Sid Hartman: Pohlads will cover most of higher costs

Nobody has been willing to reveal the exact amount of money the Pohlad family will contribute to make up the difference in the land value at the Twins' new ballpark site. Hennepin County offered $13.35 million for the land; a three-man condemnation panel set the value at $23.8 million in a report issued Monday. It appears the owners of the Twins will pay a good share of the difference.

"There would be no ballpark had the Pohlad family not agreed to pay most of the difference between what Hennepin County had offered and what the condemnation group came up with" Twins President Dave St. Peter said.

St. Peter said he expected both sides to appeal the panel's award.

St. Peter, who along with Jerry Bell has been calling the shots on the stadium for the Pohlads, said he didn't expected the higher price for the land to change any plans in the design of the ballpark.

Trade Silva?

Sal Butera, the former Twins catcher and now a scout for Toronto, was one of several scouts at the Metrodome who watched Twins starter Carlos Silva limit the Mariners to two runs and eight hits in seven innings Wednesday as the Twins won 8-4.

In his four August starts, the righthander is 1-1 with a sensational 1.61 ERA.

Silva, a free agent at the end of this year, might be a tempting acquisition for one of many teams in playoff contention. If other teams compete for his services, maybe the Twins can land that third baseman or left fielder they need in a deal.

A year ago in 109 games, Twins outfielder Torii Hunter hit .270 with 16 doubles, 17 home runs and 63 RBI.

One reason Hunter is going to be in demand at the end of the season, when he becomes a free agent, is that he has been healthy. He is hitting .299, with 35 doubles, 24 home runs and 84 RBI in 124 games.

Tough game

Vikings coach Brad Childress looks for Seattle's Mike Holmgren to have his Seahawks ready to play a great game after allowing the Packers to run up 48 points in Green Bay on Saturday.

Rick Spielman, Vikings vice president of player personnel, said quarterback Drew Henson is eligible to be on the practice squad because of his limited action in the NFL.

Former Gophers wide receiver Logan Payne, who signed as a free agent with the Seahawks, has caught two passes in each of the first two exhibition games, for 17 yards against San Diego and 18 yards against Green Bay.

High on Decker

Gophers football coach Tim Brewster said he believes that for the offense to be really sharp this year, wide receiver Eric Decker will have to catch 75 to 80 passes. He caught 26 passes for 278 yards last season.

"He's more than what I thought he was going to be," Brewster said. "Eric Decker is just a great, great football player. Unfortunately he had a drop [Saturday] on third down and that kind of ruined his day. He came up to me after the scrimmage and he said, 'You know coach, you know that play killed me.' And I said, 'You put that one behind you, you can't worry about that.' But he's a kid who cares tremendously about the state of Minnesota and this football team, and I just wish I had more Eric Deckers.

"Without question I think he's got an NFL future, and Eric Decker's also going to be back returning punts for us. He's going to do a lot of different things to help this football team win games."

Jottings

Gophers men's basketball coach Tubby Smith can't talk about recruits until they sign their letter of intent, but you have to believe Smith is excited about the verbal commitment of Paul Carter, a 6-8 power forward from Missouri State University-West Plains Community College. Brian Osterman, Carter's coach, said he has had 61 calls from coaches asking about Carter. Smith is also reported to be recruiting Devron Bostick, a 6-5 forward from Southwestern Illinois Community College, because he needs some players for the 2008-09 season who can step in and play immediately. Ralph Sampson III, the outstanding 6-11 center from Duluth (Ga.) Northview, will make an official visit to the Gophers campus on Sept. 7. He already had a non-official visit in May.

Speaking about Smith, Texas Tech coach Bobby Knight, who was here recently for a charity golf tournament, is a big Smith booster. "I think Tubby will do a great job at Minnesota," Knight said. "He's a great person, an excellent coach, and one that I think will be a real, real good addition to the Minneapolis area and certainly to Gopher basketball."

The Gophers will have a "Midnight Madness" opening to practice on Oct. 12. ... The Gophers nonconference basketball schedule will include home games with Southwest Minnesota State, Central Michigan, California-Riverside, North Dakota State, Colorado State, South Dakota State and Santa Clara. Nonconference road games will be at Iowa State, at Florida State, in a tournament at Las Vegas and at UNLV.

The job of Gophers compliance director has not been posted yet, but associate director J.T. Bruett has a good chance of taking over the job, replacing the late Frank Kara.

The Gophers wrestling team will visit the White House on Sept. 23 to celebrate its winning of the NCAA title. ... Coach J Robinson recently played host as the entire wrestling coaching staff went on a vacation in Puerto Rico. ... Cameron White, a former Wayzata high school golfer, has transferred to Minnesota from Iowa State. He recently shot a pair of 65s at the Pine-to-Palm golf tournament. ... Luciano Battaglini, an assistant Gophers women's tennis coach for the past four seasons, has become the women's tennis coach at Carleton as well as a assistant professor of physical education.

The Jordan American Legion team won the Division II Central Plains regional last weekend in Beulah, N.D. Jordan has won three consecutive Division II state titles. T.J. Oakes, the son of Gophers pitching coach Todd Oakes, was named the MVP of the regional. ... The Eden Prairie American Legion team, which has won four consecutive state Division I titles, is 41-9 and will play in the American Legion World Series this weekend in Oklahoma.

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