David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Twins Trade More Likely Next Week

Posted on July 23, 2019July 23, 2019 by David Shama

Enjoy a Tuesday Minnesota Twins notes column.

Twins president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners his club is focused on acquiring starting and relief pitching, “people that can help us down the stretch (of the schedule).” The MLB trading deadline is July 31 and there hasn’t been much activity by any of the teams yet, but St. Peter isn’t surprised.

“When you look at the past trade deadlines, 80 to 90 percent of the trades are made within the last three days before the deadline,” St. Peter said. “So I expect it will pick up…maybe some during the coming week, but for sure the following week going into July 31.”

Twins executives Derek Falvey and Thad Levine lead the franchise search to improve the pitching staff via trades with other clubs. Their rapport with other baseball decision makers is something St. Peter values.

“To me the ability to pull off trades is sometimes rooted in the relationships between the general managers and heads of baseball operations, and I am optimistic that we’ll do everything possible to improve our team,” St. Peter said.

The Twins have about a dozen pro scouts looking at other big league players. St. Peter said that number hasn’t changed over the years but what is different now from years ago is a lot of evaluation is done in Minneapolis with analytics and discussions. Falvey, the chief baseball officer, and Levine, the general manager, have demonstrated their player acquisition skills since being hired by the Twins in October of 2016.

A number of players acquired during the Falvey-Levine era are leaders on a Twins team that has been in first place in the AL Central Division for over 100 days. Although the club’s lead over second place Cleveland is only 3 games, St. Peter predicts his team will finish “at the top of the American League Central.”

Last night the Twins defeated the Yankees 8-6 in the opening game of a three-game series at Target Field. Minnesota came up with a first inning triple play, the first ever for the Twins at Target Field, and the club hit five home runs, including two by catcher Mitch Garver.

Dating back to 1999, the Twins have yet to sweep a series against the Yankees. The legendary franchise is 21-9 against Minnesota including winning two of three games earlier this season. The Yankees lead the AL East with one of the best records in baseball at 64-35.

But former MLB shortstop Roy Smalley, who works for Fox Sports North as a Twins analyst, doesn’t think the Twins are intimidated by past results against New York. “I think that’s overrated, that mystique stuff,” he told Sports Headliners. “The Yankees have been a really good team for a long time.”

Certainly this series, though, is another opportunity for the 61-38 Twins to measure themselves against one of baseball’s best. “I regard it as a litmus test against any of the good teams,” St. Peter said. “When we play Cleveland that’s a litmus test. The Yankees are obviously one of the better teams in baseball so we’ll be tested for sure, but we think we can match-up with them and play competitive baseball. Hopefully we can come out and find a way to win the series.”

St. Peter isn’t expecting any of the Twins-Yankees games to be sellouts but attendance will be over 30,000 each of the three nights. Announced attendance last evening was 34,627.

At the end of last week the Twins ranked No. 6 among the 15 American League teams in home attendance with an average of 26,308 fans per game at Target Field.

A week from tonight the Twins start a three-game series against the Marlins in Miami where home attendance is pathetic. The Marlins were averaging 9,809 per game at the end of last week.

Twins legend Tony Oliva, who turned 81 last Saturday, is a regular at a Bloomington fitness club.

Among the items being sold in the Twins Majestic Clubhouse Store at Target Field are authentic jerseys of various players priced at $300.

Dick Bremer, who started working Twins TV games in 1983, is doing a book with local author Jim Bruton that will come out next March.

Baseball returns to the Olympics in 2020 but don’t expect to see Twins like Jake Odorizzi pitching for the United States or Max Kepler in the outfield for Germany. MLB players are not allowed to participate but minor leaguers will be able to compete in the Olympics.

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Vikes GM Downplays Pressure on Him, Zim

Posted on July 21, 2019July 21, 2019 by David Shama

Perhaps longevity creates confidence and calm in the high expectations world of the National Football League. That was the impression Rick Spielman gave when asked about pressure on himself and Mike Zimmer for the 2019 season.

Spielman, the Vikings general manager, has been making personnel decisions for the Minnesota NFL franchise since 2007. Zimmer, the team’s coach since 2014, is now the longest tenured head coach in the NFC North Division. Spielman and Zimmer reportedly have contracts that extend only through 2020 so ownership appears to be scrutinizing its leaders.

Spielman was asked by Sports Headliners if there is more pressure going into this season on him and Zimmer than in the past? “Every year is pressure,” he said. “There is no difference than any other year.”

The Vikings open training camp this week coming off an 8-7-1 record last season and missing the playoffs. The record fit a pattern of the Zimmer era with alternate years of success including off and on participation in the postseason. Zimmer’s 2014 team finished 7-9 and missed the playoffs. His next team was 11-5 and lost its first postseason game. In 2016 the Vikings were 8-8 and again a playoff no-show. They had a memorable 2017 season at 13-3 and advanced to the NFC Championship game before losing to the Eagles.

