FORT MYERS, Fla. — Pitcher Bailey Ober had done all he could, all that was within his control to leave a strong impression last spring and make the Twins’ decision as difficult as possible.

But despite his strong performance, there really was nothing he could do — he was the sixth man in a five-man rotation, and when camp broke, it was Ober on the outside looking in. It didn’t take long, though, until the need for a starter arose and Ober got the call, subsequently pitching well enough to cement himself in the Twins’ rotation.

This spring, Louie Varland finds himself in a similar position.

Assuming all are healthy, the Twins appear poised to break camp with a starting pitching rotation of Ober, Pablo López, Joe Ryan, Chris Paddack and Anthony DeSclafani. DeSclafani, acquired in the Jorge Polanco trade with Seattle this offseason, has yet to pitch in a game this spring after some elbow soreness cropped up, but he is expected to throw in a minor-league game on Saturday.

And so, assuming that goes well, where does that leave Varland?

The local product has thrown 11 scoreless innings this spring, including another four innings in Wednesday’s 1-1 tie at Hammond Stadium against the St. Louis Cardinals.

“I feel good,” Varland said. “We’re in a good spot right now. We’re throwing it well. The ball is moving how I want it and where I want it. It’s been good.”

He’s certainly doing everything he can to fight for a spot, even if the odds are long.

“He’s a young pitcher with something to prove,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “You don’t prove yourself by going out there and just tinkering with everything and experimenting with a half-dozen things. … I think the way he’s attacking hitters in these spring training games and how it mirrors what it would look like during the season, I think it also shows you his mentality that he has toward the game and toward his craft.”

Varland made 10 starts for the Twins last season and then late in the year, shifted to the bullpen and was highly effective in relief. He’s back to starting now, and he’s made a meaningful impression this spring.

And yet, the roster math still suggests he will start the season in St. Paul as the Twins are unlikely to utilize a six-man rotation. So, has he showed the Twins’ decision-makers all that he had hoped to this spring?

“Not yet,” he said. “I got something for them yet.”

Oh yeah? What’s left to show them?

“It’s a surprise,” Varland said.

Briefly

The Twins sent another group up to Port Charlotte to take on the Tampa Bay Rays in an exhibition game Wednesday. In that game, Matt Wallner, who is hitting .087 this spring, smacked his first home run. The Twins lost 4-3. … Byron Buxton is scheduled to play center field on Thursday after manning the position Wednesday. It will be the first time he has played the outfield in consecutive games since 2022. … Ober is set to start for the Twins on Thursday when they play host to the Toronto Blue Jays.

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A new Chicago White Sox ballpark in the South Loop is only a figment of someone’s imagination right now.

But at least the news Wednesday that the Sox are in “serious talks” to build a downtown stadium in the area known as “the 78″ near Clark Street and Roosevelt Road gave us something to talk about besides the Justin Fields-versus-Caleb Williams debate during a down time for our local sports teams.

With no SoxFest on tap and no big-name signings to get fans excited about the season, the leak of the ballpark rumor provided the Sox with front-page news on another cold, dreary day in January.

Nothing wrong with that.

Who doesn’t want to dream of a beautiful new ballpark with a skyline view and surrounding bars and restaurants to go to before and after games? It’s what the Sox should’ve done in the mid-1980s when they held the state hostage for public funding for what was then called new Comiskey Park.

Instead we got an unlovable structure ridiculed by fans for its steep upper deck, a moat separating the field from the bleachers and a lack of entertainment options anywhere near the park. The “Ball Mall” was the popular nickname after it opened in 1991.

“When people came out for that first opening day, they were in awe of the place,” Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf told the Tribune’s Teddy Greenstein in 1999. “But now the stadium is a popular thing to attack. Look, I thought people wanted unobstructed views and wide aisles. I guessed wrong.

“People wanted a more homey feeling. But I really believe that if we had built Camden Yards instead, I would have been massacred. People wanted a modern park.”

Oops.

In a rare mea culpa, Reinsdorf eventually agreed to a series of renovations that included removing eight rows and 6,600 seats from the upper deck and a canopy-style roof to replace the flat one over the 13 highest rows. A sports bar/restaurant was constructed across the street. The moat was filled in with new bleacher seating. The Sox even allowed tailgating.

Once renovated, “The Cell” grew on fans, at least those who didn’t have to sit in the upper deck. It wasn’t as beloved as old Comiskey Park but it was fine. Still, the only time outside opening day that the ballpark was typically filled was when the Sox were in the midst of a winning season or playing the Cubs in the City Series.

Now comes another mea culpa from Reinsdorf — an admission that what’s now called Guaranteed Rate Field is obsolete after only 33 years. Reinsdorf wouldn’t say that, of course, but by making a new ballpark a priority, it’s obvious he “guessed wrong” about the one at 35th Street and Shields Avenue.

After the Sun-Times broke the news about new stadium talks between the Sox and the city, Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Sox released a statement Thursday.

“Mayor Brandon Johnson and Chicago White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf met to discuss the historic partnership between the team and Chicago and the team’s ideas for remaining competitive in Chicago in perpetuity,” the statement read. “The partnership between the City and the team goes back more than a century and the Johnson administration is committed to continuing this dialogue moving forward.”

The idea the Sox will remain competitive in Chicago “in perpetuity” suggests they are competitive now. Anyone following the team’s downward spiral since the 2022 postseason, including its uninspiring offseason this winter, knows that’s a joke.

