Category: Wild

The Twins have made it clear the club will listen to any offer from another team regarding a trade. That translates to anyone on the roster including their highest paid player, shortstop Carlos Correa.

But that stance doesn’t translate into a desire by either the franchise or Correa to part ways. Longtime Twins president Dave St. Peter made that clear in an interview with Sports Headliners.

“…There’s no concerted effort to move Carlos Correa, nor is there an effort from Carlos Correa to get out of Minnesota. We signed him (as a free agent in 2023) to help us win a lot of games.  When he’s played, he has helped us win a lot of games. We’re hopeful for 2025.”

Trading Correa has drawn speculation locally and nationally. Speculators have thought the Twins might want to reduce their payroll by moving on from Correa and add coveted young prospects from another team.  It’s been fair to wonder if Correa’s injuries the last two seasons have discouraged the Twins, or if the 30-year-old shortstop, who wants to win championships like he once did with the Astros, would prefer a new start.

“Carlos loves playing for the Twins,” St. Peter said.  “He loves living in Minnesota.  He’s very focused and excited about the 2025 season with our team.  He sees the potential with so many young players that he’s already played with, and he knows our farm system is ranked No. 1 or 2 in all of major league baseball.  So, this clearly is where Carlos wants to play.

“He was one of the top 10 players in baseball the first half of last season and unfortunately he was hurt at the break (All-Star Game period) and we didn’t get him back until late. But when he played last year, Carlos Correas was one of the premier players in our game. We have to make sure we put him in a position to play more games in 2025.”

Correa played in 86 games for the Twins last season.  In 2023 the total was 135 but he played hurt a lot of the time. He suffered from plantar fasciitis in 2023 (left foot) and 2024 (right foot).

St. Peter said numerous doctors have been consulted and there’s been some “different training” approaches to cope with the problem.  Optimism currently prevails.  “Carlos is in a really good spot right now and he’s certainly expected to come to spring training full go, ready to play.”

The Twins played much of last season looking like a lock to be in the playoffs after winning the Central Division in 2023 and winning a postseason series against the Blue Jays. There remains a core of roster talent that perhaps isn’t valued enough on the outside because of a poor finish to the 2024 season.

“…Through the middle part of August that was a pretty good roster,” St. Peter said. “One of the better ones in the American League.  So, I think that the challenges we experienced late in the season I am hoping are going to resonate with our young players, (and) they’re going to learn from it. They’re going to grow from it. But, yeah, we’re looking to make the team better and try to shore the team up with probably a focus on additional pitching.”

Wild Owner Doesn’t See A Kaprizov ‘Drawn Out Negotiation’

Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov is a favorite to win the NHL’s Hart Trophy recognizing the league’s MVP.  The 27-year-old electric playmaker has been special since his first season in 2020-2021 but production has gone to another place this fall.

“We’ve never seen Kirill at this level,” Wild owner Craig Leipold told Sports Headliners after being asked if his superstar is entering his prime.  “What we don’t know is what else does he have left? What more does he have to give?

“…He’s definitely getting into his peak years and he’s a special player.  We all know that.  We talk about it, and we’re lucky to have him on our team and we look forward to re-signing him for eight years.”

Next summer the Wild can talk about extending Kaprizov’s five-year $45 million contract that he signed in September of 2021.  The Russian native will move into the company of the NHL’s best paid players.  Right now his contract value of $9 million per year doesn’t rank in the league’s top 30 of highest paid players.

Leipold doesn’t see a “long drawn out negotiation,” but adds he’s been wrong before regarding contracts.  Still, his words are indicative of how much he values Kaprizov.

“He’s bringing other players with him,” the Wild’s owner said.  “Challenging them, bringing them up to his level.”

That “level” has been an extraordinary team start for the Wild.  Minnesota is near the top of the NHL standings and ESPN.com has the Wild No. 1 in its power rankings.

The Wild didn’t even qualify for the playoffs last season and the franchise has never won the Stanley Cup. Leipold describes the team’s hot start as a “little unexpected” but understands how it’s happening.  Kaprizov and others are scoring goals and accumulating points, the goal tending has been superb, and the defense strong on a team that gets  along well with each other, bonding on and off the ice, and benefiting from the direction of second-year coach John Hynes.

”I don’t think any team I’ve owned has ever been in first place this late in the season.  One-third through the season. …I want to get used to it,” said Leipold who has owned the Wild since 2008 and before that the Predators.

These are heady times even for the Wild’s employees in the team’s office. “When the team is playing well, you see it in every aspect of our business. You come in and the employees are all up.  Everyone of our employees are all hockey fans first.  They love the game. They love being part of our organization, and when you’re winning like we are, it’s fun. … I think they all recognize that we’ve got  a really good team and we’re really young so our window is wide open for a long time.”

Leipold cautions, though, that his team needs improvement. “For sure penalty killing and power play are two areas that we need to improve on. It will happen. We’re not at the level we want to be or need to be in order to sustain being a top five team in this league. You’re going to have to have a good power play and a good penalty kill, and right now we don’t .”