Minnesota Twins Daily Clips

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Bremer sees Twins taking another step forward in 2016. MLB.com (Bollinger) p. 1

Twins' bats look ready for the regular season. MLB.com (Ladson) p. 2

Twins youth is promising, but winning doesn't always come right away. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 3

Twins finish exhibition schedule with no lingering issues. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 6

Twins notes: Home run indicates Mauer's health, readiness. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 7

No. 5 starter Nolasco gives up four HRs in exhibition finale. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 8

Reusse: Not many young players master baseball. Star Tribune (Reusse) p. 9

Souhan: Numbers game catches up quickly to Nolasco. Star Tribune (Souhan) p. 10

Joe Mauer finishes spring with 3-run blast; 'He’s healthy and he feels good. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 11

Twins pitcher Ricky Nolasco trying to make the most of his reprieve. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 12

Tom Powers: Fasten seatbelts, Twins ... it could be a bumpy ride. Pioneer Press (Bernardino) p. 13

Charley Walters: Paul Molitor gets ultimate vote of confidence. Pioneer Press (Walters) p. 14

Twins 2016 outlook: Miguel Sano flashed capabilities of MLB’s best power hitters. ESPN 1500 (Wetmore) p. 19

Mauer, Dozier homer as Twins tie Nationals 8-8. Fox Sports Noth (AP) p. 21

Bremer sees Twins taking another step forward in 2016 Rhett Bollinger | MLB.com | April 2, 2016 FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Count longtime Twins broadcaster Dick Bremer as one of those who believes Minnesota will build on its 2015 campaign that saw the club post a winning record for the first time since 2010. Bremer, in his 33rd year as the television voice of the Twins, knows the club is counting on several youngsters. But he told MLB.com in a video interview that he thinks they can be even better than they were a year ago. "I think everyone would be safe in assuming that the expectations are that they'll have a better year, because, in my mind, of how they put together the winning record from last year, with the influence of young guys who should only get better," Bremer said. "Guys like [Miguel] Sano, [Byron] Buxton, [Eddie] Rosario." Bremer, though, acknowledged how difficult the American League is this year, especially the AL Central. So it's hard to predict how it'll turn out. "I think the American League is going to be very, very balanced," Bremer said. "I don't think there is going to be anyone with less than 70 wins, I don't think there's going to be anyone with more than 90. Now, within that, the American League Central might be the most balanced division of the three in the American League, in my mind. I think you could make a case for any of the five teams -- including the Twins and the Royals -- everybody finishing first and getting to the playoffs." Twins' bats look ready for the regular season

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Bill Ladson | MLB.com | April 2, 2016

WASHINGTON -- The Nationals and Twins played their final exhibition game of 2016 at Nationals Park on Saturday afternoon, and the two teams found

themselves in a slugfest. When it over, they played to an 8-8 tie. The Twins finished the spring with a 19-11-2 record, while the Nationals ended the spring

with a 19-4-4 mark.

The Twins got on the board quickly, as Brian Dozier led off the game with a home run off right-hander Joe Ross.

But the Nationals ended up taking a 3-1 lead in the home half of the first against right-hander Ricky Nolasco. Ryan Zimmerman hit a two-run homer, while

Daniel Murphy followed with a solo shot..

Ross, however, couldn't hold on to the lead. Minnesota scored four runs in the third inning. Joe Mauer highlighted the scoring, when he swung

at a 3-2 pitch and hit a three-run homer over the left-center-field wall.

"You have to give [the Twins] some credit. I'm telling you, they have a good team and they have a good-hitting, young team," Nationals manager

Dusty Baker said.

By the fourth inning, Nolasco had allowed two more runs. Michael Taylor hit a solo home run in the third, while Danny Espinosa tied the score at

5 with a solo shot an inning later.

Ross ended up having his worst outing of the spring, allowing eight runs in five innings. Three of those runs came in the fifth inning. Eddie

Rosario unloaded the bases with a double to right field to make it a three-run game.

It didn't help that Ross was hampered by rain and injuries. The last time he pitched in a Major League game was against the Tigers on March 20.

In that contest, a line drive off the bat of third baseman Nick Castellanos hit Ross on the right heel and he left the game soon thereafter. The

injury wasn't considered serious. The rest of the time he pitched in Florida, Ross pitched in Minor League games.

"Ross hasn't pitched in an 'A' game in three weeks," Baker said. "He pitched five innings in a 'B' game against Minor Leaguers. That's why we left

him in [today's game] so long. We had to stretch him out. ... The good thing is, he didn't walk anybody and he battled. The main thing is, he got

his work in."

By the eighth inning, the Nationals managed to whittle the Twins' lead down to a run. With Trevor May on the mound in the seventh for

Minnesota, Ben Revere scored on a single by Scott Sizemore. An inning later, Revere swung at a pitch from Fernando Abad and singled to left,

scoring Jose Lobaton.

Washington knotted the game at 8 in the ninth, when Chris Heisey hit a solo homer off right-hander Brandon Preston.

Up next for the Nationals: They travel to Atlanta to play the first game of the regular season against the Braves on Monday at 4:10 p.m. ET. Max

Scherzer will make his second consecutive Opening Day start for the Nats with a chance to make history. After throwing a no-no in his final start

last season, Scherzer could join Johnny Vander Meer as the only pitchers to throw back-to-back no-hitters during the regular season.

Up next for the Twins: They start the season in Baltimore and face the Orioles on Monday at 2:05 p.m. CT. Ervin Santana will get the start for

Minnesota. Santana, an 11-year veteran, gets the nod in his first career Opening Day start. The Twins went with Santana after his dominant

showing late last season, as he posted a 1.62 ERA over his final seven starts.

Twins youth is promising, but winning doesn't always come right away

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Phil Miller | Star Tribune | April 2, 2016 Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano, synonymous with “insanely bright Twins future” for the past four summers, are in the major leagues and in the

Twins lineup as the 2016 season opens Monday. For Twins fans, the journey from signee to prospect to big-leaguer has been a little like

watching the alarm clock all night on Christmas Eve, the wait excruciating, the fantasy tantalizing — and all the more so because Eddie Rosario is

also in the lineup and Jose Berrios, Max Kepler and Nick Burdi are on the cusp.

For Twins fans, or perhaps their parents, this should all seem familiar, and a little cautionary. It’s been a little more than three decades since

another ballyhooed class of rookies and high draft picks arrived in Minnesota en masse, none of them older than 23 but all of them intent upon

winning a World Series. And Frank Viola, Kent Hrbek, Gary Gaetti and Tom Brunansky accomplished their hallowed goal, delivering the Twin

Cities’ first baseball championship — in 1987.

In other words, as talented as that class of youngsters was, it took five years to win a commissioner’s trophy. Their record during that rookie

season? The worst in Twins history: 60-102, their only triple-digit-loss season ever.

Want a more recent example? The world champion Royals were built around a core group of position players, including Alex Gordon, Salvador

Perez, Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer, a cluster of talent long projected to hold postseason parades. They did, in 2015, after losing in the

World Series the year before. But all were in place, and losing more than they won, in 2011.

Yes, the advent of young players is thrilling. But young players, in general, don’t win right away.

The fragile promise

Miguel Sano pulled on a T-shirt to wear under his jersey recently as he considered what’s in store for himself and the Twins in 2016. He

exhibited more uncertainty about his wardrobe choice — is it warm enough for sleeveless? — than about his first full season in Minnesota.

“We’re going to win games. Our lineup can score a lot. Many more runs,” Sano said, looking around the clubhouse and nodding at his fellow

outfielders Rosario and Buxton. “I’m here, Rosie [is] here, Buck [is] here. … We’re young, but we’ll hit.”

He makes it sound so easy, so preordained. Sano hit 18 home runs in half a season last year; what’s his expectation for 2016?

“Many more,” he said simply. “If they pitch to me, many more.”

Minnesotans have been captivated by the prophesied exploits of their young-but-inevitable superstars for years. Sano hit almost mythical home

runs since signing in 2009, while Buxton was a wizard in the outfield and on the basepaths while still a teenager. Jose Berrios has twice started

the Futures Game and last year led all minor leaguers in strikeouts. Rosario arrived and immediately began hitting triples and throwing out

baserunners.

