Twins – Page 91 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Off-Season Questions for Twins to Answer

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

The Twins earned their first division championship since 2010 this year and hit an MLB record 307 home runs. They also won 101 games, one short of the club record for a single season, but the Twins were dominated in the postseason by the New York Yankees.

What’s next for the local MLB organization? Here are 10 pressing questions the club faces in the coming offseason.

1. Does Derek Falvey remain the club’s front office leader? Speculation continues the Boston Red Sox have interest in the Twins 36-year-old chief baseball officer who grew up in the Boston area. Losing the “boy genius” to another organization would be a setback as the Twins try to address offseason needs.

2. Is the ownership and front office zealous enough to elevate this franchise to a place among baseball’s elite? Success doesn’t always follow money but the Twins had a modest payroll in 2019 and certainly could expand it in the offseason because of their ongoing personnel needs. First-year manager Rocco Baldelli and his staff look like an asset in helping the franchise acquire free agents. Baldelli, 38, is a calm, steady leader who has surrounded himself with knowledgeable instructors, and they have created a welcoming culture for players.

3. Can the Twins find two or three new quality starters? It’s been obvious all season the team needs a better starting staff. The need wasn’t addressed during the season and has to be at the top of the off-season to-do list. Falvey, or his successor, will have to shop outside the organization for pitching help.

4. Will the Twins find a staff ace? It seems like the franchise has been searching forever trying to find a “bell cow.” Fans want to anoint Jose Berrios but he only flirts with success so far. The absence of a No. 1 pitcher is a huge handicap in the playoffs (see Berrios’ failed effort last Friday in the opener against the Yankees), and during the regular season when losing streaks need to be stopped or a must win is needed.

5. Who are the free agents the Twins want to retain? DH Nelson Cruz will be 40 next July but management has a club option on his contract for next season and will almost certainly want him back after he hit 41 home runs and became a dominant leader during his first season in Minneapolis. After Cruz, the Twins will need to sort through a number of players on their last year of contracts including quality starter Jake Odorizzi.

6. Next year will the Twins be anywhere near the home run producers they were in 2019? The core of expected returning players will offer power again but it’s not likely the Twins can hit 307 home runs in 2020. Maybe not even close because the prediction here is the MLB commissioner’s office wants to manufacture baseballs for next season that are more pitcher-friendly than the “rockets” flying all over the country this summer.

7. Is there any reason the 2020 Twins won’t have a roster again featuring personnel who can play many positions? The 2019 team had more players capable of playing various spots than any Twins club dating back to the franchise’s start in Minnesota in 1961. That’s a huge plus because it allows the organization to carry a max number of pitchers and allows Baldelli to move players around when injuries occur. It’s a long list of versatile Twins including Marwin Gonzalez, Ehire Adrianza, Luis Arraez, Jorge Polanco, Willians Astudillo, Mitch Garver, Miguel Sano, Max Kepler and Eddie Rosario.

8. Can the Twins have a season without losing a key contributor to suspensions for violating MLB drug policy? Michael Pineda might have been pitching better than any of the Twins starters when he was suspended in September for the rest of the season. With Pineda available the Twins could have started him instead of former Uber driver Randy Dobnak in last Saturday’s blowout loss to the Yankees. In 2018 the Twins began the season without Polanco who was suspended for 80 games. That was a significant loss for a team that earned its way into the playoffs the prior season.

9. Can Byron Buxton have a healthy season in 2020? His acrobatics in center field are worth not only the price of a ticket but at least a couple of wins per season to the Twins. But Buxton’s resume has numerous entries detailing his injuries and missed games, with the latest setback a left shoulder subluxation that placed him on the 60-day injured list in September, making him unavailable for important late season games and the post season.

10. Will Miguel Sano keep his weight under 300 pounds and avoid off-field incidents? Sano, 26, has the potential to be the long-term captain of the Bomba Squad, and perhaps become the franchise’s greatest home run hitter after Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew. But Sano’s weight and conditioning rightfully worry Twins fans. He is advised to avoid carbs, get his entertainment at daytime yoga sessions, and perhaps avoid the party life.

