Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson on Minnesota sports news
Minnesota Twins' Jose Miranda, center, celebrates between Emilio Pagan, left, and Byron Buxton after he drove in the winning run against the Baltimore Orioles during the ninth inning of a baseball game Saturday, in Minneapolis. The Twins won 4-3.
Bruce Kluckhohn/AP
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There's some good news on the Minnesota sports scene. Let's dive in with our sports regulars Wally and Eric. Wally is the publisher of Minnesota Score sports magazine and co-host of “10,000 Takes,” a sports talk show. Eric is the co-host of "10,000 Takes" and the Minnesota Vikings reporter for CBS Sports Radio’s “Eye on Football.” They joined host Cathy Wurzer to talk more about Minnesota baseball, soccer, hockey and more.
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Audio transcript
CATHY: There's some good news on the Minnesota sports scene. We're going to dive in with our sports regulars, Wally and Eric. Wally Langfellow's is the founder of Minnesota Score Sports magazine and co-host of 10,000 Takes Sports show on radio and TV. Eric Nelson is the other co-host of 10,000 Takes, and the Vikings reporter for CBS Sports Radio's Eye on the NFL. Hey, guys.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Cathy, how are you?
CATHY: I'm fine. Thank you, Wally.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Good.
CATHY: And Eric?
ERIC NELSON: Good afternoon, Cathy.
CATHY: Good afternoon. Gentlemen, shall we start with The Wild? I think that's a great place to start.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah. And the questions, of course, surrounding Kirill Kaprizov, of course, the Draft is tonight. And Eric's going to get into that in a little bit. But I think that on the top of Wild fans' minds right now is what in the world is going on with Kirill Kaprizov? And where in the world is he? Now, according to Wild General Manager Bill Guerin, Kaprizov remains in Russia, is doing well. He denies a report that the star winger returned to the US. And he said that the team is trying to find out more about the situation.
Now, here is what the situation is. A Russian newspaper reported on Wednesday that Kaprizov immediately returned to the US after Flyers goaltending prospect, Ivan Fedotov, was taken to a remote military base in northern Russia because his name was linked to fraudulent military ID. Look, this has been common in Russia. You have to serve one year in the military. But hockey players, generally speaking, somehow manage to get out of it by being on the Red Army hockey Team, or so on. Well, apparently, Kaprizov fell into that category with one of those false IDs. We don't know if he is being looked at differently. We don't know if maybe Vladimir Putin is using this as some kind of a publicity stunt against the West, at this point.
Nothing is clear at this point. But Bill Guerin said that Kaprizov is fine and that he's with his family right now and his friends and we have nothing to worry about. I think that there is something there, they just don't know enough about it right now. What we do know, beyond Kaprizov, is that The Wild schedule is out for next year already. They will open up on October 13th against the Rangers. And then, a couple days later, Kevin Fiala, who was recently traded to the LA Kings, comes to town with the LA Kings. So they open up with four home games in October.
CATHY: And, of course, Eric, as Wally mentioned, there's the Draft. So when they open up, they'll have some new players.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, they will, for sure, Cathy. But I don't think you can sugarcoat this Kirill Kaprizov story. That's the backdrop that has to be in the thoughts and the back of the mind of Bill Guerin, The Wild GM, and Dean Evason, the head coach, the owner, Craig Leopold. They are all gathered in Montreal right now for the Draft that begins tonight. The Canadiens have the top pick, ironically. They were the worst team in the NHL, points-wise, this past season.
As for Minnesota, The Wild will pick 19th. That selection comes courtesy of the Kevin Fiala trade with the Los Angeles Kings. They got a number one in return in Brock Favor, the former Minnesota Gopher. The Wild also have the 24th overall selection in round one. So, now, keep in mind, there could be some wheeling and dealing. Bill Guerin could turn into Monty Hall and turn this into let's make a deal, like we've seen other GMs in the Twin Cities do, Tim Conley and Rick Spielman back in the day, and even Kwesi Adofo Mensah, now, with the Vikings. But if they stand pat, they will have picks number 19 and 24 in round one.
Some other Wild news, Minnesota has signed Jake Middleton to a three-year, $7.35 million contract. They got him from San Jose last season. They expect him, Middleton, to be one of their top defensive players.
OK, that's The wild. Let's talk about The Twins. I'm getting a little worried here, Wally, that The Twins are making this a trend where they lose in 10 innings after, yet again, blowing a lead.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah, well, they didn't just blow one lead yesterday. They blew five leads. They led the White Sox on five different occasions in yesterday afternoon's game on the south side of Chicago, ended up losing the game in extra innings, as you mentioned, and not good. I mean, they did win two out of three, so let's not get too worried. And they are in first place by four and 1/2 games over Cleveland and 5 and 1/2 over Chicago. And the division is not very good. It's the weakest division in baseball.