Suddenly, projections are turning into progress in Minnesota. And it’s becoming difficult to tame expectations.

“There’s something about a hot prospect that gets people excited,” Twins President Dave St. Peter said. “It’s [fun] to wonder, ‘Is this the guy?’

It’s like the lottery — you dream of hitting it big. And on rare occasions, he turns out to be Kirby Puckett.”

Or Carlos Correa or Kris Bryant. Making the future even more irresistible is the success of a couple of other teams that retooled around young

talent: the Astros, who blossomed, with Correa anchoring the infield, into a playoff team just one year after a 92-loss season, and the Cubs, with

Bryant clubbing 26 homers, reaching the National League Championship Series.

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Yet the executives who put this team together remain loath to join in any premature giddiness about a still-just-hypothetical resurgence. They

understand too well how fragile the promise of youth can be.

“You never know. I say it over and over — you never know,” said Mike Radcliff, whose constant focus as vice president for player personnel is on

finding, evaluating and securing future Twins. “We’re talking about human beings, and they’re all different. They’re very young, teenagers when

we sign them. They’re playing a difficult game, at the highest level on Earth. Everybody wants guarantees, and we work hard to find the best

talent. But no matter what you think you know, it’s all just projections — wishful thinking, really — until they actually do it.”

Sano himself is a victim of the game’s volatility. He worked hard on his defense before the 2014 season, taking hours of fielding practice at third

base before training camp. Eventually, he noticed a pain in his right elbow that grew so bad, he was told to rest it. When he got to training

camp, a torn ligament was discovered, and surgery to fix it cost him the entire season.

Rosario has a habit of swinging at pitches out of the strike zone that many scouts believe will prevent him from being a valuable contributor in

the long term. Berrios still has enough difficulty controlling his fastball, the Twins decided another few months in the minors are in order.

Buxton has had his career interrupted by injury, including a scary collision in the outfield that knocked him unconscious. And when he arrived

for his long-awaited debut last June, he had only a modest impact, shoring up the defense but mostly showing only glimpses of his raw skills.

No wonder GM Terry Ryan refuses to put any expectations on Buxton’s narrow shoulders.

“Young kids, you never know which way they’re going to go,” Ryan said. If people have doubts about Buxton, “it’s fair. He doesn’t have a

résumé. I don’t get carried way [because] you’re always wondering which way they’re going to go.”

What’s it mean to be No. 1?

But why should anyone wonder? Buxton is part of an exclusive confederacy: The best of the best, the surest of sure things. To be rated the No. 1

prospect in all of minor league baseball is to be guaranteed a long, successful major league career, and perhaps someday, an even bigger honor:

immortality, as bestowed by the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Except, as it turns out, there’s no such thing as “guaranteed” in baseball.

Baseball America magazine, with the consultation of dozens of baseball scouts, managers, coaches and executives, has anointed an overall No. 1

prospect for more than a quarter-century; in that time, three players with that extraordinary credential have worn Twins uniforms. One is Joe

Mauer, a two-time honoree, who lived up to that billing by going on to a career that has spanned more than a dozen seasons, three batting

titles, an MVP award and six All-Star Games. Another is Buxton, the elite of 2014, whose Twins career has barely begun.

And the third? Consider him a cautionary tale. Delmon Young wasn’t a Twins draftee, but the Twins acquired the outfielder in a trade only 192

games into his major league career, his promise still intact, his career still embryonic.

“We think his power is going to continue to improve,” then-General Manager Bill Smith said after acquiring the 21-year-old Young from the Rays

in November 2007, “and he will be a middle-of-the-order difference-maker in our lineup.”

But Young, runner-up for AL Rookie of the Year in Tampa Bay, never flourished with the Twins, posting only one season of his four in Minnesota

that wasn’t a disappointment. Advanced analytics rated him as one of the worst-fielding outfielders in the game, and his offense, save a 21-

homer season in 2010, rarely made up for it. The Twins dumped Young in a trade-deadline deal in 2011; at the age of 30, he is currently out of

baseball.

Winning is a process

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Paul Molitor was only 21, with just one season of Class A ball behind him, when he was handed the leadoff spot in the Brewers lineup in 1978.

The future Hall of Famer learned quickly and delighted his old-school manager, George Bamberger, by batting .273 as a rookie and finishing

runner-up in Rookie of the Year voting.

Only one problem.

“I didn’t understand the game,” Molitor said. “I could play, I could get by at a certain level, but I had no idea about what it takes to win. It took

me years to figure out the nuances and the sacrifices that winning requires.”

Now that he’s a manager himself, Molitor is trying to remind himself that his players lack that knowledge, too.

“Anytime you’re using a fairly high number of inexperienced people up here, you have to understand patience is going to be required, teaching

is still going to be required,” he said. “You try to introduce the concept of winning, but they’re going to have to figure out how to balance

getting comfortable up here and understanding what our goal is collectively and how to get there.”

Tom Kelly walked that fine line, too. The former Twins manager, who won a pair of World Series in his first five full seasons on the job, endured

eight straight seasons of losing baseball in the 1990s before a more talented group of young players began assembling in the Metrodome.

Corey Koskie, A.J. Pierzynski, Torii Hunter, Doug Mientkiewicz, Cristian Guzman, Jacque Jones — “They grew up together, and they became men

together,” Kelly said. “One would come along, and you’d say, ‘Let’s see what you’ve got.’ And another, and another. It takes a while, but they

started moving forward, and the more they got to playing, the more they got it.”

In 1998, the Twins went 70-92, and did it with six players in the lineup who were 29 or older. By 2001, no regular was even 30 years old — and

the team challenged for a division title until mid-September, winning 85 games.

“If Guzman didn’t get hurt at the All-Star Game, we might have hung in there,” Kelly said. “A lot of runs went down the drain with Guzzie.”

That group went on to win division titles in four of the next five seasons. But Kelly also knows that young players can mislead you, too. Danny

Santana was a real find as a 23-year-old rookie in 2014, batting .319 and collecting 41 extra-base hits.

“I’ll be perfectly honest, I thought we were all set, I really did. I thought he would end up being one of the better players in the league, let alone

the team,” Kelly said.

But Santana couldn’t repeat the success last year, losing more than 100 points off his batting average and dropping to 15 extra-base hits.

“We got slapped in the face. What a surprise,” Kelly said. “I always said over the years, ‘Let’s see you do it for two or three years.’ And

sometimes, they can’t.”

Waiting ‘to find out’

So what’s it going to be in 2016? Are the Twins headed to the postseason, on the cusp of launching themselves toward the top of the league

again? Or is the arrival of the long-hyped youngsters merely an interim step in a much longer process?

“Having the talent and learning how to use it, how to refine it into the type of skill that wins baseball games, those are two different

propositions,” Molitor said, adding that early in his career he “just played [while relying on] the physical side, but the mental part came later.”

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That said, Molitor’s sheer talent contributed plenty to a Brewers team that posted a winning record in each of his first six seasons.

Perhaps Buxton and Sano will lead that sort of rejuvenation, too. Maybe Rosario and Berrios will become All-Stars, possibly Kepler and Byung Ho

Park will turbocharge the lineup, and it’s conceivable some of the young relievers in the system will help form a Royals-quality bullpen.

“That’s the plan,” said Radcliff, who had a hand in building this next-generation Twins team. “I’m as excited as anyone to find out.”

Twins finish exhibition schedule with no lingering issues Phil Miller | Star Tribune | April 2, 2016 WASHINGTON – Eddie Rosario has a small boil on his back, Paul Molitor revealed in his news conference Saturday, but it won’t need to be

lanced. Reporters dutifully wrote down this significant information, and even put it in the newspaper. And that inflamed pimple serves as an

appropriate representation of the news value of the 2016 Twins training camp, six weeks that generated about as many attention-grabbing

headlines as Lincoln Chafee’s presidential campaign.