Worth Noting

Tracy Claeys acts on his convictions. He resigned a few days ago from his defensive coordinator’s position at Washington State, saying in a Tweet last Friday there was disagreement about “solutions” to the Cougars defensive woes. In his last days as Golden Gophers head coach in 2016 he backed his players instead of the University of Minnesota administration who had suspended some of them.

Cougars head coach Mike Leach hired Claeys in 2018. He told the Spokesman Review in an online story Saturday that “…I thought last season was as good a job by any defensive coordinator (as) I’ve ever had.”

Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said on his KFAN Radio show today that his top three running backs, Shannon Brooks, Mohamed Ibrahim and Rodney Smith, are expected to be available for Saturday’s game against Nebraska. Offensive tackle Daniel Faalele, who had to leave last Saturday’s game with Illinois, is also expected to be available.

Fleck said on WCCO Radio Sunday that freshman linebacker Donald Willis likely won’t play beyond the four games he has already participated in to protect his redshirt freshman status. Game action is ahead, though, for freshman linebacker James Gordon, Fleck said.

The Vikings defeated the Eagles, 23-21, last season in Philadelphia, and the rematch is Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium. Last Sunday against the New York Jets the Eagles became the first team in NFL history to record 10 sacks and score two defensive touchdowns in a single game (winning 31-6).

Several Vikings players, including Everson Griffen and Marcus Sherels, will visit The Richard M. Schulze Family American Cancer Society Hope Lodge Tuesday evening. Players will serve a meal to and spend time with residents and caregivers.

Another indication of volleyball’s success and popularity at Minnesota is tickets are sold now on Stubhub.com. As of yesterday, tickets started at $39 for home matches later this fall with Big Ten powers Wisconsin and Nebraska.

Bill Guerin, the Wild’s new general manager, has Minnesota connections including team executive Mike Modano who he played with on American teams competing internationally. Guerin’s first pro coach was the late Herb Brooks, first with the Utica Devils and then the New Jersey Devils in the early 1990s.

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Gopher Catalyst: Illini Loss in 2018

Posted on October 1, 2019October 1, 2019 by David Shama

A Tuesday notes column:

The Golden Gophers are 7-1 since last year’s embarrassing 55-31 loss to a bad Illinois team on the road. Minnesota has also won six straight games dating back to last season and that includes road wins over Wisconsin in 2018 and at Purdue last Saturday.

The last time the Gophers won six straight was during the 2003-2004 seasons. Minnesota’s overall records during those years were 10-3 and 7-5; with 5-3 and 3-5 totals in Big Ten games. Off to a 4-0 start this season, coach P.J. Fleck got his first opening conference win in three years against Purdue.

Right now the Gophers are favorites in their next four games, including this Saturday at home against 2-2 Illinois. The favorite label changes almost for sure when Big Ten power Penn State comes to Minneapolis November 9. After Illinois the Gophers face Nebraska, Rutgers and Maryland.

No team in the country runs slant patterns better than Minnesota does with its outstanding wide receivers. That’s what former Minnesota coach Glen Mason said on BTN Saturday after watching the Gophers gain 396 yards passing in their 38-31 win over Purdue, with a lot of yards coming on slant patterns.

Minnesota had four touchdown receptions from wide receivers in the game, with two by sophomore Rashod Bateman and one each from sophomore Chris Autman-Bell and senior Tyler Johnson. Fleck, who saw his Gophers score two touchdowns on plays following timeouts he called, said on his KFAN Radio show this afternoon that Bateman and Autman-Bell run about 22 miles per hour.

Minnesota sophomore quarterback Tanner Morgan is the Big Ten’s Co-Offensive Player of the Week after setting a single game conference record for passing completions. He was 21 of 22, a .955 percentage, the most in league history for any quarterback with 13 attempts or more.

The Gophers had issues with missed tackles in the Purdue game and Fleck said on the radio there was an emphasis on correcting the problem in practice today.

It will be interesting to see if the Gophers Athletic Department offers any more $10 flash sale tickets for home games. That seems unlikely for the Illinois, Nebraska and Wisconsin games but possible for Maryland and perhaps Penn State. A flash sale resulted in 7,150 tickets being sold for the home opener against South Dakota State.

