Sid Hartman: Perkins doesn't dwell on past with Twins

For the past three seasons, Glen Perkins, who was named to his first All-Star Game on Saturday, has been a dynamic relief pitcher for the Twins, posting a 2.40 ERA over 164⅔ innings with 38 saves and 188 strikeouts to just 44 walks.

But coming into the 2011 season, Perkins' future was anything but certain with the Twins. From 2008 to 2010, the former Gophers lefthander, working primarily as a starter, had posted a 5.05 ERA over 269 innings while battling injury issues and being demoted to Class AAA Rochester for 24 starts in 2010.

The team and Perkins also had issues over how the Twins dealt with his shoulder injury in 2009 — the team sent him to the minor leagues instead of placing him on the major league disabled list, a move that cost Perkins about $500,000 in salary arbitration due to major league service time. Perkins filed a grievance with the players' union that was later resolved.

There was even heavy discussion that 2009-10 offseason that Perkins would be traded for San Diego Padres third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff.

But now three years later, Perkins and the Twins have a rejuvenated relationship. Last year, he signed a three-year, $10.3 million contract that includes a $4.5 million option year for 2016. This year, he is an American League All-Star thanks to a 1.93 ERA in 32⅔ innings along with 20 saves in 22 chances and 45 strikeouts to only seven walks.

Perkins said Sunday that he doesn't want to dig into the past, but instead concentrate on how he and the team have come to work together.

"We don't need to go back there," Perkins said. "That was four years ago now and it has been a pretty good run for the past three years here. This is another step in my career, and something that I can be proud of and that my family can be proud of. That is the most important thing right now, is doing the Twins right. They trusted me and I'm glad that I can return that trust to them."

"It has all worked out. I couldn't be happier to be an All-Star and I couldn't be happier to be an All-Star for the Minnesota Twins."

In the first year at Target Field in 2010, the Twins lost Joe Nathan to elbow ligament replacement surgery, began the year with Jon Rauch as closer and then traded for Matt Capps, who split closer duties with Nathan in 2011 and then had the job to himself to begin 2012 after Nathan left for Texas.

But when Capps struggled last summer, Perkins made the transition to the closer role. In the final two months of 2012 Perkins had 11 saves in 23 games with a 1.82 ERA, an opponents batting average of .125 and 26 strikeouts in 24⅔ innings.

Asked if he had any difficulty in transitioning from setup man to closer, Perkins said: "No, you know it's just pitching later in the game. Relievers are relievers, I think, and I've been able to transition pretty well and not make too much out of it, not make it a bigger deal than it is. I just stay within myself and focus on getting the three outs."

While talking about the role of relievers, Perkins also mentioned that the Twins' inconsistency of late can be blamed on the bullpen.

Perkins said he would like to remain with the Twins going forward, even while there are rumors out there that a contending team would love to have a bullpen arm like his for a pennant run.

"That is out of my control, I guess. All I can really do is go out and play, and when I signed here I had the intention of being here to help this team get back to where we've been for a long time," he said. "Hopefully I'm a part of that, and I believe that's the case. Other than that, it is out of my control, but I think they'll do what is right for the team and what is best for me, as well."

Gophers executive associate athletic director David Benedict reported that the longtime study to reveal what new or remodeled facilities are needed by Gophers athletics to compete with other Big Ten schools will be presented to the Board of Regents this week.

"I think it's just going to be an opportunity for us to explain the process that we went through to assess the needs of the athletic department and its facilities," Benedict said. "I think it all comes down to the priority [of what buildings need to be built], and we're working with the university to identify what those priorities are and there will be some significant investments."

He added: "I believe there are people in this community that want to see us be very competitive in the Big Ten, and that will find a way to fund those priorities."

• Seven former Twins made the All-Star teams, and five of the seven are free agents who left, with the Twins getting nothing in return other than a handful of draft picks. Those five are Nathan, Jesse Crain, Michael Cuddyer, Torii Hunter and David Ortiz, who of course became a free agent when the Twins didn't offer him a contract for 2003. The other two former Twins who are All-Stars are J.J. Hardy and Carlos Gomez — players that were traded for each other in 2009.

• Former Gopher Mike Kvasnicka, whom the Twins acquired from Houston, is healthy now and hitting .299 with six home runs and 19 RBI for Class A Fort Myers. … Being promoted from Cedar Rapids to Fort Myers hasn't slowed down 2012 first-round pick Byron Buxton, who is hitting .375 in nine games since he changed teams.

• The word from good sources is that former Timberwolves player and executive Fred Hoiberg, who is now the coach at Iowa State, was a finalist for the job of coaching the Boston Celtics before Butler's Brad Stevens got the job.