Souhan; Kiriloff Didn't Earn the Left field Job [PODCAST]

The Twins optioned left field prospect Alex Kirilloff to their alternate training minor league site. Star Tribune Sports Columnist Jim Souhan joined me on WJON today. He says Kirilloff didn't have a great spring but has limited at-bats. He says the plan was likely to start him in the minors and bring him up early in the season. Brent Rooker, Jake Cave and Kyle Garlick are competing for at-bats in left field with a week left of spring training. The 5 pitchers expected to start the season in rotation are Kenta Maeda, Jose Berrios, Michael Pineda, J.A. Happ and Matt Shoemaker. Jim says when/if a spot were to open up that Randy Dobnak is the most likely to fill that spot.

The University of Minnesota introduced Ben Johnson as the new head men's basketball coach at a news conference Monday. Jim says these types of event have become events to promote the program and hire and less about asking difficult questions of the new hire. He says time will tell if Johnson was the right hire for the program.

The Vikings are expected to stick with Sean Mannion as the #2 quarterback behind Kirk Cousins. I asked if Teddy Bridgewater coming back as the top backup to Kirk Cousins could happen. He says Bridgewater is still looking to go to a place where he could start so it is highly unlikely that Bridgewater would return. Jim says the Vikings are $10 Million under the cap after restructuring the contracts of Anthony Barr and Adam Thielen.