While the pitching staff was thriving in June, the team's offense ranked just 10th in the 14-team league in runs — a decline by 40 percent from the lineup's otherworldly May performance. Adding a higher-caliber second baseman and a strong reliever would go a long way in helping the team compete.

Last year, the Twins tied the all-time MLB record for bunt hits in a season with 68, while no other team managed even 40. Carlos Gomez, who led baseball with 30, alone would have ranked sixth among teams. This season has been a much different story.

With the team's top pick decidedly cool to Minnesota's cold weather, it quickly seemed like a rerun of the franchise's traditional draft problems.  But then new president David Kahn came down from the draft bunker to explain the Ricky Rubio situation, and some of the doom, gloom and sarcasm began to lift.

Wooddale mega-church is trying a new way to reach that elusive male demographic with one-minute inspirational messages during radio broadcasts of Twins games.  Reactions are mixed. "Some really like it ... Some think we're shoving God down their throats," says the church's communications director.

Sports Illustrated has a bit of bad timing with its second Joe Mauer cover. Gardenhire unloads with Ayala comments. And more.

The Twins' front-office moves remain disappointing as the team chooses to promote journeyman pitcher Bobby Keppel while ignoring promising relievers Robert Delaney and Anthony Slama.

Relief pitcher Jesse Crain's demotion was a surprise but a needed move, while the call-up of outfielder Jason Pridie is purely a convenient short-term move while waiting for the return of Denard Span.

I don't know if David Kahn's mind was as open on the issue of Kevin McHale's continued employment as he wants us all to believe. When he got stripped of his VP title and went to the bench 19 games into the season, this scenario -- one foot out, second soon to follow -- was the heavy favorite.

But even with the hiring of Minnesota-bred Todd Richards, the events of the next few months could mean more to the team's immediate future than today's announcement. Right ahead of team officials are the amateur draft June 26 and 27 and the unrestricted free agency period beginning July 1.

Swarzak, 23, certainly showed that he's capable of being a successful starter in the big leagues. My pre-season ranking of him as the Twins' seventh-best prospect suggested that his minor-league track record "casts doubt on [his] ability to be more than a mid-rotation starter," and he displayed some of those limitations during his first action in Minnesota.

The risk-averse Twins' selection in the draft of University of Missouri right-hander Kyle Gibson strikes me as a pleasant surprise.

Six weeks ago the Department of Public Safety sent letters asking 11 IPSs to block some 200 Internet gaming sites. In the face of a lawsuit and public pressure, officials have withdrawn the request.

New exec David Kahn assured me Wednesday that Kevin McHale was being evaluated purely as a coach in determining his future with the team. If so, the new Wolves president needs to think long and hard about the assets McHale brings to the job, because his performance in two stints as coach showed enough to merit his return for next season.

There they are, side by side on a common sign on the Saints' outfield wall: overlapping logos of the Pioneer Press and the Star Tribune. But not to worry — it's only temporary, as far as anyone knows.

The merging of sports and politics was evident today when the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission met less than 20 hours after Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced he won't run for a third term. The long- and much-maligned commission gathered for its regularly scheduled meeting to discuss the future of the aging Metrodome and the impending deadline facing the agency and the Minnesota Vikings.

Starting pitching was supposed to be the Twins' strength this season after Scott Baker, Kevin Slowey, Nick Blackburn, Francisco Liriano and Glen Perkins came together as one of baseball's best young rotations last year, but they've collectively taken a huge step backward through two months.

Part one: Mauer, Morneau lead team's six strong hitters

Unfortunately, the middle infield and one outfield position have been below average. The good news is that those players can only improve. The bad news is that Mauer and Morneau likely won't keep up their gargantuan pace.

Last week, state gambling enforcement officials announced they had served written notice to 11 Internet service providers (ISPs) instructing them to block access to nearly 200 online gambling websites from all Minnesota-based computers. As a result, some top poker players may have to change careers or move.

There may never be another guy like Mark "The Bird" Fidrych. And that would be a shame. Case in point: One day, years ago, when he faced Tony Oliva.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — A major-league player with no ego?  How refreshing. Span, last year's team rookie of the year, is ready and willing to play any of the outfield positions. When the team takes the field tonight for its last Metrodome leason, the Twins expect to compete with strong pitching and improved defense.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Surprisingly, it sounds like just about everyone agrees, including manager Ron Gardenhire, the pitchers and the batters. Also, all of them have words of praise for what both pitching coach Rick Anderson and hitting coach Joe Vavra have accomplished. Do you agree with their choice?

Two new sports stadiums — Target Field for the Twins and TCF Bank Stadium for the Gophers — will open soon in Minneapolis. In the meantime, the Vikings have made clear the team wants to leave the Metrodome and have a new stadium of their own. Here's a video tour of the two stadium projects, along with some facts and figures about the new stadiums and a look at the prospects for a third.

Twins: Target Field | Gophers: TCF Bank Stadium | Vikings: TBD

This is one in a series of special MinnPost projects done in coordination with the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota. For the fall 2008 semester, a news team of eight students reported, wrote and edited the projects, which combine news stories with archive pages, through various traditional and multimedia journalism tools. The program is designed to immerse students in the ever-changing world of online journalism, while adding dimensions to the content delivered at MinnPost.com.

What's a wind veil? If you said a newfangled piece of artwork, go to the head of the class. That's one of the accouterments planned for Target Plaza, the pedestrian bridge and public space that will link downtown with the Twins' Target Field and adjacent mass transit.

In his first lengthy interview since the funeral of his father, Carl Pohlad's son today calls himself more a fan than a baseball executive. He's gung-ho about the team possibly signing free agent Joe Crede and feels as frustrated as most fans over general manager Bill Smith's inability to add a free agent of consequence.

The Twin Cities sports correspondent has packed a lot of living — and some amazing Forrest Gump moments — into his 80 years. In the process, he became the NFL's first "conditioning coach." That honor was bestowed by the cunning Vince Lombardi, who was angling to give his Packers exclusive use of the Exer-Genie, a breakthrough workout contraption that Harrington was hawking.

Michael Floyd, now a freshman at Notre Dame, already is making his mark as a record-setting wide receiver for the fabled football program. The St. Paul high school's high-profile athletic alumni include baseball's Paul Molitor and Joe Mauer and such football stars as the Vikings' Matt Birk, Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke and former NFL quarterback Steve Walsh.

Slideshow: Michael Floyd on and off the field