But they do have some bullpen concerns. I mean, yesterday, Emilio Pagan, who they got in the trade for Taylor Rogers, has been a disaster, his ERA up over 14 in his last several outings. He gave up three hits, two earned runs in one inning. And then, it was Griffin Jax who gave up three hits and one earned run in one inning. And then Trevor McGill gave up two earned runs in one inning. And then, they brought in Giovanni Moran at the end. And he gave up a hit and ended up being the game-winning run. So bullpen problems persist, not sure how this is going to turn out, if they are going to seek some bullpen help before the trade deadline at the end of the month. Clearly, they need help in the bullpen.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, and the Twins, Cathy, had won seven straight over the Chicago White Sox. They really could've stuck a dagger and the White Sox yesterday by getting the three-game sweep. Instead, they leave winning two out of three. Next up, the Texas Rangers, they will play the Rangers down in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex beginning tomorrow night. That's a three-game series.
There's a lot of Twins fans, I think, that remain skeptical about this ball club. But let's focus on the positive. Right now, they are in first place in the AL Central. The record is 47 and 38. They've done a lot of good things. Byron Buxton, Luis Arise, Carlos Correa, those guys could be named to the All-Star team. That All-Star game is later this month in Los Angeles.
But if you want to keep it real, the Twins record on top of the Central, it's the worst record of all the six division leaders in Major League Baseball. So it's all about geography. If you look at the other teams in the Central, Cleveland is slightly above average. Chicago has underachieved. Detroit is a train wreck. And the Kansas City Royals need a telescope to see first place. So the Twins taking advantage of a mediocre-to-bad division. And we'll see if they can keep winning. And we'll see if they can add some pieces to this roster. It's a good one, but I'm not sure it's elite.
CATHY: OK. Minnesota United, we've got fans listening here to the both of you. Let's talk about the Loons. And, actually, are they close to the playoffs, Wally?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, yeah, I mean, they're close to the last playoff spot. And it wasn't that long ago, now, they won two straight. And they got themselves back into position. Because they've really struggled. And, of course, they haven't had many home matches. They just played their first home match in over a month last weekend. But they have now won two straight. They're one point behind the final playoff spot.
And, look, it's bunched up in the West of the MLS. They are only three points, which is one 3-point victory-- so if you win a match, you pick up 3 points-- they're only 3 points out of fourth place. So they go from fourth all the way down to eighth. But they're also 3 points out of 11th place. It just shows you how bunched up it is right now. There's still a long ways to go. The regular season doesn't wrap up until October. But they're playing better now. And the other plus in their favor, they have some home matches coming up. They've got two straight at home. And three of their next four matches will be at Allianz Field in Saint Paul. And hopefully, they're able to turn that into more victories and move into that top seven. You need to be in the top seven to be in the postseason.
CATHY: Mm-hmm. OK, Eric Nelson, the Lynx. Lynx won, beat Chicago, in Chicago.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, actually, that game was in Minneapolis, Cathy.
CATHY: Oh, sorry. Sorry, sorry.
ERIC NELSON: And it was at Target Center, where they had 11,103 fans show up. So the Lynx, . In their last two wins, back-to-back victories against the Las Vegas Aces and Chicago Sky. Those are two of the top teams in the WNBA. So there are signs that Minnesota is getting better. Now, it's probably too little too late. You only play 34 games in the WNBA regular season. But I'm sure that Cheryl Reeve has to be optimistic about what she is seeing now from her Minnesota Lynx.
And in the game yesterday at Target Center, Aerial Powers had 22 points to pace Minnesota to the victory. And next up for the Lynx is a game at home in the warehouse district of Minneapolis on Tuesday night against the Phoenix Mercury. And a side note to this, and maybe it circles back to what we were talking about with Kirill Kaprizov in Russia. The Brittany Griner story certainly has garnered a ton of attention. She's being detained in Russia on a drug charge. She pled guilty yesterday in Moscow.
Now, she plays for the Mercury. And her head coach, Vanessa Nygaard, told USA Today yesterday, quote, if it was LeBron, he'd be home, right? It's a statement about the value of women. It's a statement about the value of a Black person. It's a statement about the value of a gay person, all of those things. We know it. And so that's what hurts a little more, end of quote. That's Vanessa Nygaard, Phoenix Mercury. So they'll be in Minneapolis Tuesday. But it's almost guaranteed, Brittany Griner, once again, won't be with the team.
