Posted May 6, 2010    

•Wilson Ramos

•David Kahn

•Kyle Okposo

•Brett Favre

•MIAC Award Winner

Plans for Twins Ramos Draw Interest  

Don’t expect Twins management to rush decisions about rookie catching sensation Wilson Ramos.  Fans and media started wondering about his future with the team after a few games this week when he replaced the injured Joe Mauer.   

Ramos, who was recalled recently from Triple AAA Rochester, had seven hits in his first nine at bats in the big leagues.  That set off a frenzy about the young Venezuelan with observers speculating about his future after Mauer returns to the lineup. 

General manager Bill Smith was noncommittal during an interview with Sports Headliners.  But that doesn't mean he too isn’t impressed with Ramos.  “We love him,” Smith said.   

There’s no doubt the 22-year-old is one of the organization’s best prospects (regardless of position) but Smith didn’t want to address whether the team will eventually option him back to Rochester.  Ramos was impressive during spring training with the Twins, including a long home run in the team’s final game in Florida.   

Ask Smith about Ramos and he expresses satisfaction with the catcher’s skills behind the plate.  Ramos hit .317 with AA New Britain last season, but Smith doesn’t necessarily think batting .300 or better will be on the resume in the majors.  He does believe 20 home runs or more per season is possible.  “He’s a power hitter,” Smith said.   

After five seasons in the minors and a nice spring training performance, some major league teams would have kept Ramos on their rosters.  But Smith wanted him to play every day rather than mostly be a reserve with the Twins.   

The Rochester decision disappointed Ramos and might explain his .179 average while playing there.  When Mauer comes back, Ramos seems likely to ship out again but a more strategic matter is how the Twins will accommodate the two catchers in the future.   

Mauer is among baseball’s most valuable players and is only 27 years old.  The Twins have rewarded him with a $184 million contract that begins next year.  Will the Twins consider moving Mauer or Ramos to another position?  Neither one is experienced at any other position.  

Again, Smith didn’t want to speculate.  The Twins’ way is not to be too reactive and that approach won’t allow for much more now than to focus on a pennant race. 

Catcher is a vital position in baseball and there’s a shortage of big leaguers who can contribute there.  In addition to Mauer and Ramos, the Twins have 27-year-old Jose Morales who hit .311 with the club last season and Drew Butera, a 26-year-old defensive catcher who is in his first season on the roster.  Morales has been injured and unable to play this season. 

Smith has to not only like the team's catching depth, but also the leverage it may provide in trade talks during the next off-season.

 

Worth Noting

The Minneapolis, St. Paul and Bloomington visitors bureaus want to bring the 2015 Summer National Senior Games to this area.  Local representatives will meet here today with Senior Games leaders.  Two other metropolitan areas are among the finalists for the multi-sport event for senior citizens, according to a Sports Headliners source.  

Timberwolves basketball boss David Kahn is in Paris this week watching 2009 draft choice Ricky Rubio play with his European team.  

It’s not certain whether the Wolves will replace departing vice president Fred Hoiberg or instead restructure their basketball operation.  Hoiberg, who has no professional or collegiate head basketball coaching experience, is the new head coach at Iowa State. 

Former Timberwolves basketball boss Kevin McHale might be having too much fun in his work as an NBA TV analyst to coach again or return to the front office for a league team.  McHale’s name has been mentioned as the coaching successor to Vinny Del Negro in Chicago.  Another candidate might be Kentucky coach John Calipari who coached Chicago’s Derrick Rose when Rose was in college at Memphis.  

Hoiberg said on last Sunday’s WCCO Radio Sports Huddle that McHale was the best coach he ever played for.  Hoiberg’s other coaches included Flip Saunders and Larry Bird. 

Speculation about Jacques Lemaire, who recently resigned as New Jersey coach, includes that his players stopped listening to him.  That was also said when Lemaire coached the Wild last year. 

The Wild’s Andrew Brunette and Nick Schultz are Twins season ticket holders and already have attended multiple games at Target Field. 

Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom is holding a contest for fans on Wild.com to design his goalie mask for next season.  

Saint Paul native Kyle Okposo scored two goals for Team USA in its 3-1 victory over France on Tuesday, the squad’s only exhibition game prior to the IIHF World Men’s Championship in Germany.

 

Notes Plus 

This year the Twins will break the franchise single season home attendance record of 3,030,672. 

Brett Favre is coy enough about his football future that even a Favre neighbor in Mississippi doesn’t know what the quarterback will decide. 

Favre and Twins manager Ron Gardenhire are on the roster of speakers for a motivational business seminar at Target Center on May 26.  

Linebacker Gary Tinsley, who had an incident with University police earlier this spring, is expected to play for the Gophers next season and is a likely starter.  Tinsley had 10 tackles to lead the Gophers in their final Big Ten Conference game against Iowa last season.  

Cordian Hagans, the defensive tackle transferring from LSU to join the Gophers, played high school basketball with Minnesota’s Ralph Sampson III at Northview High School in Duluth, Georgia.  Hagans, 6-5 and about 300 pounds, didn’t start playing football until his junior year.  

Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi is starting to jog again after injuring his Achilles tendon about a year ago.  

St. Thomas 2009 graduate Katie Theisen has been awarded the NCAA's prestigious Walter Byers Scholarship. Theisen was chosen as this year's female recipient of the $24,000 postgraduate scholarship.  She's the seventh Division III honoree and second MIAC recipient to receive the scholarship.  A former All-American distance runner for the Tommies, Theisen is enrolled in medical school at Minnesota.  

Former Edina state prep champ Whitney Taney, now playing tennis for Michigan, is a unanimous all-Big Ten choice by conference coaches.  During the nonconference and Big Ten schedules she was 25-9 in singles, 33-6 in doubles.  Much of her court time came at No. 2 singles and No. 1 Doubles.   As the team captain, she led No. 4 ranked Michigan to its best regular season in program history, 22-4 overall, 10-0 in the Big Ten.  

Jay Pivec, who had a 20 year record of 452-115 at Minneapolis Community and Technical College, was inducted on April 30 into the NJCAA Men’s Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.  His presenter was friend and Twins executive Eric Curry. 

 

 Katie Theisen