and Wiggins didn’t make the top 10 listings but are included alphabetically among 40 other “sartorial icons.”

National Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron, who twice won the Kentucky Derby, will host a Casino Night Fundraiser Tuesday, April 26 at Canterbury Park to benefit the Leg Up Fund. The fund provides emergency financial assistance to jockeys injured while riding at the Shakopee racetrack.

Casino Night will be from 7 to 9:30 p.m. in Canterbury’s Triple Crown Club. Admission is $35 in advance, or $45 at the door, and includes a presentation by McCarron, dinner, soda, and 3,000 in chips. A $100 per-person VIP Meet and Greet event from 6 to 7 p.m. includes appetizers, open bar, and 6,000 in chips. Tickets can be purchased by calling (952) 445-7224.

Canterbury Park Hall of Famer and former WCCO Radio personality Dark Star, who died in 2012, would have been 70 Wednesday.

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‘Ballet Genes’ Gave Max Kepler Edge

Posted on April 15, 2016April 15, 2016 by David Shama

There are several interesting things about Max Kepler but the most important to the Twins’ future is whether he can become a regular in their lineup—perhaps even a star.

The 23-year-old rookie outfielder was called up from Triple-A Rochester last weekend to replace infielder-outfielder Danny Santana who went on the 15-day disabled list. Kepler played in Sunday’s game as a late inning defensive replacement in right field for Miguel Sano. It didn’t take long for Kepler to show his athleticism when he raced toward the fence and made a spectacular catch on a ball that could have gone for extra bases.

“To tell you the truth I don’t know how he caught that ball,” Jim Rantz told Sports Headliners. “It turned him around about three times, I think, and he caught that ball.”

Max Kepler (photo courtesy of Minnesota Twins).

Rantz is a retired Twins executive who was involved with personnel development when the club signed Kepler as a 16-year-old undrafted free agent in 2009. The Twins found Kepler in Germany and liked his potential so much they gave him a reported $800,000 signing bonus—believed at the time to be the largest ever for a European player.

The Twins were willing to take a gamble on a prospect from far away (going into the 2016 season only 43 German-born players had ever been major leaguers). “I think the genes were there,” Rantz said of the long and athletic Kepler. “His mother and father were ballet dancers.”

Parents Mark Rozycki and Kathy Kepler raised an athletic wunderkind who played baseball, soccer and tennis. He was a swimmer and skier too. He even earned a tennis scholarship to the Steffi Graff Tennis Foundation in Berlin. Along the way he has also learned to speak four languages including English.

As a 16-year-old, Kepler moved to Fort Myers with his mother. The Twins wanted him working out at their complex while he attended nearby Fort Myers High School. “He didn’t have much time socially to do anything because he went from school to the ballpark,” Rantz said.

Kepler hit .322 with 32 doubles, 13 triples, nine home runs and 71 RBI in 112 games at Double-A Chattanooga last season. He was the Southern League MVP during what was his most impressive of six minor league seasons. He entered this year ranked near the top among Twins’ minor league prospects, and Baseball America said his strike-zone discipline was tops in the farm system.

Kepler, 6-4 and about 205 pounds, has played first base in the minors but he has transitioned to the outfield where he continues to be an intriguing fielding and hitting prospect. “He made himself into a pretty good defensive player,” Rantz said. “He’s got that kind of bat that he’s going to hit for average and show a little power at times. He’s got some versatility. He can play the outfield, he can play first base. He’s just a good all-around athlete.”

Manager Paul Molitor has started Kepler in one game so far, Wednesday night, when Kepler was 0-4 at the plate and played in right field. He might return to Rochester when Santana is healthy, and he may not be back in a Twins uniform for awhile, perhaps even next season. But Rantz expects Kepler will one day be a major league regular—maybe a star.

“I think so,” Rantz said. “I think he’s going to be for sure (at least) an average major league player.”

Minnesota is a state in which Germans are the largest ethnic group. Berlin-born Kepler might just make a second home here.

Worth Noting

The Wild, down 1-0 in its Stanley Cup Playoff series with the Stars, has a short turnaround after tomorrow night’s game two in Dallas. The team heads back to the Twin Cities and has scheduled an 11 a.m. practice Sunday at Xcel Energy Center.

