Josh Minott and Luka Garza will be free agents when that period begins Monday evening after the Timberwolves declined their team options, a source confirmed to the Pioneer Press.

Garza was set to make $2.35 million next season, while Minott was due $2.19 million.

Neither was able to crack the rotation during their times with the Timberwolves. Minott had the opportunity to do so earlier in the season after a strong summer, but seemingly lost the trust of Wolves coach Chris Finch after committing too many gameplan errors.

Garza was touted throughout his time in Minnesota for his professionalism, but was always stuck at the back end of a deep big-man rotation.

With the decisions, the Wolves now have two open roster spots as free agency begins. But whether they use both remains to be seen. They could use just one of the two spots — presumably on another big man or a ball handler — and roll into the season with just 14 players signed to active roster spots, to go along with their three allotted two-way players.

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DETROIT  — Perhaps the most important question surrounding the 2025 Minnesota Twins, at this point in time, centers around what is going on with Bailey Ober. He’d love to know the answer, too.

“I wish I knew,” the starter said after his start on Saturday. “We’re looking at everything.”

Ober entered the month of June with a 3.48 earned run average. He leaves it with an ERA nearly two runs higher. In five starts this June, across 30 innings pitched, Ober has given up 30 earned runs, including seven in three of the starts. He has now allowed seven runs in back-to-back outings.

Safe to say Ober has had a tough go of it of late.

“Just got to try to figure something out, make some adjustments,” Ober said. “I feel good. Throwing good pitches and just getting hit.”

A particular point of pain has been the longball. He allowed four of them — on a variety of pitch types — to the Detroit Tigers on Saturday, part of a month in which he served up 14 of them. In six starts in May, Ober allowed just two of them.

“Obviously the results haven’t been what we’re looking for. The homers are obviously an issue,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “If we knew exactly what was going on, if it was one particular thing, it would be a little easier to identify. But we’re going to get back to working on it and spend a lot of time on it.”

Pitching coach Pete Maki said they have identified some areas that they will work on, though did not want to go into specifics because “other teams read the media.”

Ober has dealt with hip issue for parts of the season, but it’s something both him and the team have said they don’t believe is the main cause of his issues. He’s cited mechanical issues throughout the season and noted his mechanics felt “not smooth and disjointed,” earlier this season. He’s also been pitching with diminished velocity — his four-seam fastball has averaged 90.4 miles per hour this season to 91.7 miles per hour last year — though he pitched well with lower velocity earlier in the season.

And so the Twins are exploring “any and all options,” Maki said, as they look to get the starter back on track.

“We’ve made number of small adjustments along the way and we have to keep looking for different adjustments to make,” Baldelli said. “And that’s really what this is all about. Sometimes you look at everything and you give it a full glance top to bottom and you immediately see what you need to see. Sometimes you don’t but you continue to look and you find it.”

Lewis likely back soon

Sunday night’s game could possibly be the last the Twins play without Royce Lewis, who seems to be on track to meet the team in Miami after playing in three rehab games over the weekend.

Lewis, who strained his left hamstring running to first base on June 13 in Houston, went 0-for-8 this weekend against Triple-A competition while playing for the Saints. Baldelli has said he didn’t think Lewis would need a long rehab assignment, but they needed to get him some at-bats and back on his feet working before his return.

Briefly

Sunday’s game marked the first time the Twins were on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball since Sept. 20, 2020. … The Twins will have Monday off after a late arrival into Miami. Joe Ryan, Simeon Woods Richardson and David Festa are slated to start against the Marlins this week.

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By CHRISTOPHER WEBER

A sniper ambushed firefighters responding to a blaze in a northern Idaho mountain community Sunday, killing at least two people and unleashing barrages of gunfire over several hours in an attack the governor called a “heinous” assault.

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office said crews responded to a fire at Canfield Mountain just north of Coeur d’Alene around 1:30 p.m. and gunshots were reported about a half hour later.

Sheriff Bob Norris told reporters officials didn’t know if anyone else was shot.

“We don’t know how many suspects are up there, and we don’t know how many casualties there are,” Norris said. “We are actively taking fire sniper as we speak.”

People are still coming off the mountain, the sheriff said, so it “would be safe to assume” that others are still up there.

Gov. Brad Little said “multiple” firefighters were attacked.

“This is a heinous direct assault on our brave firefighters,” Little said on the social platform X. “I ask all Idahoans to pray for them and their families as we wait to learn more.”

An alert by the Kootenai County Emergency Management Office asked people to avoid the area around Canfield Mountain Trailhead and Nettleton Gulch Road, about 4 miles (6.5 km) north of downtown Coeur d’Alene.

The fire was still active, Norris said.

“It’s going to keep burning,” he said. “Can’t put any resources on it right now.”

Coeur d’Alene is a city of 55,000 residents near the border with Washington. Canfield Mountain is a popular hiking and biking area on the outskirts of the northern Idaho city, covered with trees and heavy brush and crisscrossed with trails.

Belwin Conservancy’s Music in the Trees event is returning to the red pine grove this summer.

The annual event, which began in 2019, features various musicians performing 16 feet above the ground on platforms in the pine trees.

The 2025 concert will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, and Sunday, Aug.17, at the Belwin Education Site in Afton.

The education site is usually reserved for students. Music in the Trees is one of the few annual events where the public can come enjoy the woods, according to Carey Davenport, communications specialist at Belwin Conservancy

“It’s a really fun, laid-back vibe,” Davenport said. “It’s not a very formal concert environment. People picnic and relax and bring hammocks.”

This year, both Saturday and Sunday will end with Celtic music from the Celtic Junction Arts Center.

Honoring the red pines

Davenport said the red pines at the Belwin Education Site are not native this far south in Minnesota. They were planted during the Great Depression era to help prevent soil erosion. However, since they aren’t native to the area, the trees are becoming diseased and infested with insects.

As part of its land restoration work, Belwin Conservancy is taking out the old and diseased trees and replacing them with native plants in spots it calls “eco patches.” Music in the Trees is meant to celebrate this transformation process.

“This event was envisioned as a way to kind of honor the red pine forest,” Davenport said. “Folks who like nature restoration don’t like taking trees down, but this is a way to still kind of honor that legacy.”

Music in the Trees

Music in the Trees takes place 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 16 and 17 in the pine grove near Belwin Education Center, 1553 Stagecoach Trail S., Afton.

Tickets are priced on a sliding scale of $10, $20 or $35 per car.

Purchase tickets and find more information on Belwin Conservancy’s website, belwin.org.

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