CLEVELAND — When the 2023 season concluded, the Twins were the lone team in their division to finish above .500. The next closest team, the Detroit Tigers, finished six games under that mark as the American League Central finished as one of the worst divisions in history.

No longer.

If the Twins are to defend their title — they’re currently in third place and were just swept by the Cleveland Guardians on the road — they’ll have a much harder go of it. The AL Central has four teams at or above .500 — Cleveland, Kansas City, Minnesota and Detroit — the most of any division in baseball.

“The first month and a half, I don’t know how it  could be much more competitive,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “There’s some clubs playing really good. Pitching exceptionally well. … It’s like every game you’re running into now in this division, you’re going to have to do some really good work offensively and have a tremendous plan and have tremendous at-bats in order to win the game.”

Cleveland tailed off last year, but is atop the division this year, now 5 1/2 games ahead of the Twins.

Kansas City, led by the youngster, Bobby Witt Jr., and the veteran, Salvador Perez, currently sits in second place, 1 1/2 games out, after finishing with the second-worst record in the American League last year. They won their 28th game on Saturday, a mark they didn’t hit until mid-July last season.

And the Tigers, at .500 after a loss on Sunday, have been among the best pitching teams in the majors, led by ace Tarik Skubal.

“We saw the Royals last year and how young they were, and they obviously weren’t in it. But they were very competitive,” center fielder Byron Buxton said. “There was a good, young group, and they just let them go out and play. And you could tell the confidence and just the experience of them playing last year. You can tell it shows a little bit more this year by how well they’re playing. … Detroit is young. Cleveland, they’re always good. It’s just changing.”

Only the Chicago White Sox are out of contention — and while the Twins are 7-0 against them, they’ve provided some challenges for other division foes.

All that has made things much more challenging for the Twins, who came into the season projected to win the division for the second straight year but have been a streaky team — in both directions — for the first month and a half of the season.

“I still don’t know how it’s all going (to come) together for us or any other club this year,” Baldelli said. “What I do know is that you better be ready to show up to work when you’re playing these teams right now.”

Jackson DFA’d

A day after he gave up four runs against the Guardians, ballooning his earned-run average to 6.85, the Twins officially designated veteran reliever Jay Jackson for assignment.

The Twins signed Jackson, 36, to a major league deal this offseason. It was the first time in his career he had landed a major league deal after a long journey that has taken him through multiple major league organizations and to Japan.

“If he can find a way to keep throwing to get his velocity back up to where it was last year, I think he has a chance to be really successful,” Baldelli said. “He came in this year, and the stuff so far has been a little bit down compared to where it was last year. I think that does matter. That’s definitely part of it.”

While Baldelli expressed hope that he would clear waivers and remain in the organization, Jackson was out of options, which meant they had to designate him for assignment to remove him from the 26-man roster.

In his place, the Twins called up Caleb Boushley to add to the bullpen.

Briefly

The Twins will head to Washington’s Nationals Park for the first time since the 2016 season for a series beginning on Monday. They’ll face off against multiple former Twins, including Eddie Rosario and Joey Gallo. … Pablo López, Joe Ryan and Simeon Woods Richardson will take on the Nationals.

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DETROIT LAKES — To Danish recycled materials artist Thomas Dambo, the phrase “talking trash” means something quite different than it does to most people.

Dambo, who is in Detroit Lakes this month to take on one of the biggest public art projects he has created to date, believes there is value to be found in many things that most people would discard as trash.

“Everything I make, I try to make out of something that has been (used for) something else,” he said during a press event at Detroit Mountain Recreation Area on Thursday

Though Dambo has been involved in other projects involving recycled art, his trolls are probably his biggest claim to fame. His work was even featured on “CBS This Morning” earlier this spring, and he has published a book called “Trash, Trolls and Treasure Hunts” about the first 100 trolls that he created around the world. The book itself is made from recycled materials, Dambo noted.

Copies of that book will be available for sale at an artist talk with Dambo that will be hosted by the Historic Holmes Theatre in Detroit Lakes at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 21. Dambo will be discussing the story behind his creation of nine different art pieces, including a half-dozen of his “recycled giants,” at locations in the Detroit Lakes area.

“It’s an exhibition made out of scraps,” Dambo said, referring to the fact that just about every aspect of the sculptures will be made of recycled materials — mainly wood, though at least one will be made out of plastic.

Some of the wood came from white pine trees that were cut down to make room for the expansion of Minnesota 34 last summer, Dambo noted, while the yellow plastic storage boxes that will be used for one of the sculptures came from Bismarck Tool and Die Manufacturing.

Some of the pieces in the project will be placed at locations in Fargo, N.D.; Perham, Minn.; and Frazee, Minn., though the bulk of them will be installed in and around Detroit Lakes.

Danish recycled materials artist Thomas Dambo, who stands roughly six and a half feet tall, is dwarfed by one of the 139-and-counting giant troll sculptures that he has installed at locations all over the globe over the past 10 years. (Contributed / Project 412)

Dambo said that this will be his largest project to date, in terms of both geographic area and height — at least one of the trolls will reach a standing height of 36 feet when completed.

But it’s not just their height that will make the Detroit Lakes trolls stand out, Dambo noted — they also have large hands, heads and feet.

“The head of a troll is about 6-8 feet in diameter,” he said. “The largest foot I have is 9 feet (long).”

All of the sculptures will be interconnected by a central story, which Dambo described as a “fairy tale.” The story will start with a central character, named Alexa, who is in the process of brewing a magical elixir that will, hopefully, cure humans of their “curse” — which is, in essence, the inability to see what they are doing to their environment.

