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Twins Forecast Dim from National Media

Posted on April 2, 2012April 2, 2012 by David Shama

The Twins open their regular season in Baltimore on Friday and their doubters include the national media. Sports Illustrated and Sportingnews.com predict the Twins will finish fourth among the five teams in the American League Central Division while Bleacherreport.com projects fifth place for Minnesota in the final standings.

In its March 26 baseball issue, S.I. questioned the Twins’ defense, pitching and lack of run production. The magazine believes Target Field (opened in 2010) isn’t working out because the team’s pitchers (minimal strikeouts) allow a lot of baseballs to be put in play and mediocre fielders, including outfielders, will be chasing those balls. Then, too, Twins batters can’t knock the ball over the fence at spacious Target Field.

S.I. quotes an anonymous rival scout about the Twins. He thinks Joe Mauer is no longer capable of winning batting championships and wonders if Justin Morneau is ever “going to be that scary middle-of-the-order hitter again.”

Pitching? The scout said the Twins don’t have a late inning reliever they can count on, and he wasn’t upbeat about the starters either. “None of their starters are great,” he said. “The rotation is full of 3s and 4s.”

The Twins lost 99 games last season and to improve that record a lot in 2012 the often injured “M&M Boys,” Mauer and Morneau, and starter Francisco Liriano will have to lead the way, Sportingnews.com said in its AL Central preview last week. “Not only must both (Mauer and Morneau) stay on the field, they must produce at their past MVP levels. Meanwhile, inconsistent but talented lefthander Francisco Liriano must emerge to fill the ace void.”

The Sporting News website said if Mauer and Morneau “spend more time in the trainer’s room than on the diamond, Minnesota won’t be relevant after May.”

Bleacherreport.com also expressed multiple and similar concerns about the Twins in its division preview last week. Included were Morneau’s health, starting pitching and the commitment to Matt Capps (4.25 ERA in 2011) as the team’s closer. “If all of these red flags turn out to be nothing, the Twins will finish much higher than last place in the Central,” the website said. “As of now, we haven’t seen anything from them, so there’s no reason to expect anything to be different.”

All three media sources predict Detroit will win the division. Sports Illustrated and Sportingnews.com project Kansas City and Cleveland to finish second and third, while Bleacherreport.com reverses the Royals and Indians. Chicago received a fifth place forecast from both S.I. and Sportingnews.com while Bleacherreport.com has the White Sox finishing fourth.

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Worth Noting

Posted on March 26, 2012March 26, 2012 by David Shama

Twins minor league executive Jim Rantz told Sports Headliners that Tsuyoshi Nishioka has been “playing a lot of shortstop” since being demoted last week to Triple A Rochester’s training camp. However, the second year Japanese infielder “may end up at second base” if shortstop Brian Dozier (now with the Twins) plays for Rochester.

Nishioka disappointed the Twins in the field and at bat not only last year but in spring training this month. How has the man who the Twins gave a $9 million contract to reacted to the demotion? “His mental approach seems okay,” Rantz said. “He’s gotten after it.”

Rantz said the Twins may eventually use Nishioka as a utility player, someone who can play shortstop, second base and third base. He hit .226 for the Twins last season while playing shortstop and second base, making 12 errors in 66 games.

Former Twins general manager Billy Smith now has the title of special assistant to the president and general manager. Rantz said Smith’s work includes responsibilities with the Twins’ spring training facilities, and the baseball academies in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic.

As of this morning the Twins have 38 active players in camp: 17 pitchers (2 non-roster), 5 catchers (2 non-roster), 10 infielders (4 non-roster), and 6 outfielders (1 non-roster).

The Gophers hockey team defeated North Dakota yesterday to advance to the Frozen Four in Tampa on April 5 but only 10,974 fans were in attendance at Xcel Energy Center. Minnesota earned its 20th program appearance in the national semifinal finals where the Gophers will play either Boston College or Minnesota Duluth.

The Wild recalled forward Chad Rau yesterday from Houston. He made his NHL debut on January 21, scoring the winning goal against Dallas.

The annual Minnesota Football Coaches Clinic has pre-registrations of over 900. The Thursday-Friday clinic this week will be at the DoubleTree Hotel in St. Louis Park and TCF Bank Stadium. Speakers will include Vikings assistant coach Jerry Saxon and University of Houston head coach Tony Levine. Registrations will continue to be accepted online (mnfootballclinic.com) and beginning at 2 p.m. Thursday at the DoubleTree.

Former Gophers athletic director McKinley Boston, now the A.D. at New Mexico State, said the Aggies will have 12 junior college transfers on the 2012 team including nine at spring practice. He expects the Aggies to contend for the WAC championship next fall. New Mexico State’s head coach is former Gopher player DeWayne Walker.