The Nutrition Center at the Gophers’ Athletes Village is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. A variety of breakfast and lunch items is offered for about $11 per person.

Congratulations to Bob Stein and Alan Page on being selected for the Sports Business Journal list of the 100 most accomplished NFL alumni for what they achieved in their post-football careers. Stein, the former Gophers All-American defensive end who played for four NFL teams including the Minnesota Vikings, was a driving force as CEO for the expansion Minnesota Timberwolves and prior to that was a sports attorney. Page, the former Vikings defensive tackle and league MVP, is a retired state of Minnesota Supreme Court Justice who has devoted much of his life to community causes and last year was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House.

BTN covers Big Ten Men’s Basketball Media Day Wednesday including the news conference by Minnesota coach Richard Pitino starting at 8:30 a.m. from Rosemount, Illinois.

Sales of the new Goldy Gopher book (What Should I Be When I Grow Up?) has already resulted in $1,500 being donated to the Goldy Gopher Enhancement Fund at the University of Minnesota. Goldy’s Locker Room has partnered with Karen Kaler (wife of former U President Eric Kaler) to publish the children’s book featuring Goldy Gopher, with proceeds benefitting future Goldys.

The book, which follows the popular mascot on a journey around the University as he explores various fields of study, is exclusively available at Goldy’s Locker Room stores throughout the Twin Cities and online at goldyslockerroom.com. “Contributing to the mission of Goldy Gopher and the student athletes who make up the Spirit Squad is important to us. After all, Goldy is the face of our brand,” said Ron Leafblad, President and CEO of Gold Country.

Prep football coaching milestones: Marc Franz, Rogers, and Brian Remick, Red Lake County, won their 100th career games last Friday. Franz’s career record is 100-60 in 17 seasons as head coach at Rogers High School. Remick is 100-91 in 20 seasons as a head coach, including 12 at Red Lake County.

The Twins rank No. 5 in a Usatoday.com power rankings story about the 10 MLB playoff teams. Ahead of the Twins in the article posted yesterday are the Astros, Dodgers, Yankees and Braves.

When the Twins open their playoff series Friday against the Yankees in New York they face a team that defeated them four of six times during the regular season. The most memorable game might be the extra inning 14-12 Yankees win at Target Field July 23 that lasted five hours. There were six home runs in the game, with three travelling over 400 feet including a 457 blast by Minnesota’s Miguel Sano.

The Twins depart for New York on Wednesday and will work out at Yankee Stadium Thursday afternoon.

Twins president Dave St. Peter talking about the joy this year’s team brought to owner Jim Pohlad: “Jim…at his heart is a fan.”

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Word Is Twins Falvey Wants Long Stay

Posted on September 29, 2019September 29, 2019 by David Shama

With the emergence of the 2019 Twins as one of the best teams in Major League Baseball, the franchise’s front office leader, 36-year-old Derek Falvey, could be coveted by other organizations—and soon.

Falvey grew up in Lynn, Massachusetts near Boston. His home town is about a 20 minute car ride from Fenway Park, the historic home of the legendary Boston Red Sox organization that is looking for a new leader of its baseball operations. Twins president Dave St. Peter was asked by Sports Headliners if he expected the Red Sox to request permission to talk with Falvey, who received a five-year contract with Minnesota after being hired as chief baseball officer in November of 2016.

“I don’t know that,” St. Peter said. “What I do know is Derek and his wife (Meghan) love Minnesota. They’re incredibly committed to this community and what we’re trying to build with the Twins. Derek will speak for himself but I know that based on my time with him, his 100 percent focus is on Minnesota, and that’s where he wants …to be for a long, long time.”

Falvey will be a favorite to win the MLB Executive of the Year. The Twins, who finished with a 78-84 record last season, are among the biggest of surprise stories in baseball this year. Minnesota has a 101-60 record heading into today’s final regular season game against the Kansas City Royals, and can tie the 1965 team’s record of 102 wins in one season. The club has won a near franchise record number of games, led the AL Central for most of this season, shown both a remarkable consistency and resiliency, and hit a MLB record number of home runs, 304.