Pete Najarian, the nationally-known investment guru and candidate for the Gophers’ athletic director position, speaks to the CORES luncheon group on Thursday, May 12 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington, 1114 American Blvd. Najarian, a Minneapolis native, was a starting linebacker and captain of the 1985 Gophers. He was Academic All-Big Ten three times during his UM career. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans. Reservations and more information are available by contacting Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net.

Leave it to sports savant Dave Mona to come up with a startling comparison of Gophers and Purdue quarterbacks from the last 60 years. Mona researched back to 1956 and learned former Boilermakers quarterbacks—ranging from Len Dawson to Drew Brees—threw 1,340 touchdown passes as NFL/AFL players. Ex-Gophers have a total of five during the same period. Yes, five!

Minnesota’s Mike Hohensee threw four TD passes as a replacement player for the Bears during the NFL strike season of 1987. Gino Cappelletti, playing for the AFL Patriots, had one TD throw on a busted field goal attempt.

The Gophers’ total goes to six if Spergon Wynn is counted. Wynn played one season at Minnesota in 1996 when he attempted three of eight passes for no touchdowns, according to Sports-reference.com. Wynn, who transferred to Southwest Texas State, later played for the Vikings and threw the only NFL touchdown pass of his career for them, according to Wikipedia.com.

James Johannesson, the reserve redshirt freshman running back from Fargo who surprised fans at the Gophers Spring Game by rushing for 130 yards, comes from a football family. His father James played at Jamestown College while his uncle Jon Norstog played at North Dakota State. Johannesson is probably on anyone’s list of most improved Gophers coming out of spring practices.

Reed Larson, Bob Paradise and others will roast the late Herb Brooks for the Old-Timers Hockey Association during the evening of April 26 at the Prom Center in Oakdale. The Minnesota Minute Men will roast Jerry Kill at a noon lunch May 6 at Jax Café. Jim Carter, Joel Maturi and Ron Stolski will be among those roasting the former Gophers football coach. Dick Jonckowski will emcee both roasts.

Last Monday’s column about Gophers sports and the frustrations of boosters prompted more responses than any other since this website began in 2006. Nearly all responses expressed strong concern about the University of Minnesota’s commitment to athletics.

Baseball great Pete Rose, who was a celebrity guest at the Twin Cities’ Tapemark Charity Pro-Am years ago and still dreams of being enshrined in Cooperstown, turned 75 yesterday.

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Stakes High for Wild in Playoffs

Posted on April 13, 2016April 13, 2016 by David Shama

The Wild opens its Stanley Cup first round playoff series with the Stars tomorrow night in Dallas—and it looks like more than the usual postseason pressure is on Minnesota.

Critical evaluations and judgments about the Wild appear probable whenever this spring’s playoffs end. The franchise that initially began with the 2000-2001 season has never won its way into the Stanley Cup Finals and only once made the conference finals. Although the Wild has qualified for the playoffs each of the last four years, Minnesota didn’t advance beyond the second round.

General manager Chuck Fletcher and new coach John Torchetti may need an impressive stretch of playoff hockey by their team to further secure their positions. Fletcher has been the franchise’s general manager since 2009 and the Wild hasn’t been able to make a deep playoff run during that time. Twice the club didn’t make the playoffs.

Fletcher has hired three coaches during his era—Todd Richards, Mike Yeo and Torchetti. Yeo was dismissed in February when doubts prevailed about the team making the playoffs. Under Torchetti the club played well enough to just qualify for the postseason, but the inconsistency of play during 2015-2016 continued.

Torchetti’s job security could be tied to Fletcher. If Wild owner Craig Leipold decides to replace Fletcher, it’s certainly plausible the new GM will want another coach.

When the Wild is given a final report card after the playoffs, the players won’t avoid judgment either. There is speculation disgruntled players pushed Yeo out. If so, Leipold can ask how did his personnel respond to Torchetti?