The results of 2018 left the Vikings collectively and individually disappointed and angry, starting with their all business head coach. The attitude in spring practices was evident to Spielman and most everyone else. “Usually our team and coach Zim responds when there is a chip on his shoulder,” Spielman said.

Perhaps the Vikings can regain the NFC North Division title they lost last season but there is no consensus among pro football authorities they will do so. The prevailing thought is the Vikings, Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers are bunched so close the NFC North eventual winner will not be a surprise unless it’s the Detroit Lions.

The Vikings have a talented and veteran defense, with players who have been together for several seasons. The offense has two of the best receivers in football in Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs, and also a new found commitment to run the ball more because $84 million quarterback Kirk Cousins showed last season he can’t carry the team like the NFL’s elite passers.

A July 12 article by Patrick Daugherty on Yahoo sports pointed out that while Cousins had new career highs in completion percentage (70.1) and touchdowns (30), his performance declined in the second half of the season including in the last game of the season against the Bears when the Vikings needed a win to make the playoffs.

“Cousins also got worse as games (during the full season) wore on, with his completion percentage declining each quarter, from 76.1 in the first to 67.3 in the fourth,” Daugherty wrote. “12 of Cousins’ 40 sacks came in the final period, as did four of his 10 picks. With the Vikings’ season on the line in Week 17, Cousins managed all of 132 yards against a Bears team that was basically already locked into the No. 3 seed, giving it little to play for.”

Worth Noting

Billy Beane, the former Twins player whose gift for analytics was depicted in the movie Moneyball, is still with the low-budget A’s where he is an executive vice president and minority owner of the resourceful franchise known for its savvy personnel moves.

The A’s have turned former Twins starter Liam Hendriks into a top closer who consistently throws near 100 miles per hour. The trade-hungry Twins need a right-handed late inning closer to balance impressive lefty Taylor Rogers.

As of Sunday morning Hendriks had pitched 20.2 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to June 6. During that 19 game period he struck out 34 and walked three.

Hendriks saved last night’s 5-4 A’s win in the ninth inning at Target Field. It was Minnesota’s first loss this season after going into the ninth with the lead. The record now is 53-1.

Possible realignment of the Big Ten’s East and West Divisions in football was asked about by media at Big Ten Media Days last week in Chicago. Nothing has been announced by the conference but the East is consistently the stronger division. Moving Michigan to the West would ensure the Golden Gophers and Wolverines played every season for the famous Little Brown Jug.

Not only does realignment seem a possibility but so too does expansion of league members from 14 to 16. That’s another topic Kevin Warren could be dealing with this fall and later. Warren, the Vikings chief operating officer, begins working with outgoing Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany in September and then takes over as commissioner January 1.

Warren is a neighbor of Gophers coach P.J. Fleck in Edina.

Fleck talked about academics in Chicago, saying his players earned the highest GPA in the football program’s history last fall at 3.20.

Fleck on why talented wide receiver Tyler Johnson returned for his senior season rather than turning professional: “He thinks we’re going to be really good.”

A Cleveland.com poll of Big Ten reporters asked them who among the current head football coaches they would hire if they ran a Big Ten athletic department. In the results posted last Thursday Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald was the top choice with 14 of the 33 votes. Nebraska’s Scott Frost was second with nine votes. Purdue’s Jeff Brohm had four votes and finished third in the poll. Fleck didn’t receive a vote.

Another Cleveland.com media poll posted last Thursday forecast that Michigan will win the East and Nebraska the West. The Gophers are the choice to finish sixth in the seven-team division but did receive one first place vote.

Brad Salem, son of former Gophers head coach Joe Salem, is the new offensive coordinator at Michigan State.

Among ideas being considered by the NBA is allowing teams that don’t qualify for the present 16 playoff spots to play their way into the postseason. “We’ve looked at that for a couple of years,” Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor told Sports Headliners. “I just think that there is always a team or two that’s been injured, and has the worst record but now (they) have a pretty good team, and it gives them a second chance for making up for their lost season.”

X Games returns to U.S. Bank Stadium for a third consecutive year August 1-4. The made for TV and ESPN covered event might draw a total of 25,000 to 30,000 spectators to the stadium over the four days. The X Games will return in 2020 in the final year of the agreement at the stadium.

Minneapolis Golf Club’s course is closed for renovation until June or July of next year. Members can play other private courses including Golden Valley Country Club.

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Wolves Owner Sees ‘Building Year’ Ahead

Posted on July 18, 2019July 18, 2019 by David Shama

With a new president of basketball operations, revised coaching staff and roster shakeup since last spring, Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor expressed optimism about his franchise during an interview Tuesday with Sports Headliners, but he said it will be a challenge to make the playoffs.