Other organizations will now look at the Twins when contemplating how to fill their staff needs on the big league and farm system levels. That doesn’t necessarily mean Falvey, GM Thad Levine or manager Rocco Baldelli will be leaving Minnesota but personnel further down on the organizational chart almost certainly will.

“The more success that we have, the more likely it is we’re going to lose some people to other organizations,” St. Peter acknowledged. “It’s just part of the deal. I’d much rather have that problem than have an organization that nobody is seeking anybody from.”

When Falvey was hired he quickly brought Levine to the Twins. The two have formed a close partnership. Their ideas, vision and personnel hires have changed the culture and the way the Twins operate. The franchise has invested in people, technology, systems and processes that have paid off and indicate future success, too.

“Derek is (an) incredibly intelligent, very relationship-focused individual,” St. Peter said. “In many ways we think he is the perfect leader for a modern baseball team.”

When St. Peter and the Pohlad family were looking for a new front office leader they learned from talking with candidates there was a high regard for the younger players in the organization. Falvey benefitted from the start in having developing talents like Jose Berrios, Byron Buxton, Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco, Eddie Rosario, Taylor Rogers and Miguel Sano under contract. They have been among the most signicant contributors to the surprising turnaround. But Falvey and helpers have brought in impact talent, too, including Ehire Adrianza, Willians Astudillo, Jason Castro, Marwin Gonzalez, Jake Odorizzi and Nelson Cruz, the veteran team leader and a popular choice for Twins MVP.

The decision by Falvey and Levine to fire manager Paul Molitor after last season was risky. Popular with the fan base and media, Molitor had been voted AL Manager of the Year in 2017. The decision to terminate him didn’t make sense to Molitor admirers and with the move Falvey and Levine positioned themselves for public ridicule in 2019 and beyond if Baldelli and the club failed on the field.

The 38-year-old Baldelli, who never managed before, took control of the Twins like he was a professor of the dugout and clubhouse. Baldelli has been unflappable in public, never berating players on the field or in the media. He and his staff, a reorganized group of coaches, have built trust with the players who are a diverse group with varied ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

“I think he (Baldelli) realizes that every player is different,” St. Peter said. “He has to have maybe a little different approach with one guy versus the next. But he also recognizes playing this game is hard and playing it over the course of 162 games in 180 days is really hard. There’s going to be ups and there’s going to be a lot of downs.

“There’s going to be some success but there’s going to be a lot more failures for every player. I think…Rocco understands that his role as the leader in this organization is to support those guys, to put them in a position to be successful.”

That success will have the Twins opening the postseason in New York against the Yankees on Friday. Minnesota’s road record, 55-25, is better than its 46-35 record for the home season in Minneapolis. “We’ve played incredibly well on the road so starting on the road in the postseason is not much of a concern,” St. Peter said. “It may even be an advantage.”

The Twins hope to have most of their injured players available for the postseason but reliever Sam Dyson, acquired in a trade with the Giants in July, may not even be with the club until 2021. He had shoulder surgery last week, and there is controversy whether he was injured when the Twins dealt for him. St. Peter doesn’t expect his club will receive future compensation from the Giants.

St. Peter is “bullish” about the Twins’ chances of competing for championships beyond this year. Despite a long list of expiring contracts, he expects the personnel core to return next season and that group could be blended with prospects the organization is optimistic about. That has the Twins president hopeful regarding competing for championships the next three seasons and beyond.

Owner Jim Pohlad was with the team last week when the Twins clinched the Central Division title. St. Peter believes the success was vindication for Pohlad who he thinks has been unfairly criticized by fans over the years as unwilling to spend money.

“It’s quite the opposite,” St. Peter said. “Jim has invested mightily in people, in process systems and facilities.”

St. Peter sees the support of the Pohlad family as providing a competitive advantage for the franchise. “Jim does not set a hard and fast budget (payroll) for our players. Derek Falvey has the autonomy to run our baseball operations. If you asked Derek, I think he would tell you that never once had Jim told him he could not do something.”

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