Torchetti hasn’t hesitated to be direct with his players, letting them know what he thinks and sometimes telling them they need to just watch and learn. Whether this team has the skills and chemistry to beat the Stars will be interesting. Dallas won the Central Division with 109 points. Minnesota, with 87, had the fewest points of any Western Conference club qualifying for the playoffs and finished fifth in the seven team Central.

The Wild don’t have superstars but when Leiopold signed forward Zach Parise and defenseman Ryan Suter to $98 million deals in 2012 it raised expectations these two might do more for the franchise’s Stanley Cup ambitions than what’s happened so far. A playoff run where Parise and Suter have their best springs for the Wild will make fans feel the club has received more value from the expensive contracts. But Parise’s contribution toward that looks in doubt because of a back injury that will at least keep him from playing in the first two playoff games, according to numerous news reports.

There might not be a more worn out cliché in sports than a hot goalie can take a team deep in the playoffs. Goalie Devan Dubnyk reportedly signed a $26 million, six-year deal last summer to stay with Minnesota. Much will be expected of the 30-year-old Dubnyk whose regular season goals against average of 2.33 didn’t earn a spot among the NHL leaders but was certainly better than the league average of 2.51.

The franchise is increasing ticket prices for next season. Part of the fans’ perspective and attitude about those prices will be impacted by how the team performs. Customers will obviously feel better about the extra expense with a big playoff run.

Worth Noting

The Wild will have home playoff games against the Stars next Monday and Wednesday. Both are certain to be sellouts. The club has sold out 106 straight regular season games and all 26 playoff games in franchise history—with each postseason game surpassing 19,000 in attendance. The official seating capacity for games at Xcel Energy Center is 17,954. Standing-room-only tickets allow for additional capacity.

The franchise set a regular season home attendance record during 2015-2016 by averaging 19,062 fans per game. Thirty-five of the club’s 41 regular season home games drew over 19,000 fans.

The Twins announced this morning they have placed left-handed pitcher and All-Star closer Glen Perkins on the 15-day disabled list with a left posterior shoulder strain, retroactive to April 11. To replace Perkins on the 25-man roster, the Twins have recalled left-handed pitcher Taylor Rogers from Triple-A Rochester. Rogers will make his major league debut with his first appearance—possibly tonight when the Twins play the White Sox at Target Field. He has a career minor league record of 37-28 with a 3.27 ERA.

The Twins, Rod Carew and the American Heart Association will promote the Heart of 29 Campaign at Target Field with a pregame ceremony tonight featuring heart disease survivors including Carew. Twins players will wear Heart of 29 patches on their red jerseys.

WCCO Radio Sports Huddle host Dave Mona and his wife Linda drove around Ramp A for 37 minutes searching for a parking space prior to Monday’s Twins opener at Target Field. Frustrated, they ultimately skipped the game and went home to watch on TV.

Bob Lurtsema presented a gold football to his old high school earlier this week. In recognition of the Super Bowl’s 50th anniversary, the NFL is providing players who participated in the games with gold footballs to give their high schools. Lurtsema, who played for Ottawa Hills High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was a defensive lineman on Vikings Super Bowl teams in the 1970s.

While in Michigan, Lurtsema also stopped at his college alma mater, Western Michigan in Kalamazoo. His Broncos jersey is on display in the team’s weight room.

Lurtsema is a believer in Teddy Bridgewater, the Vikings’ 23-year-old quarterback who starts his third NFL season next September. “The media is way too rough on him,” Lurtsema said.

Look for media reports about Gophers men’s basketball tonight and tomorrow after head coach Richard Pitino meets with journalists this afternoon to talk about the program’s offseason. Media will also watch player workouts.

The Lynx have two second round draft choices (No. 14 and 22 overall) and one third round (No. 35 overall) in tomorrow night’s WNBA Draft. ESPN2 will televise the first round starting at 6 p.m. Minneapolis time. ESPNU will televise the second and third rounds.

Former Gopher Rachel Banham, the 2016 Big Ten Player of the Year and the conference’s all-time leading scorer for women’s basketball, will be the No. 4 selection in the first round after being chosen by Connecticut, according to Bleacherreport.com’s mock draft. Draftsite.com predicts Banham will be the No. 5 selection by Dallas.

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