There were zero controversies, save for a brief competition for the final starting pitching job in which even the loser seemed to agree with the

decision. There were no phenoms to captivate the imagine of Twins fans and trigger a bring-him-north campaign. There were no sudden

suspensions, no rumors of pending trades, nobody demanding to be included in one. Cuts were all done with little fanfare and even less

surprise. Their worries about position changes and foreign adjustments faded away, and their 25-man roster could have been mailed in last

January. There even were no major injuries, and barely any minor ones; Byron Buxton’s two-day flu rates as the biggest physical setback of the

spring. Heck, even their exhibition season closed with a some-good, some-bad, mostly-neutral 8-8 tie against the Nationals.

In short, 2016 may have been the most tranquil, humdrum spring training camp in Minnesota Twins history.

“Uneventful,” Molitor agreed, “is good.”

Certainly it’s better than having to scramble rotation and bullpen plans at the last moment, as they did when Ervin Santana was suspended

three days before the opener last year. It’s better than having to figure a way forward without their best hitter, as Joe Mauer’s back pain forced

them to in 2009. And camp was a nightmare one decade ago, when the team had to deal with the sudden death of Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett.

“This has been a nice, quiet spring,” General Manager Terry Ryan said. “I’ve got to admit, things have gone well. We’re healthy, and things came

together nicely.”

There was reason to wonder six weeks ago, when Byung Ho Park arrived to take his first swings as a big-leaguer and Miguel Sano his first fly

balls as an outfielder. Ryan and his staff made the decisions to sign Park and move Sano with little certainty about whether their plan would

work.

But Park has fit in splendidly with his teammates, and he’s developing into a nice fit for the lineup, too. Three home runs in the first week of

March allayed many fears, and though he hasn’t hit one since March 11, he has won the confidence of his manager.

“Park has done everything we could have hoped. I think he’s earned the opportunity to play most of the time,” Molitor said of the South Korean

designated hitter. “I’m going to see how he starts doing day to day, try not to panic, be patient if a slow start occurs, because he’s shown me he

can have good at-bats against all types of pitchers.”

Sano’s at-bats are not in doubt, but his ability to track a fly ball, particularly at 270 pounds, was. That, too, has slowly become a non-story, at

least for now.

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“I guess honestly, I’d say that I’m fairly comfortable with him out there,” Molitor said. “There’s always apprehension about the plays he hasn’t

been exposed to and how he’ll react. Some things are just going to have to happen. But I’d say I’m fairly comfortable and confident.”

He feels the same way about his bullpen, with Fernando Abad, Ryan Pressly and Michael Tonkin moving into the vacancies, and his bench as

well. The Twins hoped Danny Santana would react well if the pressure of being a starter was removed, and they got their wish. Santana was one

of the stars of the spring — his 25 hits led the team — and he proved his ability to play six different positions. “He fits this team like a glove,”

Ryan said.

Santana, Tonkin and Oswaldo Arcia, each out of options, all made the team, allowing the Twins to avoid any decisions that might cost them a

player. Buxton showed enough at the plate (.268) and especially in the field that no Plan B ever had to be executed. And Tommy Milone seized

one rotation spot while Tyler Duffey fumbled his away, making the decision to keep Ricky Nolasco as fifth starter an unsurprising one.

Duffey’s demotion “would be at or near the top of what people weren’t expecting to happen, but … if you step back and look at it [in] a bigger-

picture scenario, he’s a young guy on his way up. He did a lot of good things for us, but [he has only] 10 starts in the big leagues,” Molitor said.

As for Nolasco, “he’s got a look when I sit across from him face to face that speaks of just how ready he is to go out there and try to do

something to help us. He’s motivated.”

So are the Twins, they say to use their 19-11-2 spring as a launching point to a winning season — and perhaps the postseason. Ryan is convinced

he’s assembled the pieces to do it.

“I feel real good about this roster,” he said. “We’ve got a good sprinkling of young kids, we’ve got guys who are in their midcareers, and we’ve

got some veterans. We’ve got some speed, we’ve got some power, we’ve got some veteran presence in that rotation and in the bullpen.

“Now we need to prove it.”

Twins notes: Home run indicates Mauer's health, readiness Phil Miller | Star Tribune | April 2, 2016 WASHINGTON – Joe Mauer worked the count in his second at-bat Saturday, turning a 1-2 hole into a 3-2 opportunity. Then Nationals righthander Joe Ross left a slider hanging over the outside corner, and Mauer caught it as it crossed the plate. The ball carried deep to left-center and disappeared into the Twins bullpen, a three-run homer that turned a two-run deficit into a one-run lead. Not a bad way to close the exhibition season. "It felt good," Mauer said of his second home run of the spring, which came in an 8-8 tie. "I wish it would have been my first swing of the regular season, so it counted." Still, it was an indication that the Twins' most experienced and highest-paid player enters the season feeling as healthy as a 33-year-old concussion victim possibly can. Mauer said he has felt none of the vague symptoms that have occasionally plagued him for the past couple of seasons. Perhaps it has something to do with the sunglasses he now wears in bright sunlight. But Mauer said he wanted to correct a misconception about that, too. "It's not as big [as factor] as everybody might think. It's a small part of the things I've been doing this offseason to get where I'm at," the first baseman said. "I hope people don't dwell on whether I'm wearing sunglasses or not; I've been working hard in a lot of other areas to make sure I'm OK, too." Mauer said the sunglasses simply help him avoid straining his eyes, which he believes has triggered occasional bouts of blurred vision.

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"Just like when any average person would wear sunglasses — you wear them because it's a little bright, so you don't have to stress your eyes as much," said Mauer, who didn't wear the sunglasses during his first at-bat because of heavy cloud cover that eventually burned off. "It's nothing more. It was just a little bright out there." Major league detour Like his Twins teammates, Darin Mastroianni was packed to travel after Saturday's game. But unlike most of them, he's not headed to Baltimore. "It's a little weird to be going back to Fort Myers," the outfielder said, "but I'm glad they brought me along." Mastroianni was one of 10 players plucked from the Twins system and invited to play the late innings of the two games at Nationals Park. Mastroianni, assigned to Class AAA Rochester a week ago, got into both games, walked on Saturday and stole his eighth base of the spring. "It's been a really fun spring," said Mastroianni, who led the Twins in hitting by going 15-for-37 (.405). "I showed myself something this spring, that I'm healthy again. So it's been great to be in a major league park again." Trevor Hildenberger thought so, too, after being handed a situation he could hardly imagine. The Class A sidearmer was brought into Friday's game to face 2015 NL MVP Bryce Harper. First pitch, Harper doubled to center. "It was fun facing that guy as my first hitter. Two outs, no one on, I'm going to challenge him," said Hildenberger, who then retired Ryan Zimmerman on two pitches to end the inning. "I lost that challenge, but I was happy I was out there throwing strikes." Etc. • With two stolen bases Saturday, Danny Santana set a record for spring-training steals by a Twin with nine, one more than Alex Cole in 1994 and Mastroianni this year. • Lefthander Aaron Thompson, who posted a 2.20 ERA through his first 17 relief appearances last year, was released, General Manager Terry Ryan said. No. 5 starter Nolasco gives up four HRs in exhibition finale Phil Miller | Star Tribune | April 2, 2016 WASHINGTON – Ricky Nolasco, making his final appearance before the 2016 season opens Monday, gave up his first home run of the spring Saturday — and his second, third and fourth, too. But the Twins pounded Washington's fifth starter, Joe Ross, even worse, and the teams closed the exhibition season with an 8-8 stalemate at Nationals Park. Nolasco, told earlier in the week that he will be the Twins' fifth starter, gave up six hits over four innings, but four of them cleared the outfield walls, including back-to-back first-pitch blasts by Ryan Zimmerman and Daniel Murphy in the first inning. Michael Taylor and Danny Esposito also homered off Nolasco, who had not given up a home run in any of his four previous starts against major leaguers this spring. "Good to get them out of the way now. I fell behind some guys and challenged them, and a few of them didn't come back," said Nolasco, who struck out six. "Obviously a few I wish I could have back, but I felt decent. I got my work in and I'm healthy, that's what's important." Brian Dozier hit the second pitch of the game from Ross into the Twins bullpen, his fourth home run of the season, and Joe Mauer smacked one nearly to the same spot two innings later, scoring Byron Buxton and Dozier ahead of him. The Twins added three more off Ross, scheduled to bring up the rear in the Nationals' rotation, in the fifth inning, with Eddie Rosario whistling a bases-clearing double into the right-field corner for three RBI. The Twins finish the spring with a 19-11-2 record, narrowly failing to become the fourth team in franchise history to win 20 preseason games.