CATHY: Mm. A lot to talk about here, guys. Thank you so much. I appreciate your time. We'll talk to you next week.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Thanks, Cathy.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, thanks, Cathy.
CATHY: Wally Langfellow has been with us. He's the founder of Minnesota Score Sports magazine. Both Wally and Eric Nelson are the co-hosts of the 10,000 Takes sports show on radio and TV. Eric Nelson is the Vikings reporter for CBS Sports Radio's Eye on the NFL.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Cathy, how are you?
CATHY: I'm fine. Thank you, Wally.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Good.
CATHY: And Eric?
ERIC NELSON: Good afternoon, Cathy.
CATHY: Good afternoon. Gentlemen, shall we start with The Wild? I think that's a great place to start.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah. And the questions, of course, surrounding Kirill Kaprizov, of course, the Draft is tonight. And Eric's going to get into that in a little bit. But I think that on the top of Wild fans' minds right now is what in the world is going on with Kirill Kaprizov? And where in the world is he? Now, according to Wild General Manager Bill Guerin, Kaprizov remains in Russia, is doing well. He denies a report that the star winger returned to the US. And he said that the team is trying to find out more about the situation.
Now, here is what the situation is. A Russian newspaper reported on Wednesday that Kaprizov immediately returned to the US after Flyers goaltending prospect, Ivan Fedotov, was taken to a remote military base in northern Russia because his name was linked to fraudulent military ID. Look, this has been common in Russia. You have to serve one year in the military. But hockey players, generally speaking, somehow manage to get out of it by being on the Red Army hockey Team, or so on. Well, apparently, Kaprizov fell into that category with one of those false IDs. We don't know if he is being looked at differently. We don't know if maybe Vladimir Putin is using this as some kind of a publicity stunt against the West, at this point.
Nothing is clear at this point. But Bill Guerin said that Kaprizov is fine and that he's with his family right now and his friends and we have nothing to worry about. I think that there is something there, they just don't know enough about it right now. What we do know, beyond Kaprizov, is that The Wild schedule is out for next year already. They will open up on October 13th against the Rangers. And then, a couple days later, Kevin Fiala, who was recently traded to the LA Kings, comes to town with the LA Kings. So they open up with four home games in October.
CATHY: And, of course, Eric, as Wally mentioned, there's the Draft. So when they open up, they'll have some new players.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, they will, for sure, Cathy. But I don't think you can sugarcoat this Kirill Kaprizov story. That's the backdrop that has to be in the thoughts and the back of the mind of Bill Guerin, The Wild GM, and Dean Evason, the head coach, the owner, Craig Leopold. They are all gathered in Montreal right now for the Draft that begins tonight. The Canadiens have the top pick, ironically. They were the worst team in the NHL, points-wise, this past season.
As for Minnesota, The Wild will pick 19th. That selection comes courtesy of the Kevin Fiala trade with the Los Angeles Kings. They got a number one in return in Brock Favor, the former Minnesota Gopher. The Wild also have the 24th overall selection in round one. So, now, keep in mind, there could be some wheeling and dealing. Bill Guerin could turn into Monty Hall and turn this into let's make a deal, like we've seen other GMs in the Twin Cities do, Tim Conley and Rick Spielman back in the day, and even Kwesi Adofo Mensah, now, with the Vikings. But if they stand pat, they will have picks number 19 and 24 in round one.
Some other Wild news, Minnesota has signed Jake Middleton to a three-year, $7.35 million contract. They got him from San Jose last season. They expect him, Middleton, to be one of their top defensive players.
OK, that's The wild. Let's talk about The Twins. I'm getting a little worried here, Wally, that The Twins are making this a trend where they lose in 10 innings after, yet again, blowing a lead.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah, well, they didn't just blow one lead yesterday. They blew five leads. They led the White Sox on five different occasions in yesterday afternoon's game on the south side of Chicago, ended up losing the game in extra innings, as you mentioned, and not good. I mean, they did win two out of three, so let's not get too worried. And they are in first place by four and 1/2 games over Cleveland and 5 and 1/2 over Chicago. And the division is not very good. It's the weakest division in baseball.
