David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Polanco Approved Twins Shortstop Deal

Posted on February 10, 2021February 10, 2021 by David Shama

Acquiring new starting shortstop Andrelton Simmons shakes up the Minnesota Twins infield, moving incumbents Jorge Polanco and Luis Arraez to other roles, but both players approved the free agent signing of Simmons before the deal was completed.

Thad Levine, the Twins general manager, told Sports Headliners that manager Rocco Baldelli received buy-in from Polanco and Arraez prior to bringing the Gold Glove winning Simmons to Minnesota. “That’s just the way he manages this team,” Levine said. “He is very transparent. He’s very communicative and he’s very upfront. The response from those guys was resoundingly positive. … I think they both felt they could learn a lot from Andrelton.”

During a nine-year career, Simmons has won four Rawlings Gold Glove Awards as a shortstop (2013 and 2014 with the Atlanta Braves, 2017 and 2018 with the Los Angeles Angels). He has also earned six Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Awards (2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019).

Simmons is the 11th player to win four-or-more Gold Gloves as a shortstop, and is one of only two at the position to win multiple Gold Gloves in both the American and National Leagues (joining Omar Vizquel). Since 2012, he leads all players in defensive runs saved (191).

Dave St. Peter, the Twins president, said improving the club’s defense was an offseason goal and targeting Simmons was part of the plan. “He’s a very special player, elite defender,” St. Peter told Sports Headliners. “Best shortstop in the game by every measure. So the idea of enhancing our defense has always been a target. There were multiple ways we could have done that but Simmons was always a guy that was in that conversation from the start of the offseason.”

On some clubs moving personnel around to make room for a new starter might not be well received, but in two years as Twins manager Baldelli has established a positive culture emphasizing a team approach. The 39-year-old skipper has teammates thinking about what’s best for the club, while knowing he will give everyone on the roster opportunities to contribute.

For Polanco that means after playing nearly 500 games at short for the Twins he is taking Arraez’s spot at second base as the team heads into spring training this month in Fort Myers. It looks like Arraez, after two seasons at second, becomes the club’s No.1 utility player seeing time at various positions. He will help fill the gap in replacing two utility players from last season, Ehire Adrianza and Marwin Gonzalez. Arraez has hit .331 and .324 in his first two seasons with Minnesota while seeing time not only at second but also in the outfield, third base and short.

“I think Rocco’s intent is to give Jorge Polanco every opportunity to play second base,” Levine said. “I think what we’ve seen the last couple years is how he has used (utility) guys…Luis Arraez is going to get ample opportunity to contribute and play. At what position has yet to be determined. I think we’ll be challenging him throughout spring training to enhance his comfort zone plying some other spots so that he can spell a bunch of guys and keep everybody fresh.”

Polanco struggled last season, at least partially because of an injured ankle. In the field his lateral quickness appeared diminished and throughout his MLB career his throws to first base have been inconsistent. His offensive production in 2020, including a .258 average, was off from past performance.

Polanco comes to spring training with two ankle surgeries behind him, with the most recent coming last fall. “I think he was meaningfully limited last year,” Levine said. “He is one of those players who plays through pain and never complains but I do think it really impacted him, especially at the plate last year. Also, with his lateral quickness. So he is in great shape right now and that is terrific news for the Minnesota Twins.”

Dave St. Peter (photo courtesy of Minnesota Twins)

St. Peter said Polanco, who hit .295 with 22 home runs in 2019 and once was rated by Baseball America as the best defensive infielder in the Twins minor league system, was dedicated in his offseason rehab. “He’s all in. He’s committed to putting in the work. We know what he can do offensively. I think a lot of it for him is going to be try to stay healthy. …”

With Simmons coming to the Twins on a one-year deal, the club has added an elite defender to match center fielder Byron Buxton. Buxton has won the club’s Defensive Player of the Year award four times. Last season he had a 1.000 fielding percentage (105 total chances) in 39 games (35 starts) in center field. His 11 defensive runs saved ranked second among major league outfielders and tied for fourth among all players (minimum of 300 innings played).

St. Peter considers catchers Mitch Garver and Ryan Jeffers “above average defenders.” Garver could be the regular catcher if he can revive his offensive numbers that nosedived in 2020 (hitting .167 after batting .273 with 31 homers in 2019). His reputation has been that of an offensive catcher.

“Oh, we think he is an above average receiver,” Levine said. “He’s done a tremendous job framing pitches. He’s always had the good arm so I think he’s really rounding into being a really solid defender.”