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Reusse: Not many young players master baseball

Patrick Reusse | Star Tribune | April2, 2016 Joe Mauer was 20 and in his third professional season when he was promoted to New Britain, the Twins’ Class AA farm club. The upgrade in

competition at Class AA long has been considered the make-it or break-it point for players in their attempt to ascend to the big leagues.

General Manager Terry Ryan asked Tom Kelly, the former Twins manager, to make a scouting trip to watch Mauer’s first few games with the

Rock Cats.

“In his first at-bat, Joe was late and fouled the ball almost straight back,” Kelly said. “In his second at-bat, he was not quite as late and hit the

ball way foul to left. He kept catching up to the increased speed of Double-A, and by the middle of the second game, he was hitting line drives to

the middle of the field.

“I called Terry and said, ‘I wouldn’t worry. Mauer’s going to be fine here.”

Mauer batted .341 in 2½ months at New Britain and was the Twins starting catcher at age 21 to open the 2004 season.

“That’s an unusual case, of course … to get up to speed as quickly as Joe,” Kelly said. “We’ve had other guys who wound up having outstanding

careers, like Torii [Hunter], who had to spend two years at the same level, who had to go back to Triple-A after they had been in the majors.

“And some hitters, they put big numbers in the minors with a swing that is a little long, a little loopy, and they are never able to quicken it up.”

There is no process in major professional team sports in North America that compares to becoming a competent big-league hitter. There are

exceptions — Joe Mauer of the previous decade, Mike Trout of this decade, to name two — with the talent to make rapid adjustments and

sweep through a farm system.

For most hitters, the journey starting with rookie ball turns into a magnificent and often painful drama: a requirement to improve five times, to

speed up the bat five times, in order to find success in the big leagues.

“If you’re a great athlete, you can walk onto an NFL field and play,” said Mike Radcliff, the Twins vice president of player personnel. “If you’re

LeBron James, you can come out of high school and be one of the best basketball players in the world. You see young guys come out of the draft

and play in the NHL.

“In our game, you can be the greatest athlete in the world, but that doesn’t mean you can hit. And if you can’t hit, you aren’t going to make it.”

As a senior at Cretin-Derham Hall in 2000-01, Mauer was baseball’s No. 1 draft choice as a catcher, the nation’s No. 1 quarterback recruit, and a

6-foot-4 guard who could have played at least mid-major level basketball.

Toughest sport to excel?

“Baseball … absolutely,” Mauer said. “In the minors, the pitchers keep getting better, and you have to keep getting better.

“And even when you do everything right, you still can come up short. The ball still is going to get caught more often than not.”

Starting pitcher Phil Hughes was the 23rd overall choice for the Yankees out of high school in 2004. He was in the big leagues by 2007 and made

13 starts.

“The process is different for a pitcher,” Hughes said. “Most guys are signed because they have a couple of good pitches. The process becomes

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commanding a third pitch.

“I only had three games at the lowest level [Gulf Coast League] after I signed in ’07, and the next year, the Yankees started me in Class A.

“I never really had to struggle in the minors. In the long run, that probably hurt me, because I did my struggling in the big leagues. It was like,

‘What’s this? What’s going on here?’ ”

Hughes smiled and said: “Baseball is hard. At some point, we all find that out.”

Souhan: Numbers game catches up quickly to Nolasco

Jim Souhan | Star Tribune | April 2, 2016 Over the next few seasons, the Twins’ best young players will begin appearing on the covers of magazines and media guides, perhaps even

playoff game programs, but the smiles of Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano may never be as emblematic of the franchise’s progress as the grimace

of Ricky Nolasco.

The Twins planned to enter the season with Nolasco as a long reliever and spot starter. He beat the odds by beating out Tyler Duffey, one of the

Twins’ more effective pitchers down the stretch last year, for the fifth starter’s job in the rotation.

That Nolasco’s role is so minuscule tells you more about the team’s stability than the improbable arc of a Sano home run.

Terry Ryan returned as Twins general manager before the 2012 season. Ryan’s successes in that position in the 2000s were born of patience,

organizational stability and pitching depth.

After the first two years of his second stint on the job, he assessed the pitching throughout his organization and realized he needed help. He

discarded two of his beliefs — that winning organizations develop their own pitching, and that spending big money in free agency is often

counterproductive — and signed Nolasco to a four-year contract worth $49 million.

Even at that relatively low price on the free-agent market, Nolasco has been a disaster. His signing offers lessons and reminders.

When the Twins signed Nolasco, he became their de facto ace. The Twins’ big-league pitching was so hopeless that Nolasco, who always had

been an average to above-average starter in the National League, would be asked to lead.

Nolasco has compiled ERAs of 5.38 and 6.75 for the Twins. They are hoping he can do what they signed him to do — deliver about 200 decent

innings a season — but now are asking him to do it from the other end of the rotation.

They may even be hoping that he pitches well enough for a short stretch that they can trade him, get rid of his salary, and then promote either

Duffey or top pitching prospect Jose Berrios.

This is why Nolasco is emblematic of the Twins’ improvement: They no longer need much from him.

He ‘‘won” the fifth starter’s job with a mediocre spring, but that might not qualify as a true victory.

In April, between built-in off days and expected rainouts, big-league teams know they might not use their fifth starter much.

In truth, Nolasco might be the Twins’ eighth choice to start a big-league game at the moment, behind the four other starters in the rotation,

Berrios, Duffey and reliever Trevor May. If the Twins farm system does its job, Nolasco may soon may fall out of the top 10.

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Ryan allowed the state of the team’s pitching to coax him into what turned out to be a terrible decision, signing a player for about $50 million

who would have been a failure even had the decimal point moved two spaces to the left. Ryan accidentally proved his own point, that relying on

free agency to build a staff is like relying on the lottery to provide retirement funds.

Ryan has signed three prominent free-agent pitchers in the past two years: Nolasco, Phil Hughes and Ervin Santana. In each case he could not

have predicted the results.

Nolasco was far worse than his fairly consistent career numbers would have suggested.

Hughes was far better than expected in his first year. When the Twins signed him to a contract extension, he let them down last year.

Santana’s reputation was as a likable, consistent professional. He may have been the one player who kept them from the playoffs last year.

Instead of leading the staff, he was suspended for half the season for using performance-enhancing drugs and then was inconsistent.

Santana, Hughes and Nolasco all owe the Twins a good season. The difference among the three is that Nolasco owes them two.

Joe Mauer finishes spring with 3-run blast; 'He’s healthy and he feels good

Mike Berardino | Pioneer Press | April 2, 2016 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Joe Mauer closed out a solid spring with a three-run homer into the Twins bullpen on Saturday. It was the second homer of the spring for Mauer, who connected on a 3-2 changeup from Washington right-hander Joe Ross in the third inning. “Joe’s had a good spring,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “He’s healthy and he feels good.” Hitting second as the designated hitter, Mauer figures to spend the bulk of his time in the No. 2 spot in the batting order, Molitor said. Mauer finished his spring with a .293 batting average in 41 at-bats. He drew five walks, struck out just four times, had three doubles and drove in 11 runs, tied with Eddie Rosario for fourth-most on the Twins. Both homers came while wearing amber-tinted Nike sunglasses. Mauer went without the shades his first time up Saturday and grounded out to first. “You wear them because it’s a little bright out there and you don’t have to have your eyes stress as much,” Mauer said. “When an ordinary person wears sunglasses, that’s what I’m doing too. That’s not the answer to all the problems, but I feel pretty good. It’s nothing different than that.” Molitor was encouraged by what he saw from Mauer this spring. “People want to talk about the drop-offs in average and a lot of things that have happened the last couple years,” Molitor said. “I have to look at how he fits into the team now and respect what he’s done in the past.” Coming off a season in which Mauer was “available to play every day,” as Molitor noted, the Twins plan to focus on the positives. “He still has probably the most consistently good at-bats (on the team),” Molitor said. “He still gets on base more than anybody on our team, except maybe (Miguel) Sano. There’s a lot of value there for me in what he does and how he goes about his work every day.” THOMPSON RELEASED Lefty reliever Aaron Thompson, a first-half revelation for the Twins last season, was released out of minor-league camp. Thompson, 29, posted a 9.95 earned run average in seven Grapefruit League outings. He made 41 outings last season in the majors with a 5.01 ERA, but he was the Twins’ most effective lefty through the first two months, when he was among the league leaders with 25 appearances (3.42