But they do have some bullpen concerns. I mean, yesterday, Emilio Pagan, who they got in the trade for Taylor Rogers, has been a disaster, his ERA up over 14 in his last several outings. He gave up three hits, two earned runs in one inning. And then, it was Griffin Jax who gave up three hits and one earned run in one inning. And then Trevor McGill gave up two earned runs in one inning. And then, they brought in Giovanni Moran at the end. And he gave up a hit and ended up being the game-winning run. So bullpen problems persist, not sure how this is going to turn out, if they are going to seek some bullpen help before the trade deadline at the end of the month. Clearly, they need help in the bullpen.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, and the Twins, Cathy, had won seven straight over the Chicago White Sox. They really could've stuck a dagger and the White Sox yesterday by getting the three-game sweep. Instead, they leave winning two out of three. Next up, the Texas Rangers, they will play the Rangers down in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex beginning tomorrow night. That's a three-game series.
There's a lot of Twins fans, I think, that remain skeptical about this ball club. But let's focus on the positive. Right now, they are in first place in the AL Central. The record is 47 and 38. They've done a lot of good things. Byron Buxton, Luis Arise, Carlos Correa, those guys could be named to the All-Star team. That All-Star game is later this month in Los Angeles.
But if you want to keep it real, the Twins record on top of the Central, it's the worst record of all the six division leaders in Major League Baseball. So it's all about geography. If you look at the other teams in the Central, Cleveland is slightly above average. Chicago has underachieved. Detroit is a train wreck. And the Kansas City Royals need a telescope to see first place. So the Twins taking advantage of a mediocre-to-bad division. And we'll see if they can keep winning. And we'll see if they can add some pieces to this roster. It's a good one, but I'm not sure it's elite.
CATHY: OK. Minnesota United, we've got fans listening here to the both of you. Let's talk about the Loons. And, actually, are they close to the playoffs, Wally?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, yeah, I mean, they're close to the last playoff spot. And it wasn't that long ago, now, they won two straight. And they got themselves back into position. Because they've really struggled. And, of course, they haven't had many home matches. They just played their first home match in over a month last weekend. But they have now won two straight. They're one point behind the final playoff spot.
And, look, it's bunched up in the West of the MLS. They are only three points, which is one 3-point victory-- so if you win a match, you pick up 3 points-- they're only 3 points out of fourth place. So they go from fourth all the way down to eighth. But they're also 3 points out of 11th place. It just shows you how bunched up it is right now. There's still a long ways to go. The regular season doesn't wrap up until October. But they're playing better now. And the other plus in their favor, they have some home matches coming up. They've got two straight at home. And three of their next four matches will be at Allianz Field in Saint Paul. And hopefully, they're able to turn that into more victories and move into that top seven. You need to be in the top seven to be in the postseason.
CATHY: Mm-hmm. OK, Eric Nelson, the Lynx. Lynx won, beat Chicago, in Chicago.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, actually, that game was in Minneapolis, Cathy.
CATHY: Oh, sorry. Sorry, sorry.
ERIC NELSON: And it was at Target Center, where they had 11,103 fans show up. So the Lynx, . In their last two wins, back-to-back victories against the Las Vegas Aces and Chicago Sky. Those are two of the top teams in the WNBA. So there are signs that Minnesota is getting better. Now, it's probably too little too late. You only play 34 games in the WNBA regular season. But I'm sure that Cheryl Reeve has to be optimistic about what she is seeing now from her Minnesota Lynx.
And in the game yesterday at Target Center, Aerial Powers had 22 points to pace Minnesota to the victory. And next up for the Lynx is a game at home in the warehouse district of Minneapolis on Tuesday night against the Phoenix Mercury. And a side note to this, and maybe it circles back to what we were talking about with Kirill Kaprizov in Russia. The Brittany Griner story certainly has garnered a ton of attention. She's being detained in Russia on a drug charge. She pled guilty yesterday in Moscow.
Now, she plays for the Mercury. And her head coach, Vanessa Nygaard, told USA Today yesterday, quote, if it was LeBron, he'd be home, right? It's a statement about the value of women. It's a statement about the value of a Black person. It's a statement about the value of a gay person, all of those things. We know it. And so that's what hurts a little more, end of quote. That's Vanessa Nygaard, Phoenix Mercury. So they'll be in Minneapolis Tuesday. But it's almost guaranteed, Brittany Griner, once again, won't be with the team.
CATHY: Mm. A lot to talk about here, guys. Thank you so much. I appreciate your time. We'll talk to you next week.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Thanks, Cathy.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, thanks, Cathy.
CATHY: Wally Langfellow has been with us. He's the founder of Minnesota Score Sports magazine. Both Wally and Eric Nelson are the co-hosts of the 10,000 Takes sports show on radio and TV. Eric Nelson is the Vikings reporter for CBS Sports Radio's Eye on the NFL.
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