Being fortified with stingy defenders “up the middle” (catcher, short, second and center field) has forever been the gold standard for baseball teams. The Twins think they may have arrived. “We feel we have as strong a unit up the middle as anybody in the American League,” Levine said.

The club has made other offseason moves, re-signing key slugger and DH Nelson Cruz and adding pitching. St. Peter can offer no guarantees or predictions but his optimism about 2021 is evident.

“It’s an exciting time to be a Twins fan because I think you’ve got a club that is going to be amongst the better teams in the American League on paper,” St. Peter said. “And we’ll go to spring training with high hopes to…find a way to advance in the postseason and ultimately compete for a world championship.”

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Tom Brady Instincts Impress Bud Grant

Posted on February 8, 2021February 8, 2021 by David Shama

Tom Brady, 43, has been the quarterback on seven Super Bowl winning teams including last night when he helped lead the Tampa Bay Bucs to a 31-9 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. After the game he was given the Super Bowl MVP Award for the fifth time. “In our lifetime we’re not going to see anybody even close to him record wise,” Bud Grant told Sports Headliners during an interview this morning.

While setting NFL player records Sunday night for most Super Bowls won and Super Bowl MVP awards won, Brady completed 21 of 29 attempts (72.4 percent) for 201 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, a 125.8 passer rating. He also built on his Super Bowl records for the most career completions (277), passing yards (3,039) and passing touchdowns (21).

Grant, the former Minnesota Vikings coach who took four teams to Super Bowls in the 1970s, used to ask scouts about the instincts of players they were evaluating. The scouts spoke about the measurables of players like size and speed but Grant wanted to know more.

“I said, ‘No, instinct is not measured. It is observed.’ All the great players have good instincts. His instincts (Brady’s) are as good as anybody. He doesn’t make many mistakes. Even those jump balls that he throws, they’re pretty darn close to being right on the money. …His instincts tell him who to throw to, where to throw, when to throw.”

Bud Grant (photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings.)

When Grant coached he spoke of durability. One player might sprain an ankle and be sidelined for weeks, while another could be ready for next Sunday. Grant looks at Brady and sees a great quarterback who has been able to avoid injuries.

“One of the main things (about Brady’s success) is he’s durable,” Grant said. “He takes a few hits, not a lot. He gets rid of the ball quick. He’s like (Aaron) Rodgers. Those guys, as soon as the ball is snapped they know where they are going with the ball and they don’t get caught with the ball.”

While Brady generated a lot of attention last night, Grant said it was the Bucs’ defense that won the game. That unit contained Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who Grant compares with Vikings Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton. Mahomes, now, and Tarkenton in the 1970s when he quarterbacked for Grant, are two of the most entertaining escape artists in NFL history. The Bucs sometimes made Mahomes scramble for 20 yards and not have much to show for it. “The best team won, there’s no question about that,” Grant said.

Going into the game he didn’t realize how outstanding a team the Bucs, who came on strong late in the season and during the playoffs, really are. “I don’t watch that much football. I can’t sit there for three hours, or six hours on Sunday, and watch all those games. I’ve got other things to do. But I watch enough football and I enjoy it. …”

The beloved Hall of Fame coach, now 93 and healthy, has a large family of children and grand kids living within about 30 minutes of his Twin Cities residence. The pandemic has sidelined his legendary passion for hunting and fishing. Sometimes his outdoors companion is son Mike Grant, the Eden Prairie football coach. “We haven’t planned anything, only because COVID limits your options,” Mike said.

Worth Noting

Grant sizing up the entertainment value of last night’s big game: “It wasn’t a very good game to watch from a spectator standpoint. There weren’t a lot of big plays. …It’s probably going to be forgotten pretty quick, that game yesterday.”

Bob Hagan, the Vikings vice president of football and media communications, didn’t work the Super Bowl for the first time in 18 years. He has been part of NFL PR staffers from around the league servicing the media in the past, but the pandemic dramatically reduced credentialed media covering the 2021 Super Bowl.

Chiefs linebacker Damien Wilson, and wide receiver Tyler Johnson and safety Antoine Winfield Jr. from the Bucs, were Jerry Kill and Tracy Claeys Gophers recruits. Wilson wasn’t even ranked by 247Sports coming out of high school and came to Minnesota from junior college. Johnson and Winfield were 247Sports three-star players as preps.

Dan O’Brien said son Casey O’Brien starts work this week in a support position for RBC Wealth Management in downtown Minneapolis. The inspirational Casey, a former holder on the Gopher football team, earned his degree in finance at Minnesota in December. He completed his course work in 3.5 years while also playing football and fighting cancer (his Twitter page identifies him as a five-time cancer survivor). “He’s nine months cancer free right now,” Dan said.