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ERA). “He must have got beat out; that’s about all I can say,” Twins general manager Terry Ryan said. “We have a little more depth than we’ve had in recent years. We’ve got some people down there that came close to making this club.” TESTING, TESTING Ryan could not offer any assurances the Twins won’t be hit with a positive drug test on the eve of Opening Day for a second straight season. “I have no idea if we’ve even been tested,” Ryan said. “They may be testing today. They come in and disappear. I don’t know when they do it or how often they do it. They just show up and they do everything and they leave.” Last year Ervin Santana was slapped with an 80-game steroid suspension three days before the season opener. BRIEFLY Michael Tonkin, set to be the Twins’ long reliever, started for Triple-A Rochester on Saturday in Fort Myers, Fla. Tonkin worked the first three innings, allowed one earned run (solo homer) on two hits and a walk while striking out two. He threw 53 pitches. Utility man Danny Santana had two more hits to push his spring average to .391 in a team-high 64 at-bats. Santana also had two more stolen bases, making him 9 for 10 on the spring and breaking Alex Cole’s 22-year-old club record for the spring. Twins trainers were trying to treat the boil on Eddie Rosario’s lower back without having to lance it. “It’s not restricting in any way,” Molitor said. Rosario drove in four more runs, including a three-run tiebreaking double in the fifth, giving him 11 runs batted in. Three Twins relievers failed to protect a late three-run lead, leaving them with an 8-8 tie Saturday and a final spring record of 19-11-2. Just two Twins teams have reached 20 spring victories since they went 21-10 before winning the 1991 World Series. They also reached the mark in 2011 (20-12) and 2004 (20-11). Twins pitcher Ricky Nolasco trying to make the most of his reprieve

Mike Berardino | Pioneer Press | April , 2016

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Ninety minutes before Ricky Nolasco went out and surrendered four long home runs at Nationals Park in his final spring tune-up on Saturday afternoon, Paul Molitor sat in his office lobbing verbal bouquets at him. In particular, the Twins manager sounded encouraged by Nolasco’s focus this spring, a renewed intensity that enabled the veteran right-hander to snatch the final rotation spot from young Tyler Duffey. “You hate to overplay any particular thing,” Molitor said, “but he’s got a look about him when I sit across from him face-to-face that speaks of just how ready he is to go out there and try to do something to help us.” A certain look in his eye? “He’s got something going on there,” Molitor said. “He’s motivated. I hope it transfers over into how he pitches.” It didn’t on Saturday, when the ball was jumping and the two teams combined for seven homers. Ryan Zimmerman, Daniel Murphy, Michael Taylor and Danny Espinosa all connected off Nolasco, who hadn’t allowed a single long ball through his first four Grapefruit League outings but did have his challenging moments on the back fields in Fort Myers, Fla. That’s where the 25-year-old Duffey was Saturday, a thousand miles away facing Boston Red Sox minor leaguers in advance of what should be an Opening Day start next week for Triple-A Rochester. Duffey, so impressive down the stretch for the Twins last season, gave up two runs on five hits and no walks in his five innings Saturday. It didn’t take the Twitter mob long on Saturday to start calling for a recount in the Nolasco-Duffey primary that defied early polling and unexpectedly went to the well-heeled warhorse with $25 million left on his contract over the next two years.

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“I think that might be at or near the top of what people weren’t expecting to happen,” Molitor said. “A lot of people I think looked at that and they got too close to it in terms of, ‘OK, this guy (Duffey) did this and this is where he should be this year.’ If you step back and look at the bigger-picture scenario, he’s a young guy on his way up.” Molitor paused. “He did a lot of good things for us — 10 starts in the big leagues,” he said. “He’s going to have opportunities here along the way. It depends how things go and whether we have to dip down there potentially.” All four homers Saturday came off Nolasco’s fastball, which sat at 87-90 mph on the scoreboard radar display and only touched 91 mph four times in his 66-pitch outing. Nolasco, 33, did manage two strikeouts in each of the first three frames as he started off with first-pitch strikes to all nine hitters the first time through the Nationals order. However, he wasn’t his usual efficient self at this park he knows so well from his Miami Marlins days. In eight career starts at this hulking park with an obscured view of the U.S. Capitol, Nolasco has gone 4-2 with a 2.44 earned run average and just three homers allowed in 48 innings. The ERA is his second-lowest in any park where he’s made at least three career starts. “I just wanted to get in there, throw some strikes, fill up the zone and get this last one out of the way,” Nolasco said. “I made it through healthy. That’s all that matters right now.” After admittedly pitching through intermittent elbow pain in his first Twins spring and the first half of 2014, Nolasco was back in the MRI tube after just one start last April in Detroit. He rallied with a 5-0 May but hobbled off the mound in agony on the final day of the month after a bone fragment in his right ankle worked its way to an unbearable place. Four months later, following July ankle surgery, Nolasco finally made it back to a big-league mound. Asked Saturday if this was the best he’s felt going into a season in some time, Nolasco agreed. “Yeah, I feel pretty good right now,” he said. “A lot better than last year. That’s important. I feel healthy. That’s the No. 1 goal.” History tells us a healthy Nolasco should be a productive Nolasco. At the very least, he should be a solid innings-eater. After all he did average 190 innings and 3.1 Wins Above Replacement over a six-year span (2008-13), convincing the Twins to hand him what at the time was a franchise-record deal for a free agent. “My interactions with him have been positive,” Molitor said. “I don’t know if he’s ever been in better shape. He’s a veteran guy who’s kind of lost a couple of seasons for various reasons and is trying to get reestablished, not only to help himself but to help us.” Tom Powers: Fasten seatbelts, Twins ... it could be a bumpy ride

Mike Berardino | Pioneer Press | April 2, 2016 Former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda one day looked around the clubhouse and shook his head: “We have four doctors, three therapists and five trainers,” he said. “Back when I broke in, we had one trainer who carried a bottle of rubbing alcohol. And by the seventh inning, he’d already drunk it.”

Well, yes, managing a baseball team is different from the not so distant past when Billy Martin regularly overturned the table on which the

postgame meal sat, and Sparky Anderson forbade pitchers to speak when he came to the mound to yank them.

When Brewers manager Dave Bristol announced to his players, within earshot of reporters: “There will be two buses leaving the hotel for the

park tomorrow. The two o’clock bus will be for those of you who need a little extra work. The empty bus will be leaving at five o’clock.”

Nowadays, when a skipper wants to rest a player for one game, he usually calls him in the day before so the two of them can go over it all with

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grief counselors present. If he’s going to start a bench player, he has to call that gentleman in the day before so the sub can wrap his head

around being on the field. We’re long past the time when a manager made a decision and explained it by saying, “because I said so.”

Paul Molitor handled everyone’s feelings just peachy last season while in route to the Twins’ first winning campaign since 2010. He deservedly

was in the running for Manager of the Year. Now it gets really difficult as Molitor may have to make some soul-crushing decisions to keep the

team moving forward in 2016. The Twins are supposed to be good. With pressure comes expectations. With expectations comes the no-excuses

need to produce.

The best thing that could happen in ‘16 is for Joe Mauer to return to his all-star form at the plate. Injuries have led to a rough couple of years,

though, and Mauer recently noted that he suffered from post-concussion symptoms in 2015.

With luck, that’s in the past. But what if it isn’t? Will the Twins keep trotting him out to first base because he is Joe Mauer? Last season, Mauer

gamely played through his medical woes, appearing in 158 games and leading the team in plate appearances. That’s amazing. However, there

weren’t many alternatives. This year, there is. By many accounts, Byung Ho Park is a fine first baseman.

