New-look Twins need old look from Liriano

Manager Ron Gardenhire was asked to give a realistic view of his 2008 team after the Twins had worked out for three weeks in spring training.

"It's young. It's different. When you look at our lineup you're going to see Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer. Basically, everybody else is new," he said.

"Jason Kubel will be in there every once in a while. We have a new baseball team out there. The good thing about it is these guys are game-on. They are all playing pretty good. We have been mixing in a lot of people."

Gardenhire said the key is the young pitching staff, minus Carlos Silva and Johan Santana, who played important roles last season.

"If our pitching holds up -- and that's what it's going to come down to, our young starters. I think our bullpen is fine," he said. "Our lineup is going to score some runs. It's going to come down to our pitching."

Yes, the key to the pitching might be the health of Francisco Liriano and how long it will take the young lefthander to regain his 2007 form before his Tommy John surgery. Sometimes it takes two years to recover from that procedure.

"If he makes our club out of spring training, that means he's doing really, really good," Gardenhire said of Liriano. "We're asking him to just go out there and pitch and build up arm strength."

"No. We're in a little different area here with him," Gardenhire said. "We are trying to figure out where he's at and what he's doing. He missed early in spring training, so we are still trying to play a little catch-up."

The truth of the matter is that the Liriano of 2007, when he was 12-3 before his arm went out, could halt a lot of the pessimism about the 2008 team. Without him, the pitching staff is going to have to make the most improvement of any Twins staff in a long time. And right now, the chances of Liriano winning some games early doesn't appear too promising.

Records for Gophers This year was the first time the Gophers had won two games at the Big Ten men's basketball tournament since 1998, the first year it was held.

The Gophers' semifinal appearance against Illinois on Saturday was their third overall and first since 2005, when they had a first-round bye as the No. 5 seed and beat No. 4 seed Indiana in the quarterfinals at the United Center in Chicago. That year, the Gophers -- right before their lone NCAA tournament appearance this decade -- also lost to Illinois in the semifinals, though that Illinois team was No. 1 in the country and finished as national runner-up. The Gophers are 0-4 against the Illini in the Big Ten tournament after Saturday's loss. The Gophers' overall record in the tournament is 8-11, with no appearances in the Big Ten championship game. And the last time the Gophers beat Illinois was Feb. 3, 1999, and they have lost 20 in a row since then.

Travis Busch, the former Mounds View High School standout, has played sparingly for the Gophers this season. But the season's biggest highlight, Blake Hoffarber's buzzer-beater to beat Indiana 59-58 in the quarterfinal game on Friday, was made possible by Busch's court-length pass with 1.5 seconds left. Busch had two assists against the Hoosiers; coming into the game he had one assist all season, at UNLV on Dec. 30. Busch played a total of 23 minutes in three Big Ten tournament games -- five against Northwestern on Thursday, 11 against Indiana on Friday and seven against Illinois on Saturday. In the Gophers' final nine conference games, Busch played a total of five minutes in two games.

It appears that Gophers coach Tubby Smith intends to sign another guard, and one player he has seen play a lot recently is Verdell Jones of Champaign, Ill., home of the Fighting Illini. He apparently plans to go away to school. Smith also has been in Texas and Nevada looking at different players. It wouldn't be surprising if he signs another player for this recruiting class.

Jottings Speaking of the NCAA tournaments that begin this week, the Metrodome will host first and second rounds next year on March 20 and 22, with tickets available at the University of Minnesota. The prices are $138 and $183 for two sessions on Friday and one on Sunday with a service charge of $9 per ticket.

Edward Olson, whose son Ed, a 6-6, 275-pound offensive lineman from Mahtomedi, has committed to the Gophers, was a team captain in 1982 and one of the outstanding centers in the Big Ten from 1978 to 1982. He had four knee surgeries during his career, but none of them stopped him from playing. Young Olson had interest from Michigan, Iowa State and Northern Illinois.

Marc Ryan, Gophers associate athletic director, said he is talking about a home-and-home football series with Texas for 2015 and 2016, a series that coach Tim Brewster is interested in putting together.

Kim Royston, the former Cretin-Derham Hall football star, has asked for his release from Wisconsin so he can transfer to Minnesota. He won't be eligible for a scholarship at Minnesota if the Badgers don't release him. "I will definitely go to Minnesota if I am released, but Minnesota would still be a first option regardless," he said. However, Royston could look elsewhere and get a scholarship if Wisconsin doesn't release him. Under Big Ten rules, he couldn't get aid at Minnesota if the Badgers didn't release him.

Mike Modano, the former North Stars hockey standout playing for the Dallas Stars, was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame last week.

Former Gopher Kyle Okposo will make his NHL debut Tuesday night when the N.Y. Islanders host Toronto. In 29 games for Bridgeport of the AHL, Okposo had eight goals and 16 assists. ... Former Gopher Thomas Vanek is the third-leading scorer for the Buffalo Sabres with 28 goals and 25 assists in 73 games. ... Former Gophers and Wild winger Wyatt Smith has 11 goals and 17 assists in 30 games for the Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL. ... Another former Gopher, Barry Tallackson, is the second-leading scorer for the New Jersey Devils' AHL affiliate, Lowell, with 21 goals and 19 assists in 58 games.