Sid Hartman: All eyes are on pair of Raiders athletes

It's ironic that the future success of two local sports teams -- the Twins and the Gophers football team -- rest on the signing of two Cretin-Derham Hall products: Twins catcher Joe Mauer and Raiders lineman Seantrel Henderson, whom the Gophers hope to sign on Wednesday.

I am a lot more optimistic that the Twins are going to sign Mauer than I am that the Gophers will sign Henderson, although a lot of people believe the nation's top-ranked senior prep football player will join the Gophers as a freshman this fall.

The Twins can't afford not to sign Mauer if they want to have a successful franchise. They have the revenue to sign him and, in my opinion, the 2009 American League MVP has made clear that money alone won't decide where he goes once he is a free agent after the 2010 season.

I just can't see Mauer leaving the Twins and taking away the opportunity to keep the same strong relationship he has with his large family, who attend every home game.

In fact, some goofball suggested that Mauer could share his salary as both the quarterback of the Vikings and catcher for the Twins. He can do both jobs pretty well.

As for Henderson, his recruiting by the Gophers might be one of the things that could turn the program around. His father was wearing a Minnesota jersey at the recent Michigan State basketball game at Williams Arena, so that was a good sign.

Henderson has everything to gain by enrolling at the University of Minnesota as far his future is concerned both as a player and having success after his football and college career.

The Henderson family will spend their final recruiting visit in a suite at the TCF Bank Stadium on Sunday, where they will get the final pitch from Minnesota before he announces his decision in New York on Wednesday.

Five Gophers assistant coaches were in the Henderson home some time ago.

Yes, I've been around that university for a long time. I believe a good thing for Henderson and the school would be an announcement that this great young man is going to be a Gopher. It would be a big program-turner to get a superstar like him, and it would be a plus for future recruiting.

Morneau healthy While here for TwinsFest, first baseman Justin Morneau had an examination of his back, and he passed with flying colors. He was sidelined for the past several weeks last season after surgery to repair a fracture in his lower back. Manager Ron Gardenhire talked about how Morneau, despite having the back problem, kept on bugging him to play at the end of the season, but Gardenhire thought it was best that he rest.

Asked why the Twins passed up on signing backup catcher Mark Redmond, who signed as a free agent with Cleveland, Gardenhire said one reason was that Redmond's throwing arm had lost some of its strength.

The Colorado Rockies are ready to sign former Twins shortstop Orlando Cabrera. ... Twins starter Francisco Liriano was the winning pitcher for Leones del Escogido in the Dominican Winter League championship game last Thursday. Liriano was dominant, striking out 10 batters with no walks over five scoreless innings. He had a 1.20 ERA with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 13:4 in 15 innings in three starts in postseason play. Liriano, here for TwinsFest, said his arm is as good as ever right now after he had a lot of problems last year.

J.J. Hardy, the new Twins shortstop acquired from Milwaukee in a trade for Carlos Gomez, has known Mauer since both were 15 years old when they played with an amateur team in Mexico. Hardy said Target Field will be the third ballpark he has played in on its opening day.

Practice squad signed The Vikings have signed all members of their 2009 practice squad, including safety Colt Anderson of Montana, tackles Patrick Brown of Central Florida, Chris Clark of Southern Mississippi and Drew Radovich of Southern California, running back Ian Johnson and wide receiver Vinny Peretta of Boise State and defensive tackle Tremaine Johnson of LSU.

Jottings Although Gophers football coach Tim Brewster has agreed to terms for a two-year extension, it's not signed as yet, so athletic director Joel Maturi won't reveal the terms. However, Brewster, who hasn't signed the deal because he has been out of town, said he is very happy with the extension.

Brewster can't talk about recruits but the word is that he has offered a scholarship to Eric Dungy, son of Tony Dungy, and a defensive back at Plant High School in Tampa, Fla. The word is that Dungy has other offers, including one from South Florida.

The Gophers have offered a scholarship to Hopkins basketball player Joe Coleman, who scored 35 and 30 points in his past two games. The Gophers basketball schedule for the 2010-11 season will include Eastern Kentucky, Siena, North Dakota, South Dakota and a game at St. Joseph.

According to CollegeHockey247.com, the Gophers men's hockey team has the top recruiting class in the country, followed by Michigan, Notre Dame, Boston University and North Dakota. Two of the outstanding future Gophers are Erik Haula, a Finn who plays at Shattuck-St. Mary's, and New Prague native Seth Ambroz, who are stars in the USHL. The other commitments are Mark Alt of Cretin-Derham Hall, Max Gardner of Minnetonka and Chris Isackson of St. Thomas Academy.

Gophers senior Aaron Fortunato was named Big Ten gymnast of the week for the past week.

Gophers wrestling coach J Robinson says he hasn't given up on getting a favorable appeal from the NCAA to make wrestler Jake Deitchler eligible after he paid back the $4,000 he was paid in Cuba and Sweden following his competition in the Olympics. However, even if Deitchler is found eligible, he might be held out of competition this year.