Sid Hartman: Wittman will return, Wolves owner says

Regardless of whether or not the Wolves make the playoffs, Randy Wittman will definitely be back as head coach next season, according to team owner Glen Taylor.

Wittman is the third coach the Wolves have had since Flip Saunders was fired two years ago.

Taylor said he is not in the mood to change coaches for a while.

"Randy had a three-year contract as an assistant coach to assist [fired coach Dwane] Casey when he came back from Orlando," Taylor said. "I redid his contract, paying him a bonus now that he is a head coach."

The Timberwolves struggled on Sunday to beat the Boston Celtics, who now have lost 18 consecutive games, winning on a last-second shot by Ricky Davis.

Taylor said the team's erratic play continues to be a puzzle.

"I can't see how we beat a team like Phoenix and then continue our inconsistent ways" he said.

At the present, he added, there are no deals cooking to improve the team.

On another subject, Taylor said the buyout of Eddie Griffin's contract is now in the hands of lawyers, and will take some time to resolve. But Griffin will not be brought back to the team.

Twins open wallet

Twins owner Carl Pohlad was on the phone Sunday congratulating Joe Mauer on signing a four-year contract that will pay the catcher $33 million over four years, with some incentive bonuses that could increase his pay.

Mauer's signing was possible because Pohlad has given General Manager Terry Ryan permission to increase the payroll to $70 million.

Meanwhile, Mark Pieper, the agent for first baseman Justin Morneau, has turned down a deal similar to Mauer's. For now, Morneau will be paid $4.5 million for this season, a deal he agreed to earlier this month. Because of a difference in service time, Morneau can't become a free agent until after the 2010 season while Mauer could have become free a year earlier.

And just a reminder for those who campaigned for the Twins to draft pitcher Mark Prior instead of Mauer back in 2001: The injury-plagued Prior might start in the minor leagues this season.

While excited about Mauer's signing, Pohlad said he was shocked when he was first informed that there's a chance the new ballpark might not be built because of the outrageous demands of the landowners of the site near Target Center.

"It is going to be very difficult to compete with other franchises if we don't get the stadium deal done," said Pohlad, who couldn't understand how a ballpark deal could progress so far without control of the land.

He made it clear he wasn't going to add to the $100 million the club is contributing to the project.

Payroll jumps

The Twins had a payroll of $13.3 million when they won the 1987 World Series. When they won it again in 1991, salaries had increased to $22.5 million.

Payroll was $24.3 million in 2001. It jumped to $40.2 million in 2002, $55.5 million in 2003, $53.5 million in 2004, $56.1 million in 2005, $63.4 million in 2006 and now $70 million.

Major League Baseball's revenue sharing system has helped the Twins add to their payroll, with the team receiving about $20 million a year from that. Television revenue also has increased.

Still, it's a long way from the Yankees' payroll of $200 million.

Jottings

Henry Sibley quarterback Phil Haig received a scholarship offer from Illinois after meeting with coach Ron Zook on Sunday night. Haig said he really liked the program but he has not made a decision. Haig originally committed to the Gophers but did not sign this past week. He is expected to sign his letter of intent soon.

Gophers football coach Tim Brewster has set April 7 for the spring game, but he doesn't know where it will be held. Brewster said he expects to announce his last assistant this week. He is looking for somebody to help defensive coordinator Everett Withers and to coach the secondary.

In Miami, Daunte Culpepper is saying he can move much better after recent surgery he had on his knee to remove cartilage, and he is confident he will be 100 percent and return as the No. 1 quarterback this fall.

Quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan, who was with the Vikings last season before joining New England's practice squad, has signed with the Bears. ... Two other Bloomington Jefferson alumni who played football with Lane Kiffin, the new head coach of the Raiders, are now into coaching. Lloyd Lee is with the Chicago Bears, while Dave Watson is on the Southern California staff. Incidentally, the Trojans are making a strong bid to recruit Michael Floyd, the outstanding Cretin-Derham Hall receiver.

Former Gopher Dusty Ry- chart is averaging 15.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game for the Brisbane Bullets, who have won a record 17 consecutive games in Australia's National Basketball League. ... Quincy Lewis, the former Gopher who was a first-round draft choice of the Utah Jazz, was named the MVP of the week in the Spanish Basketball League after scoring 30 points and adding nine rebounds in a game for CB Lucentum Alicante. ... Another former Gopher, Kevin Burleson, is averaging 12.2 points while playing for Fort Worth in the National Basketball Development League. ... Burleson's former teammate Rick Rickert is playing for Colorado in the NBDL, averaging 11.5 points per game. ... Khalid El-Amin, who played for Minneapolis North and for Connecticut's national championship team, is averaging 19.8 points per game playing for Azovmash Mariupol in Ukraine. ... Alan Anderson, who played for DeLaSalle before going to Michigan State and the Charlotte Bobcats, scored 40 points recently while playing for Tulsa in the NBDL.

Catching up on former Gophers golfers, Simon Nash is on the Asian Tour, Justin Smith has a conditional right to play on the Nationwide Tour and Antti Ahokas has a conditional right to play on European Tour. Ben Greve and Matt Anderson failed in the PGA test.

Former Gophers hockey player Phil Kessel, whose rookie season with the Bruins was disrupted by cancer surgery, had two assists in Saturday's game against the Islanders. He has seven goals and seven assists in 42 games. ... Former Gopher Paul Martin is one of eight players in the New Jersey Devils lineup to have appeared in all 55 games this season and has played a career-high 132 in a row. ... Bloomington native Zach Parise has points in 32 of 55 games for the New Jersey Devils, and his 21 goals are second behind teammate Brian Gionta. Parise's 43 points rank second behind Patrik Elias. ... Parise's brother Jordan, a goalie drafted by New Jersey, has a 9-8-1 record and a 2.96 goals-against average for Lowell of the AHL.

Sid Hartman can be heard weekdays on WCCO AM-830 at 6:40, 7:40 and 8:40 a.m. and on Podcast twice a week at www.startribune.com/sidcast. shartman@startribune.com