Dan’s last day as athletic director at St. Thomas Academy will be April 2. He has accepted a position with Hays Financial Group in Minneapolis but will continue coaching football at St. Thomas. The former Gophers coach is grateful for the opportunity to continue in that role. “This fit right into their (Hays) philosophy of giving back to the community,” he said.

Garrison Solliday, the Mr. Football finalist from St. Thomas Academy, has preferred walk-on offers from Duke and Wisconsin, and is likely to play inside or outside linebacker in college. Danny McFadden, the Academy running back, has accepted a preferred walk-on invite to Stanford.

Word is Chet Holmgren, the Minnehaha Academy superstar who could be the No. 1 selection in the 2022 NBA Draft, will consider joining the pay-for-play G League team for elite prospects, but is leaning toward college next fall. Holmgren’s list of potential college programs still includes the Gophers. The programs in contention for the nation’s No. 1 prep prospect are: Georgetown, Gonzaga, Memphis, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina and Ohio State.

In yesterday’s 247Sports composite team rankings for 2021 recruiting, Wisconsin at No. 15 in the country led all Big Ten West football programs. The Badgers’ group of 21 recruits features one five-star offensive lineman and two four-star O-line prospects including Riley Mahlman from Lakeville South. Nebraska at No. 20 and Iowa, No. 23, are closest behind the Badgers, with Minnesota next at No. 37.

Karl-Anthony Towns, who because of COVID-19 protocol hasn’t played in a game since January 13, might return tonight in the Timberwolves’ home game with the Dallas Mavericks.

Fan criticism of Gophers basketball coach Richard Pitino is intensifying after three consecutive losses and a 0-6 road record. Pitino, now in his eighth season at Minnesota, has coached one team with a winning regular season Big Ten record.

A pessimistic reader asked if Minnesota can earn its way into the NCAA Tournament with a 14-12 regular season record. Highly unlikely. The Gophers, 11-7 right now, would probably need to win two games in the Big Ten Tournament to qualify for “March Madness.”

MLB.com didn’t include Twins minor leaguer Jhoan Duran in its top 100 MLB prospects listing but sees him as the organization’s player most likely to break through. A summary last Thursday said the right hander’s fast ball approaches 100 miles per hour and that Duran throws a “nasty splitter/sinker hybrid” that can get big leaguers out.

The Twins are hoping to play in front of fans this spring for more than the franchise’s direct benefit. Customers at Target Field could help revitalize downtown businesses.

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Twins Kept the Faith in Signing Cruz

Posted on February 3, 2021February 3, 2021 by David Shama

The Minnesota Twins and free agent Nelson Cruz have agreed to a one-year contract keeping him with the team in 2021. The agreement culminates an off-season of speculation whether the 40-year-old DH would return to an organization he’s made a major impact on during two previous years.

“There has been an ongoing dialogue throughout the offseason,” Twins president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners today while talking about negotiations. “We’ve always been optimistic that he was going to be a Twin.”

After last season both Cruz and the Twins expressed interest in renewing the relationship in 2021. “We take him at his word,” St. Peter said. “He’s told us… repeatedly, both last season and certainly through the off-season, that Minnesota was a very special place for him, and a place he would love to come back to.”

Twins management, though, had to consider the possibility a deal wouldn’t work out. Other personnel for DH were considered but Cruz was the target. “This was Plan A all along for us,” St. Peter said. “There’s certainly other players that potentially could have been acquired via trade, or what have you, but Nelson Cruz brings so much on the field. Maybe even more off the field in terms of the impact he has in our clubhouse, in our dugout, in our player development system and in our community. So he’s a huge asset for the Twins and we’re thrilled to have him as part of our organization.”

The mutual respect between the organization and Cruz was pivotal in continuing the relationship. “He’s deserved of that respect,” St. Peter said. “I think Nelson has really appreciated being part of the Twins organization. …I think it’s somewhere he feels very comfortable, he feels very welcome. I think he feels very much a part of the fabric of the Twins organization and to some extent the fabric of the Twin Cities. He’s loved spending his last couple of years in Minnesota.”

Cruz is credited with making a major contribution to that environment in many ways including being a model for other players in taking care of his body. His disciplined approach to training and nutrition are well documented. “He is quite a physical specimen and is obviously in tremendous shape at the age of 40,” St. Peter said.