“It’s going to be difficult, but that’s our goal (the playoffs),” said Taylor, who also thinks it’s unlikely his club will add an impact player in the coming months through free agency or trade.

The Timberwolves finished 36-46 last season and didn’t qualify for the playoffs after doing so a year earlier. It was a disappointing season for a franchise that has qualified for the postseason just once since 2004. Last summer the team was anticipating the season with Tom Thibodeau and Jimmy Butler being two centerpieces of the franchise but both are long gone.

Gersson Rosas replaced Thibodeau as president of basketball operations and Ryan Saunders took over Thibs’ coaching duties. The team’s perceived leader is no longer the outspoken Butler, with a mellower dude in Karl-Anthony Towns auditioning for the role much of last season and going into this one.

Gone are about half the players who were on the roster when the season opened last October, including personnel who were either starters or regular contributors off the bench. The roster now is shaping up as younger, less experienced and trending toward a more inexpensive payroll.

“I know that this is going to be a building year because we’re going to have young people, but I am optimistic just because I know that we have potentially a lot of young players who could play really a lot better,” Taylor said. “Now if we can just do that, (and) get confidence and not be injured, I think we could really have a fun year. I think they’re going to be a fun team to watch because (coach) Ryan (Saunders) is going to move that ball up and down the court really fast.”

Rosas and Saunders favor a fast pace offensively with the Timberwolves expected to emphasize more three-point shooting. Minnesota attempted 2,357 three-pointers last season, the fifth fewest in the NBA, per Basketballreference.com. Taylor said he expects the Timberwolves’ strategy will be to have players penetrate toward the basket and “kick” the ball out to open teammates for three-point attempts.

Towns, who some authorities consider one of the NBA’s top 10 talents, is 7-feet tall, and he is both a low-post scorer and three-point shooter. He is also a friend of D’Angelo Russell who the Wolves recently flirted with signing as a free agent. Russell averaged 21.1 points last season with the Brooklyn Nets before signing a new max contract for a reported $117 million four-year deal with the Golden State Warriors.

Both a point guard and shooting guard, the 23-year-old Russell would have given the Wolves a potential star player to join with Towns, also 23. With Derrick Rose and Tyus Jones moving on via free agency, the Wolves need backcourt help in both scoring and playmaking. And rumors persist the front office wants to trade veteran Jeff Teague, the team’s expected starting point guard who is overpaid at a reported $19 million salary this year.

Taylor said he came close to signing Russell, but when the Warriors offered the max money to the former Ohio State star, he didn’t get back to him or Rosas. Would Taylor have offered a max deal, too? “We never really got there, so I don’t know,” he said.

Asked about whether fans should anticipate one significant player acquisition before the season begins this fall, Taylor responded: “No, I don’t think so. We don’t have that person in mind. I mean we tried for Russell. That didn’t work out.

“…We don’t have anybody particular (targeting for acquisition) but we’re keeping our eyes open just in case that we find a team that wants to make some change. So I don’t know that it would be called significant. They’re looking (the Wolves front office) at some deals. but significant means probably somebody who can really break into the starting lineup and make a difference.”

Taylor said the organization is proceeding as if the present roster will be the team in the fall. The focus is to make the players on the roster better and bring them closer to reaching their potentials. “A lot of our goal is to improve within,” Taylor said.

When Timberwolves fans think about players changing for the better Andrew Wiggins leads most everyone’s list. The first overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, he has superb athleticism but too often appears and performs lackadaisically. Wiggins was the one individual Taylor mentioned when talking generally about the goal of players becoming better during the offseason: “…We gotta hope Andrew comes back with the improvements that we expect.”

What improvements does Taylor want to see from the 24-year-old forward-guard who he signed to a reported $147 million contract in 2017? Taylor specified getting better on defense, penetrating to the basket “like he did when he was a rookie,” and “concentrate on threes.”

Taylor said the players can’t do all the improving needed without help in multiple areas such as nutrition, conditioning and basketball skills. He believes the Timberwolves, including with new assistant coaches David Vanterpool and Pablo Prigioni, have talented instructors who can challenge the players and improve them.

Vanterpool was named associate head coach in June after seven previous seasons as an assistant with the Portland Trail Blazers. He is known for his defensive expertise.

Prigioni, an assistant last season with the Brooklyn Nets, has a resume of over 20 years of basketball experience in America and internationally as a player and coach. He is expected to make a significant impact in multiple areas including offensive play.

The Wolves find themselves in a challenging spot next season with not only a number of good teams in the Western Conference, but potentially four great clubs in the Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers. The affable Taylor, who has owned the Wolves for 25 years and saved the franchise from relocating, remains an NBA fan and said he looks forward to competing against the better teams on the schedule “to see if we can knock them off.”

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