If Mauer continues to struggle, well, this is the scenario the organization has long dreaded. Joe may need to play less to be effective. And

Molitor will have to step into the fiery pit and make that call.

What if Ricky Nolasco pitches like, uh, Ricky Nolasco? At least, the Nolasco we have seen as a Twin. He and his agent already raised a ruckus

when the Twins sent up a trial balloon about using him out of the bullpen. A major confrontation was avoided when Nolasco was anointed as

the fifth starter. History says this is an iffy situation.

Frankly, the Twins could use a long reliever instead of just seven guys capable of one inning each. If Nolasco does falter in the rotation, he might

be of some value in pen. He won’t go quietly, however. He may have to be dragged out there screaming and kicking. And since the Twins are

loathe to eat fat, dumb contracts of their own making, they won’t just cut him loose.

Manager Molitor would have his hands full with that delicate situation.

What if Miguel Sano’s life turns out to be in danger in the outfield? For the first three years of Sano’s pro career I used to bend Terry Ryan’s ear

about moving the kid to a corner outfield spot. Mainly because he wasn’t very good at third. Sano was thinner and faster then. Not now.

Very, very large guys pull hamstrings in the outfield. When they bump into a wall, they cause structural damage (to themselves and the facility).

And when they dive for a ball, ouch, don’t look. Not to mention this is a new position and he could take a fly ball off the noggin. If the

experiment fails, there would have to be a lot of moving and shuffling throughout the lineup. That’s sure to bruise some feelings. Another tough

scenario for the manager in today’s touchy-feely world.

In addition: What if Kevin Jepsen proves to be the superior closer? Or Byron Buxton remains overmatched? Molitor and Terry Ryan now are in

charge of a team that is supposed to be a winner. Nothing matters except producing.

Maybe it’s smooth sailing all the way. Maybe there is some emotional commotion. I’d buckle up, just in case.

Charley Walters: Paul Molitor gets ultimate vote of confidence Charley Walters| Pioneer Press | April 2, 2016

Paul Molitor, who managed the Twins to 83 victories last season and on Monday in Baltimore begins the second year of a three-year contract,

doesn’t have to worry about a new contract, the team’s owner told the Pioneer Press.

Jim Pohlad said Molitor, 59, can manage his club as long as he wants.

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“That’s what I’m saying right now, that’s for sure,” Pohlad said last week.

The Twins fired Ron Gardenhire as manager after 13 seasons.

“It does become apparent to everybody at some point that it’s time for a new message, which isn’t about the person,” Pohlad said. “I don’t

anticipate that happening with Paul.

“(Managing) is not an easy job. It’s grueling for a person to manage. Aside from the pressure of winning and losing, it’s just a grueling schedule.

It’s a lot of responsibility.”

Pohlad added that he “doesn’t have any interest in those contracts. (Molitor) is our manager as long as we mutually want each other to be. I

feel that way about Paul, I feel that way about (general manager) Terry (Ryan).

“I can’t say enough about Paul. When the team is successful, clearly he will deserve a lot of credit for it.”

Pohlad said he has “high” expectations for this season’s Twins.

“The key is making the playoffs, and we have enough talent to get into the playoffs,” he said. “Most of my optimism is the maturing of players,

younger players, people like Trevor Plouffe — they’re in their primes.”

Pohlad acknowledged that the Twins made limited offseason moves and said he’s happy with the free agent signing of South Korean Byung Ho

Park, who hit .273 with three home runs in 19 spring training games.

“Very much so — he appears to be a great teammate with a really good attitude,” Pohlad said. “He’s got to learn MLB (major league baseball),

of course. But he has been everything they claimed he is.”

The Twins won 83 games last season, but won just 70, 66, 66 and 63 the previous four seasons.

“The memory of 2011 through 2014 is still fresh — that was not fun, nothing about it,” Pohlad said. “You can’t help but remember. We’re still

suffering some of the after-effects. Losing like that really hurts your brand. But other than that, we’re where we’ve always been.”

Ryan Lefebvre, 45, the former Gophers star center fielder, is starting his 18th season as TV-radio analyst for the reigning World Series champion

Kansas City Royals, who will play host to the Twins for three games beginning on Friday.

“I think the Royals will win the division again, but I think it will be tighter than in years past,” Lefebvre said. “And I think that will serve them

better early in the postseason. That’s because last year they had a big lead for so long that their worst month was September. I don’t think they

let off the accelerator at all, but there was no pressure. Even though I predicted they would win the division, I didn’t think they would win it by

12 games.”

The Twins finished second in the Central Division last season to Kansas City.

“The Twins had a winning record (83-79), and confidence is bigger than anything,” Lefebvre said. “Kansas City eliminated them in Game 161, but

Minnesota had a chance right up until the very end.”

Former Twin Bert Blyleven, who pitched 23 seasons en route to a hall of fame career, is beginning his 22nd season as Twins TV analyst.

“Where does the time go? I’ve been very fortunate to be around the game that everybody loves,” he said.

Blyleven, who turns 65 on Wednesday, likes the Twins’ pitching staff. He also likes that the club determined its final 25-player roster a week

16

before the season.

“So everybody knows who’s heading north and you don’t have one or two guys biting their fingernails on edge,” he said. “That takes a little

tension out of the clubhouse. That way, everybody knows what their roles are so they get that positive attitude right from the get-go.”

Other than a one-month period during January, when the Wild were the worst team in the NHL, Minnesota has been the fifth-best team in the

league this season. That includes an amazing five victories over reigning Stanley Cup champion Chicago.

“The fact that no other team has beaten the Blackhawks five times in one year since 1937, that speaks volumes for how difficult that is and what

a great achievement that is,” owner Craig Leipold said.

Leipold said the Blackhawks are the model his team wants to be.

“They’re the team we always look at as the bar where we want to be on par with,” he said. “We have the ability to play the toughest teams.

That’s who we have played the best against this year, the tough teams. Our players have a lot of confidence when we’re playing the best teams.

We feel we can make some noise if we get into the playoffs.”

In his first two games with the Wild’s Des Moines team, left wing Mario Lucia, son of Gophers men’s hockey coach Don Lucia, has two goals.

There are 21 former Twins with other major league clubs this season, reader Joel Thingvall points out.

They are catchers A.J. Pierzynski with Atlanta, Drew Butera with Kansas City, Chris Herrmann with Arizona and Wilson Ramos with Washington.

Infielders: Pedro Florimon with Pittsburgh, Danny Valencia with Oakland, J.J. Hardy with Baltimore and Chris Colabello with Toronto.

Outfielders: Ben Revere with Washington, Sam Fuld with Oakland, Aaron Hicks with the New York Yankees and Carlos Gomez with Houston.

Designated hitters: David Ortiz with Boston and Kendrys Morales with Kansas City.

Pitchers: Matt Garza with Milwaukee, Francisco Liriano with Pittsburgh, R.A. Dickey with Toronto, Vance Worley with Baltimore, Pat Neshek

with Houston, Jeff Manship with Cleveland and Liam Hendriks with Oakland.

Shortstop Hardy hit .289 with three spring training home runs for the Orioles, who play host to the Twins in the season opener on Monday.

Worley was 1-1 with a 4.30 earned-run average in seven appearances.

Former Twins outfielder Jacque Jones has taken an assistant hitting coach job with manager Dusty Baker for the Nationals.

For the first time in seven seasons, the Gophers baseball team last week became a top-25 team, moving to No. 23 in the country, based on

Rating Percentage Index (RPI), which measures teams based on won-loss record and strength of schedule. Minnesota achieved the ranking

primarily with victories on the road.

The Gophers (14-9) twice last week defeated Missouri State, which was a top-20 team with a 19-2 record before a three-game series in

Springfield.

Entering last weekend’s Big Ten opener against Iowa, the Gophers led conference teams in hitting at .331. That’s 50 points higher than

Minnesota has hit in the past five seasons. The Gophers were also second among Big Ten teams in fielding (.975).

Freshman shortstop Terrin Vavra, son of Twins bench coach Joe Vavra, is hitting .407. St. Paul Academy grad Matt Fiedler, the Gophers’ two-way

player (pitcher-fielder), is hitting .394.