The Rochester Quarterbacks Club will induct ex-Gophers football player Tom Robbins into its Hall of Fame on April 16. Other inductees will include St. Thomas University swimming coach Tom Hodgson. The club president is Rochester radio legend Ed Rauen.

Former Wolves coach Flip Saunders will speak to the C.O.R.E.S. group at a May 10 luncheon in Bloomington. (C.O.R.E.S. is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans.)

Recording artist Vanilla Ice will perform during halftime of the Timberwolves-Celtics game at Target Center on Friday night.

Ex-Gophers football player Lewis Garrison officiated the Division II men’s basketball championship game on Saturday between Western Washington and Montevallo.

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Worth Noting

Posted on March 23, 2012March 23, 2012 by David Shama

Does the search for a new Gophers athletic director include Wisconsin deputy athletic director Sean Frazier?

Jerry Kill said at his pre-spring practice news conference that senior quarterback MarQueis Gray has “tremendous ability” but must continue to progress like he did at the end of last season. “Is he our starting quarterback?” Kill asked. “You bet. If there’s three guys back there and somebody outperforms him, then you’re going to play the best player.”

Among the quarterbacks behind Gray are sophomore Max Shortell who played last season, and freshmen quarterbacks Philip Nelson and Mitch Leidner who enrolled early at Minnesota to participate in spring practice. With the possibility of injury, Kill said it’s imperative the Gophers have a ready replacement for Gray.

Star Tribune columnist Sid Hartman speaking to Kill about junior punter Dan Orseske who was inconsistent last season: “I could do as well as your guy did last year.”

Kill answered that the coaches could have done more to help Orseske who averaged 37 yards per punt in 2011. He also said redshirt freshman Peter Mortell will compete for the punting job.

Defensive tackle Scott Ekpe is only 17 but has shown a remarkable will to gain weight and strength since enrolling at Minnesota this winter. The 6-foot-4 Lewisville, Texas native has seen his weight increase from 248 to 276, according to Kill. “Just think in four years what that youngster will look like,” Kill said.

Kill talking to Sports Headliners earlier this year about college coaches like Michigan’s Brady Hoke who can access private funds almost on demand to help their programs: “If he needs $100,000 for something, he’s gonna get it in five minutes.”

The Vikings are under the NFL salary cap but don’t take that as an indication ownership is planning to sell or move the team. The Wilfs and the NFL can see progress being made on the stadium issue here. No stadium deal this spring in the legislature won’t prompt a transfer to Los Angeles.

The Twins’ big four off-season personnel losses were hitters Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel, and Jim Thome, along with relief pitcher Joe Nathan. In spring training so far Cuddyer is hitting .286 with Colorado, Kubel is batting .242 for Arizona, Thome, with Philadelphia, is hitting .273 and Nathan has a 13.50 ERA for Texas in four innings.

Twins first baseman wannabe Chris Parmelee is hitting .333 with two home runs and has six RBI. Justin Morneau, trying to recover from injuries and with two years remaining on his contract, is batting .091 with two RBI and no home runs.

Star Tribune columnist Jim Souhan said on 1500 ESPN Wednesday that a Twins official told him Parmelee could have a Kubel-like career at the plate. Kubel’s career statistics include a .271 batting average and three years he’s hit 20 or more home runs in a season.

Brian Dozier, the 24-year-old infielder trying to make the jump from Double A to the Twins starting shortstop in 2012, was rated this off-season by Baseball America as having the best strike zone discipline and being the best defensive infielder in the organization’s minor league system.

Timberwolves fourth-year forward Kevin Love has no chance of winning the NBA MVP award because his team plays .500 basketball and his name is not as prominent as other stars in the league. Love, though, is the only NBA player who ranks among the top five individuals in scoring average (25.7) and rebounding (13.7).

The Gophers have earned a trip to the NIT semi-finals in New York four times prior to this year, but the 2012 team is the first in school history that won all its qualifying games on the road. Minnesota plays Pac-12 Conference champion Washington in a semi-final game in New York’s Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night.

Hopkins coach Ken Novak Jr. talking about Apple Valley’s Tyus Jones, considered by some authorities to be the best sophomore point guard in the country: “He’s kind of like one of those kids like Ricky Rubio (and) Royce White that don’t care if they score. Not searching for numbers, just playing for the beauty of the game, playing to win games. He’s a kid that people just love to watch. Why? Because he’s selfless. ..”

With the winter sports season completed, Augustana (Sioux Falls) has taken the lead in the NSIC/US Bank All-Sports Standings. The Vikings have moved up from third place in the fall and lead second place Minnesota Duluth and third place Minnesota State, Mankato.

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