That sculpture will serve as the starting point that will contain clues for locating the other trolls, he added. One of the trolls will be placed in a “super secret” location, with clues to help pinpoint that location being included as part of the other troll sculptures.

Work on constructing the trolls has been underway for about a week, Dambo said, and will continue through mid-June. Local nonprofit Project 412 is the organization responsible for bringing Dambo and his crew of 20-some artists to the Detroit Lakes community for this art installation, and he thanked them for their assistance in every aspect of the project, including the recruitment of volunteers.

“We needed to fill 472 time slots with volunteers,” said Project 412 Executive Director Amy Stoller Stearns, “and we’ve filled them.”

There are still a few slots available later in the schedule, she added, so those who would like to sign up to be a part of the troll-building project can still do so at project412mn.org.

Those planning to attend Dambo’s artist talk at the Holmes Theatre on Tuesday are asked to RSVP via the Project 412 website at project412mn.org/thomas-dambo-artist-talk.

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OF NOTE

Travis J. Anderson

Attorney Travis J. Anderson will serve as general counsel and has been appointed to the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games board of directors to help oversee the event to take place June 20-26, 2026, in the Twin Cities. Anderson is with the Minneapolis law firm Fredrikson, which announced the appointment.

EDUCATION

Aqua-Tots Swim School, an international swim school franchise, announced plans for a location at 7645 Metro Blvd., Edina, its second in Minnesota. The franchisee is Ross Habben and the general manager is Alex Brumley. … Kaleidoscope, a Minneapolis-based Full-Cycle Scholarship Platform, connecting students and educators with scholarship and grant opportunities, has appointed Glen Gunderson to its board of directors. Gunderson is president and CEO of the YMCA of the North, which announced his appointment.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Stearns Bank, St. Cloud, announced the appointment of Marlice Johnson as chief brand officer and Maggie Rivera as vice president of corporate social responsibility and inclusion. … Craig Lundquist has been appointed to the Senior Advisor Leadership Team with TruStage Wealth Management Solutions. Lundquist is a financial professional at Ideal Wealth Advisors, located at Ideal Credit Union, Woodbury, which announced his appointment.

HONORS

The U.S. Small Business Administration has named Garett Lamppa of Lamppa Manufacturing as SBA’s Minnesota Family-Owned Small Business of the Year. Lamppa Manufacturing is a Tower, Minn.-based maker of wood-burning furnaces and sauna stoves. It has been a family business since the 1930s. … TIME100’s Most Influential People list for 2024 includes Land O’Lakes CEO Beth Ford and University of Minnesota professor Rachel Hardeman. Land O’Lakes is based in Arden Hills…. The Performance Excellence Network announced the recipients of its 2023 Minnesota Performance Excellence Award: University of Minnesota School of Nursing Care, Minneapolis; Region 5 Community Bridgemakers, Staples; State of Minnesota, Department of Human Services Direct Care & Treatment Administration, St. Paul, and Episcopal Homes of Minnesota, St. Paul. The award is based on the Baldrige Framework, a recognized business achievement criteria.

LAW

Chestnut Cambronne, Minneapolis, announced that Eric Bjerva has been named partner. Bjerva is developing a mental health aaw practice group at the firm. … Fredrikson, Minneapolis, announced that attorney Victoria Yang has joined as an associate in its International, Asia Practice, Mergers & Acquisitions, Finance & Securities, Intellectual Property, Technology & Data, and Corporate groups.

MANUFACTURING

Stratasys Ltd., a 3D printing and additive manufacturing company based jointly in Eden Prairie and Rehovot, Israel, announced the appointment of Amir Kleiner as chief operating officer. Kleiner has served in numerous leadership positions at Stratasys, most recently as global VP of customer success. … Intek Plastics, a Hastings provider of plastic manufacturing components and products to industry, announced Mike Corcoran as vice president of operations. He succeeds Rick Zeien, who is retiring.

MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY

Solventum, a St. Paul-based provider of medical components, announced the appointment of Shirley Edwards, former partner at EY, to its board of directors. Solventum spun off from Maplewood-based 3M Co. earlier this year. … Kindeva Drug Delivery, a Woodbury-based developer of drug-delivery combination devices, announced that Denis Johnson has joined the company as chief operating officer. Johnson most recently served as head of global manufacturing and technical operations at Biogen and held several leadership roles at Catalent, Boston Scientific, Teradyne and Johnson & Johnson.

SERVICES

Horwitz, a New Hope-based specialty equipment contractor for industry, announced the promotion of Sam Augspurger to preconstruction manager. Augspurger has been with the company since 2016 and was promoted to partner in 2021. … BlackHawk Industrial, a national distributor of metalworking and other industrial products, announced the appointment of Troy Deans as redeployment center supervisor, based in Minnesota. … Community Association Group, an Eagan-based residential property management company, announced the appointment of Alyson Beckstrom as CEO, succeeding company founder Deborah Ho-Beckstrom. … Great Clips, a Bloomington-based franchisor of retail hair salons, announced the following executive changes: Rachelle Johnson, promoted to chief financial officer; Kevin Barnd, promoted to vice president of business technology services, and Mari Fellrath, moving into the new role of senior director of operations applications and reporting. The company also announced it ranked first in the Hair Care category in Entrepreneur magazine’s Franchise 500.

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EMAIL ITEMS to businessnews@pioneerpress.com.