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The second game of the Gophers-Iowa doubleheader at Siebert Field on Sunday will be televised on Big Ten Network. The Gophers-Wisconsin

softball game April 12 at Minnesota also will be televised on BTN.

Watched Caitlyn Jenner, the 1976 U.S. Olympic decathlon gold medalist as Bruce Jenner, hit drives 260 yards in the ANA Inspiration pro-am at

Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage, Calif., last week. Jenner, 66, played early Wednesday morning from the back tees and holed a 120-yard wedge

for an eagle on the par-4 first hole.

“You should have been there to see it,” Jenner said.

Jenner said she’s a 7-handicap member at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Jenner was asked if she gets treated any differently at Sherwood as a woman.

“No, better,” she said. “They’ve been great.”

Asked if Jenner had any memorable experiences in Minnesota, she said she couldn’t recall.

Sandra Palmer, who won the first Patty Berg Classic at Keller Golf Club in 1973, is a teaching professional at Mission Hills. Palmer, who won 19

LPGA events, reiterated her plea for a LPGA legends event at Keller and said she would help sponsor it.

“I think St. Paul would be an unbelievable place for us,” Palmer said. “I know they still have all the pictures (of past champions) up in the

clubhouse. Keller is awesome. I remember you had to hit it down the middle there.”

Palmer said seeing Minneapolis-raised Berg at Keller at the tournament was a highlight.

“A big thrill,” she said.

She guessed her winning check at the Patty Berg Classic was probably in the $1,500-$2,000 range. The winner of the ANA Inspiration will receive

nearly $400,000.

Palmer is 73.

“I still play pretty good, but it’s nothing special,” she said. Palmer, who is from Texas, belongs to Glen Garden Country Club in Fort Worth, where

a plaque outside the course proclaims it as the home of Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson and Palmer.

Katie McDaniels, the former Mounds View star guard who is a junior at Wheaton College (Ill.), has been named a Division III first-team All-

American, the first in the school’s history. The other guard and player of the year in the conference is Thomas More’s Sydney Moss, daughter of

ex-Vikings wideout Randy Moss.

DON’T PRINT THAT

It appears the University of Minnesota will have to significantly increase compensation for its next athletics director. The Gophers’ Norwood

Teague, forced to resign, was the lowest-paid AD in the Big Ten at $472,000 annually.

Minnesota’s new AD probably can expect a salary in the $750,000 range. Meanwhile, representatives of the national Turnkey search firm that

Minnesota has hired to find Teague’s successor were in Minneapolis last week to meet with the newly-formed local search committee and two

members of the university’s board of regents.

The AD vetting process continues. Word is more than a few candidates have had questions about Minnesota’s problematic past in athletics. A

hire isn’t expected until summer.

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Local-based Brand Enhancement Group is seeking a naming rights partner for the Wild’s practice facility to be built in the former Macy’s

building in downtown St. Paul.

Caleb Thielbar, 29, the ex-Twins pitcher who the other day re-signed with the St. Paul Saints, also had minor league interest from the Boston

Red Sox and Detroit Tigers. Thielbar is from Randolph, Minn.

Another 29-year-old former Saints pitcher, Mark Hamburger, who pitched in the major leagues for the Texas Rangers in 2011 and is from

Mounds View, might also return to the Saints. Hamburger, who also pitched for Rochester last season, is considering pitching in South Korea,

too.

The Saints, who set an American Association attendance record last year and open this season on May 19 at CHS Field against the Gary

SouthShore Railcats, also recently signed former Twins minor league third baseman Nate Hanson, 28, the ex-Gopher, and well-traveled minor

league slugger Brett Harper, 34, son of 1991 Twins World Series catcher Brian Harper.

As many as 75 hopefuls could turn out at CHS Field on May 5 for the Saints’ open tryout. Any of them signing would get a deal worth $800 a

month.

Deephaven’s Tim Herron is playing well again.

“I’m hitting it pretty good and I finally made a lot of putts,” Herron said.

Herron, 45, who has won nearly $19 million during 23 years on the PGA Tour, included rounds of 66 and 68 on the par-72, 7,506-yard Cocoa

Beach Country Club last week to win $46,500 in Puerto Rico last week.

Herron isn’t sure when he’ll next compete, but it appears, through exemptions, that he’ll be able to forego the Web.com tour this year for PGA

Tour events. He might play in tournaments in New Orleans, Memphis and Fort Worth, where he won the Colonial in 2006.

“They’re pretty good to past champs there,” Herron said of the Colonial.

Herron missed the cut at Arnold Palmer’s Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando, Fla., an event he won in 1999.

“That golf course ate my lunch,” he said of Bay Hill. “It was long and hard. When they’re hitting 6-irons to firm greens and you’re hitting 4-irons,

it makes a difference.”

Herron was referring to Palmer victor Jason Day, who also won the ensuing week in the Dell Match Play event in Austin, Texas.

Herron has played in nine Masters tournaments. He won’t be playing at Augusta National this week, but says Day, of course, is the favorite.

“You can’t go without saying Jason Day,” he said. “That guy’s the best putter on Tour. Jordan Spieth can be streakier, but day in and day out,

Jason Day makes tons of inside 10-foot putts.”

Herron is coming closer to No. 200 on the PGA Tour’s money list, which would advance him to final competition to Tour qualifying school in the

fall.

Even though the Cleveland Browns are expected to sign quarterback Robert Griffin III, QB Carson Wentz of North Dakota State will be the No. 2

overall pick in the NFL draft by the Browns, according to ESPN expert Todd McShay.

OVERHEARD

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Hall of Fame pitcher Bert Blyleven, on late hall of fame broadcaster Joe Garagiola and Garagiola’s late childhood pal Yogi Berra, the hall of fame

catcher: “Joe’s back with Yogi again — they’re up there (in heaven) telling lies.”

Twins 2016 outlook: Miguel Sano flashed capabilities of MLB’s best power hitters Derek Wetmore | ESPN 1500 | April 2, 2016 For all the consternation over the Twins’ lack of activity this winter, one fact shouldn’t be overlooked. They didn’t get their best player until July

2 last season, when they called up Miguel Sano from Double-A Chattanooga.

The Twins lost on July 1 to fall to 41-37, and then called up Sano and went 42-42 the rest of the way. So the rookie phenom’s injection into the

lineup didn’t lead to better team results, but Sano certainly did his part with the bat.

Sano hit a hulking .269/.385./.530 with 18 home runs and 46 RBIs in 80 games, despite a hamstring injury that noticeably limited his mobility.

There were days manager Paul Molitor considered benching Sano to allow him to rest the ailing hamstring, but more often than not the

manager decided that the Twins, who were fighting for their postseason lives down the stretch, needed his bat in the lineup.

He couldn’t run much for a while, the thinking went, but he could always swing a bat. That theory proved to be true.

The power

If he had enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title, Sano’s OBP would have ranked 8th in all of baseball and his slugging

percentage would have ranked 16th, one spot behind Miguel Cabrera. (On Sept. 1, Sano was hitting an absurd .295/.403/.608, which is basically

the batting line Mike Trout posted last year plus a little more power.)

If you scale Sano’s offensive numbers to 600 plate appearances, you get a sense of how impressive he was in his half-season in the big leagues,

in which he took third place in the American League Rookie of the Year race despite sitting out the first three months.

If we take his pace from last year and scale his numbers to 600 plate appearances, the 22-year-old rookie would have hit 32 home runs with 93

RBIs, 30 doubles and 95 walks. Those are bona fide slugger numbers, even with his 213 projected strikeouts.

With MLB’s movement to track and publish more data than ever before, we can check another layer that makes Sano special.

Molitor said last year that when he watches players take batting practice, Sano’s line drives seem to carry farther than most. That’s probably

true, based on his batted-ball data from 2015. According to MLB’s in-house stats, Giancarlo Stanton hit balls harder, on average, than anybody

last year. Baseballs left his bat at 99.1 mph, according to MLB’s stats. Second on that list is Miguel Cabrera (95.1 mph average), and right behind

him is Sano (94.9 mph).

Pretty good company.