But for the sake of argument, let’s assume the Sox intend to compete in the near future. Would a ballpark in the South Loop help bring in fans who generally have avoided going to Sox Park over the last couple of decades?

If they build it, will they come?

Only if a new ballpark comes with a new owner.

It goes without saying that Reinsdorf’s popularity among Sox fans is lower than the sewer system under Lower Wacker Drive. But Reinsdorf, who turns 88 in February, said in September that he had no intention of selling the Sox.

“Friends of mine have said, ‘Why don’t you sell? Why don’t you get out?’” he said. “My answer always has been, ‘I like what I’m doing, as bad as it is, and what else would I do?’

“I’m a boring guy. I don’t play golf. I don’t play bridge. And I want to make it better before I go.”

Evidence of Reinsdorf making the Sox better is harder to find than the owner of the gun who fired bullets that hit two fans last summer in the Guaranteed Rate Field bleachers. The payroll is going down, and the organization’s strange infatuation with bringing in former Kansas City Royals personnel has reached a crescendo.

A new South Loop ballpark sounds cool, but it would not be a panacea for the Sox’s attendance problems, just as the new Comiskey Park wasn’t after that new ballpark smell wore off following the first few seasons. Traffic jams on the Kennedy and Dan Ryan expressways won’t make it any easier to get to, and taking the “L” at night is much scarier now than it was prepandemic.

Even in the highly unlikely event the Sox would pay most of the tab, what would happen to the soon-to-be white elephant in Bridgeport that Illinois taxpayers helped pay for? Will the Sox ever explain why they need to leave after all those renovations?

At least the Sox should acknowledge the current ballpark, the last one built before the “retro” parks such as Camden Yards, was an architectural mistake.

“I talk to fans a lot, and they tell me they don’t like the ambience,” Reinsdorf told Greenstein in 1999 during another Sox rebuild. “But what people really want is something better in the uniforms.”

That statement rings true 25 years later.

Maybe the Sox need to work on that before talking about a new ballpark.

()

For those paying attention to the Wild this season, it often seems that good things happen when Ryan Hartman finishes on the scoresheet, that when the veteran forward is involved with scoring, with a goal or an assist, Minnesota tends to win.

Well, it’s true. Especially lately.

Hartman has a goal in each of the Wild’s past two games, and four points in their past five games (4-0-1), to help Minnesota stay within arm’s reach of a Western Conference playoff spot with 16 regular-season games remaining.

“It’s always good to score. Obviously, you’re trying to help the team win, and in that aspect you need scoring from around the lineup,” Hartman said after scoring the go-ahead power play goal in a 4-1 victory over Arizona on Tuesday. “It helps this team a lot, and I’m trying to continue to do that.”

Hartman has two goals and 12 points in 17 games since the Wild returned from the all-star break with a 2-1 victory at Chicago on Feb. 7. The Wild are 11-4-2 during that stretch, and 9-2-0 when Hartman registers a goal or assist.

Not coincidentally, Hartman — whose competitive edge has sometimes gotten the better of him this season — also has only four penalty minutes in those 17 games. Before that, he had 38 PIM in 44 games.

“I think he’s got a good competitive balance right now,” coach John Hynes said.

Hartman, 29, signed a three-year contract extension that will pay him $4 million a year starting next season. In 2021-22, he hit career highs with 82 games, 34 goals and 31 assists but was limited by injury to 59 games last season and finished with 15 goals and 22 assists.

In 61 games this season, Hartman has 17 goals and 20 assists, and Hynes — who succeeded Dean Evason on Nov. 28 — said Tuesday the forward is “playing a totally different style of game than he was earlier.”

“I’m really seeing why he’s a valuable player,” the coach continued. “He’s moving his feet. He’s making good plays with the puck, and his shot is a threat. He’s playing faster. He’s competitive on the puck. He’s making good decisions. Those are all the things we were looking for, and I think he was looking to get to, and now you’re starting to see his game get to where it needs to be to be an impact player for us.”

Ready and willing

Marc-Andre Fleury was the starting, and winning, goalie in the Wild’s past two games and, with a day of rest on Wednesday, could be in goal again for Thursday’s game against Anaheim at Xcel Energy Center.

That seems unlikely because Filip Gustavsson is healthy and was terrific in a 2-1 overtime loss at Colorado last Friday. On the other hand, Fleury — who in December became the fourth NHL goalie to play 1,000 games — is 22-5-0 with a 1.89 goals-against average and .931 save percentage in 27 career starts against the Ducks.

Fleury also is 8-2-0 with a 2.11 GAA and a .922 save percentage in 12 games played (10 starts) since Jan. 13.

“I love to play,” he said. “Like I said, I love to battle, compete with those guys. Every game, every night means a lot to get the win. And those games are fun to be a part of. You play for something big. It’s intense. The atmosphere is always goo in the building, too, people are up on their feet when we get goals and stuff. It’s fun to be a part of it.”

In any case, both goaltenders are likely to play big games down the stretch.

“As I’ve continued to say, I think down the stretch here we’re going to need Flower and Gus to be able to play really well,” Hynes said. “I think with Flower right now, the consistency in his game has been very good. I think Gus came in and played a heck of a game against Colorado, so we’ll make the decisions.

“We got a lot of hockey coming down the stretch and as I said, we’re going to need both players to be able to give us very good goaltending down the stretch to continue to make a push.”

Briefly

Center Marat Khusnutdinov appears to be on pace to make his NHL debut against the Ducks on Thursday. The Russian center, a second-round pick in the 2020 entry draft, signed a two-year, two-way entry contract on Feb. 28.

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