Posted June 1, 2011    

•Jon Rauch

•Kyle Gibson

•Bruce Smith

•Vikings Stadium

•David Kahn

Rays Solved Bullpen, Twins Did Not 

Covering the Twins beat with notes and comments:

The team’s awful bullpen has a major league worst 5.58 ERA, according to stats from espn.com.  Last season Minnesota’s pen finished eighth best in the big leagues with a 3.49 ERA.                    

The Twins’ front office chose to rid themselves of bullpen pitchers fans are now seeing in their dreams.  Without relievers Jon Rauch, Jesse Crain and Matt Guerrier, the franchise now has a bullpen that might not even be that effective in Triple A which is where some of their pitchers belong.  

Contrast the work of the Twins’ front office with the low budget but successful operation in Tampa Bay.  Last season the Rays’ bullpen had a 3.33 ERA, the fourth best in the majors and tops in the American League.  This season the Rays’ relievers, despite a rebuilt pen, are still effective with a 3.60 ERA, sixth best in the AL. 

Sports Illustrated reported in its May 23 issue that the Rays lost their six top relievers during the offseason.  “The Rays have built another good bullpen by chasing skills rather than last year’s statistics,” according to S.I.

Twins fans looking for encouragement will be tracking much hyped infielder Miguel Sano this summer when he plays in the Gulf Coast League.  Sano, who turned 18 last month, might be the organization’s best position prospect.   

The 6-3, 195 pound native of the Dominican Republic was ranked last year by Baseball America as the best power hitting prospect in the Twins organization.  Twins general manager Billy Smith compared Sano on WCCO Radio's Sports Huddle last month with Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera, a muscular player who has been among baseball’s premier hitters and sluggers the last several years. 

The Twins signed Sano to a bonus contract in 2009 for a reported $3.15 million.  In 41 games and 148 at bats with the Twins entry in the Gulf Coast League last year, he hit .291 with four home runs and 19 RBI.  He will be back with the same team in the Gulf Coast League when the schedule starts later this month.

 

Twins & More 

Baseball America’s top 10 Twins prospects going into this season were (in order) pitcher Kyle Gibson, outfielder Aaron Hicks, infielder Miguel Sano, outfielder Joe Benson, outfielder Ben Revere, pitcher Liam Hendriks, pitcher Alex Wimmers, pitcher Adrian Salcedo, outfielder Oswaldo Arcia and pitcher Carlos Gutierrez. 

Baseball America got it right in 2003 when ranking the Twins’ top three prospects as Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer.  

Twins infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka is eligible to come off the disabled list next Tuesday.  He last played in a major league game on April 7.   

Jake Mauer, Joe Mauer’s grandfather, predicted last month the Twins' catcher would return from the disabled list by today, but still no confirmation when Joe will be back in the lineup.  

The Twins finish a three game series in Detroit tonight.  The Twins are 0-8 in their last eight games against the Tigers.  

Bruce Krinke said discussions with the Gophers marketing department are to possibly present a bronze bust of legendary Minnesota Heisman Trophy winner Bruce Smith at the September 24 game against North Dakota State at TCF Bank Stadium. Two busts have been completed by Faribault artist Ivan Whillock immortalizing Smith, a Faribault native and the only Gopher ever to win the Heisman.  Plans are for one bust to be displayed at the University and the other at Faribault High School.  

Krinke, a Gophers fan who has helped lead the funding drive to pay for the busts, also said one of the busts will be on display June 21-24 at the State Bank of Faribault.  It’s hoped that Smith’s sister, June Smith, will be able to attend a commemorative luncheon on Friday, June 24 in Faribault.  Smith, who won the 1941 Heisman and later inspired a Hollywood movie titled Smith of Minnesota, grew up in Faribault. 

 

Notes Plus 

Tony Spadafora, a local stadium authority who for years has studied the Vikings’ need for a new facility, emailed that his research shows an Arden Hills stadium will cost $980 million versus $985 million for a new building on the Metrodome site.  Spadafora wrote: “The Arden Hills plan builds a retractable roof stadium with plenty of room for tailgating, which most fans want, and costs $5 million less than the Metrodome plan. Or you can say the Metrodome plan builds a fixed roof stadium with little room for tailgating, which few fans want, and costs $5 million more than the Arden Hills plan.” 

The Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission website arrives at a different conclusion. The MSFC projects Arden Hills will cost about $200,000 to $300,000 more than the Metrodome site.  http://www.msfc.com/stadium.cfm 

If a new stadium is built on the Metrodome site, the Vikings will have to play a couple of seasons at TCF Bank Stadium.  The switch in venues, including because of more limited seating capacity, will result in decreased revenues for the Vikings and it’s believed that any new stadium transition plan will compensate the franchise for lost revenue.

Timberwolves’ basketball executive David Kahn is often second-guessed for not retaining Kevin McHale as coach two years ago.  McHale is a better coach than Kahn-hire Kurt Rambis and McHale may have a successful run as the new Houston coach, but the situation in Minneapolis was bad two years ago.  McHale’s image with the Wolves franchise, mostly because of his poor personnel decisions while leading the basketball department, was negative.  No one should blame Kahn for wanting a fresh start back in 2009.  Most NBA administrators would have done the same.    

Angela Hermann is Canterbury Park’s new Paddock analyst, replacing Kevin Gorg who is busy with FOX Sports North Twins coverage.  

Ostrich and camel racing, among the track’s most popular promotions ever, returns on Sunday, July 17.  

Happy birthday on Saturday to WCCO Sports Huddle host Dave Mona.  

The Intercollegiate Tennis Association has named Carleton’s Luciano Battaglini the Wilson/ITA National Women’s Coach-of-the-Year.  He coached Carleton to a second place finish in the MIAC and a top 20 national ranking.

 

Kevin McHale
 

Luciano Battaglini