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The patience

Sano strikes out an awful lot, and one of the primary reasons that’s tolerable is that he also draws a lot of walks. He’s not the type of hitter

that’s going to walk up to the plate, grip his bat and let it rip, expecting either a home run or a strikeout. Sano, on top of being powerful, is also

just a good hitter.

Sano drew 53 walks in 335 plate appearances last year. In other words, Sano drew walks in 15.8 percent of his plate appearances his rookie

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year, which would rank him 6th in all of baseball and 3rd in the American League.

He also didn’t chase as many pitches outside the strike zone as your typical hitter. In the American League, hitters chased about 31 percent of

pitches that would have been a ball, according to FanGraphs. Sano only offered at 25.8 percent of those pitches, which was the second-most

selective on the Twins, behind Aaron Hicks. Among A.L. hitters with at least 300 plate appearances, Sano’s ability take balls outside the strike

zone ranked 25th, so it’s not like it was his primary strength, although it was a notable one for a guy who makes such forceful contact.

But even when balls were inside the strike zone, he wasn’t always hacking. Sano swung at the second fewest pitches in the strike zone (on a rate

basis) on the Twins in 2015, behind only Joe Mauer.

Mike Trout led all A.L. hitters last year by seeing 4.37 pitches per plate appearance. Sano was third on that list and saw an average of 4.34

pitches per trip to the plate. Mauer has been great at this through the years, and in his rookie season, Sano was better.

With all this evidence taken together, plus the half season of observation and a study of his stats, Sano seems to me like the type of hitter who

walks to the plate knowing what pitch he’s looking for, and how to do damage when he gets it.

How many times did you see Sano finish a swing off-balance last year? It doesn’t happen often.

–

Concerns

Despite all the praise so far in this column, Sano’s 2016 season won’t come without concerns.

If I ran the Twins, I’d have three or four concerns about the second-year slugger who will hit in the middle of the order from opening day.

First, he’ll be playing a new position. Whether he plays left or right field, Sano — at 6-foot-4, 265 pounds – will be among the biggest outfielders

the game has ever seen. In interviews, people with the Twins have pointed out that Sano has good top-end speed for his size, and he should

have good first-step quickness from playing third base. In addition, he has a bazooka for an arm, which will be a desirable trait in either outfield

corner, assuming he can make accurate throws to the right base.

I’m skeptical of Sano’s ability to learn a brand new position in six weeks before real games start. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see how

the transition goes.

Another concern would be durability. Sano hardly even played in the field last year and he hurt his hamstring. Will 150 or 160 games in the

outfield with that massive frame really go over without a hitch? Again, we’ll have to wait and see how Sano holds up over the course of the

year.

Next, Sano makes contact at a very low rate. When he swings, he connects on about 61 percent of offerings, which is much lower than the

league average of 79 percent, and indeed is the lowest single-season contact rate FanGraphs has ever recorded (dating to 2006).

My final concern is with regard to luck. When Sano put the ball in play last year, he hit a whopping .396. That incredible figure has only been

topped twice over a full season since they started tracking it.

MLB hitters collectively had about a .300 batting average when they put the ball in play last year, and that’s remained fairly consistent since the

stat began being tracked in 2002. So any deviation way above or below that .300 figure (BABIP) is said to be reflective of good or bad luck,

rather than a perfect measure of a hitter’s skill. Sano’s .396, then, would look like a great stroke of luck for a half season, which could be

expected to return to more normal levels when luck evens out, thus hurting his batting average and on-base percentage. (Danny Santana posted

a historically great .405 BABIP in his incredible 2014 rookie season, and then came crashing back to earth in all offensive categories in 2015.)

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But most people who use the theory as a basis for analysis will acknowledge that some hitters are able to consistently get hits at a higher-than-

average rate. Mike Trout, for example, is going to convert more batted balls into hits than, say, Kurt Suzuki, because Trout is a lot faster and

bruises baseballs with more authority. Hard-hit balls are going to fall for hits more often, and speedsters can squeeze out more infield hits each

season, which in turn would give them another hit on a ball put in play and a higher average.

So maybe the fact that Sano hits balls as hard as Miguel Cabrera and almost as hard as Giancarlo Stanton coupled with the fact that about one-

quarter of the balls he hits are line drives could mean he’ll sustain higher-than-average BABIPs.

If all else holds the same, I’d expect Sano’s OBP and batting average to drop this year. But then again, he’s 22 years old and could still be getting

better at hitting baseballs. Maybe it’s not crazy to assume that Sano can keep his name alongside great hitters like the Miguel Cabreras and the

Mike Trouts of the world.

Mauer, Dozier homer as Twins tie Nationals 8-8 AP | Fox Sports North | April 2, 2016 WASHINGTON -- There they all were on Saturday a little past noon, just as they were supposed to be, heading from the home dugout at

Nationals Park to their appointed defensive positions for the top of the first inning of Washington's final exhibition game, an 8-8 tie against the

Minnesota Twins.

Jayson Werth in left field, Anthony Rendon at third base and Ryan Zimmerman at first, the sort of thing that is not supposed to be a big deal but

turned out to be a luxury last season, when injuries played a role in the Nationals' flop: The team had its ideal lineup available for a grand total

of only two out of 162 games in 2015.

"When you look at the end of a season, the teams that are still playing are the most talented -- but also the healthiest," said Zimmerman, who is

ready to go despite dealing this spring with plantar fasciitis in his left foot. "In any sport, you can have a great team and invest in a lot of great

players, and if they can't play, you can replace one or two of them. But when you get more than that, it's hard to replace many of them at this

level."

Zimmerman and new second baseman Daniel Murphy homered on consecutive pitches in the first inning Saturday, two of Washington's four

deep shots off Twins starter Ricky Nolasco. Reserve Chris Heisey added a tying homer leading off the ninth against Twins minor leaguer Brandon

Peterson.

Nationals pitcher Joe Ross gave up Brian Dozer's solo shot leading off the game, Joe Mauer's three-run drive in the third and Eddie Rosario's

three-run double in the fifth.

Everyone of any significance was available for Nationals manager Dusty Baker during the two-game series against the Twins that wrapped up

the preseason before games count on Monday, when Washington is at the Atlanta Braves.

"You have a healthy Werth, Zimmerman and Rendon. And that added piece of Murphy. As Dusty said early on: If we can stay healthy, we're

going to have a dangerous lineup. Same with the pitching. It's nicer to see your full lineup out there," Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez said.

"Dusty made it known: Let's try to finish spring training healthy."

That did not happen a year ago. Not by a long shot.

Werth, Rendon and center fielder Denard Span -- who left as a free agent this offseason -- were all unavailable for Game 1.

Werth sat out the first six games, then another 60 later in the season. Rendon didn't play at all until June. Span was out for the first 12 games,

40 in July and August, and then all of September. Zimmerman started Game 1 but missed 40 games in June and July, plus the final 25.

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So maybe that's why Baker offered the answer he did when asked before Saturday's game what could stand in Washington's way in 2016.

"I don't think in those terms, really. I don't really see an impediment. If there is one ... (it) would be injuries. Big time," Baker said, rapping his

knuckles on the table in front of him. "I'm knocking on wood that we get through today. ... You never know when it can happen or to whom it

can happen."

SPRING'S OVER

Minnesota finished its exhibition schedule 19-11-2; Washington went 19-4-4 for the majors' best preseason record. "I know it's spring training,"

Heisey said, "but when you win as much as we did, you kind of start to realize how much you like that and you want to continue to do it."

STARTING TIME

Twins: RHP Nolasco allowed five runs in four innings. Of the four homers he gave up, Nolasco said: "Get `em out of the way now." Manager Paul

Molitor's take? "We'll see how he bounces back a week from today," Molitor said.

Nationals: RHP Ross' five innings included eight runs on 12 hits, including two homers. "Big innings," Ross said. "I feel like I've got to work a little

bit on getting out of those jams with runners on and less than two outs."

TRAINER'S ROOM

Twins: The team is trying to treat a boil on Rosario's back without having to lance it, Molitor said.

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Ervin Santana will make his first career opening day start Monday at Baltimore.

Nationals: RHP Max Scherzer gets his second opening day nod in a row for Washington, Monday at Atlanta.