With experience has come wisdom including knowledge about pitchers and general expertise of his profession. “His baseball related intellect is elite,” St. Peter said. “He understands the game inside and out.”

Cruz was a major contributor at bat last season when the Twins won the AL Central Division. He won the 2020 American League DH Silver Slugger Award in a vote by AL coaches and managers. In 53 games he hit .303 with six doubles, 16 home runs, 33 RBI, 33 runs scored, 25 walks, a .397 on-base percentage, a .595 slugging percentage and a .992 OPS. He ranked third in league on-base percentage, fourth in OPS, fifth in slugging percentage, tied for fifth in home runs and was seventh in batting average.

Last year Cruz was honored with the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award at the ESPY Awards. He also received MLB’s 2020 Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award, an honor voted on by his peers for a player they “most respect based on his leadership on the field and in the community.”

Jim Dutcher Talks Gopher Road Woes

The Gophers basketball team is in a road funk, with a 0-5 Big Ten record. All losses have been by double-digit defeats and full of embarrassing performances. Next up is a game Thursday night at Rutgers, winners of three consecutive conference games and with a 6-6 league record, 10-6 overall.

It will be interesting to see what the energy and collective confidence is of the Minnesota players. Are things at the point where the Gophers have taken a hit to their confidence? “Oh, I think it has to,” former Gophers coach Jim Dutcher told Sports Headliners.

Minnesota built a double-digit lead in the first half of last Saturday’s game at Purdue. Early in the second half the Boilermakers took the lead and won 81-62. “Once they got caught by Purdue, the game was over,” Dutcher said.

Dutcher, who coached the Gophers to the 1982 Big Ten title and remains a close observer of college basketball, stresses defense is the key in winning road games. “They’ve just had too many defensive breakdowns on the road, where teams end up having big second halves,” he said.

In addition to improved defense, ask Dutcher how the Gophers can build confidence on the road and he suggests playing inferior road opponents. He isn’t joking and points out that unfortunately for the Gophers their January 20 game scheduled in Lincoln against Nebraska (0-5 in the Big Ten) couldn’t be played because the Cornhuskers were dealing with COVID-19.

Minnesota’s remaining road games are at Rutgers, Maryland, Indiana and Penn State. Maryland is 3-7 in league games but used physical play to dominant Minnesota at Williams Arena last month (63-49 win). Indiana is 4-6 in Big Ten games and defeated Maryland at home and top-10 ranked Iowa on the road. Penn State, 3-7 in conference games, is 5-2 at home.

The Gophers, 4-6 in league games and 11-6 overall, are part of a talented and deep Big Ten. Minnesota has impressive home wins, including over Big Ten title contenders Iowa, Michigan and Ohio State to boost its resume for an NCAA Tournament invitation. More success is a must. “They’re going to need some wins along the way, either now or in the conference tournament, because they’re not a lock to go to the (NCAA) tournament right now,” Dutcher said.

Even Minnesota’s best player and leading scorer, point guard Marcus Carr, is struggling on the road, with one of his most difficult games coming against Purdue. A candidate for All-Big Ten, Carr scored six points, making 2 of 13 field goals and going 0-5 on three-point attempts.

“He certainly looked like he wasn’t a very confident player at Purdue,” Dutcher said. “Got off to a bad start. To his credit he was trying to get everybody else involved, but everybody else wasn’t scoring. …He’s a quality player. He just, like the rest of the team, has not been a confident player on the road.”

Worth Noting

Todd Downing, the former Eden Prairie High School and Minnesota Vikings assistant coach, is the new offensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans. Downing also played for the Eagles and longtime coach Mike Grant, who texted congratulations. “I just said give it to the big boys,” Grant told Sports Headliners.

Grant anticipates Downing is excited about his promotion from tight ends coach to OC. “I’d be excited, too. It probably pays $1 million a year,” Grant said.

Anonymous hockey authority talking about physical foes and 5-9, 200-pound Minnesota Wild rookie Kirill Kaprizov: “Put him on a milkshake and double cheeseburger diet.”

Capital Club organizer Patrick Klinger is excited about upcoming speakers via Zoom on February 26 and March 11, with Kim Davis and Jason Wright respectively. Davis is Executive Vice president, Social Impact, Growth Initiatives & Legislative Affairs for the NHL. In 2012 she was profiled with First Lady Michelle Obama in Essence magazine’s “28 most influential Black women in America.”

Wright is the NFL’s first Black team president, serving in that role for the Washington Football Team. At age 38 he is the youngest team president in the league and only the fourth former player (four different teams) ever to serve in that position.

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