Chicago White Sox announce 4 international signings, including highly touted third baseman Eduardo Herrera

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Eduardo Herrera quickly made an impression on Marco Paddy, the special assistant to the general manager, international operations, for the Chicago White Sox.

“When I saw him for the first time his strength, the way he played the game, his ability to compete, how polished he was as a hitter, I couldn’t help but to be attracted by this kid’s ability,” Paddy said during a video conference call.

The Sox have agreed to terms with the third baseman, one of four international signings announced Wednesday.

Herrera, 17, is the No. 11 international prospect according to MLB Pipeline. His deal includes a $1,800,000 signing bonus. The native of San Felipe, Venezuela, played for the Venezuelan U18 National Team at the age of 15.

“From a makeup standpoint, he’s a very good competitor, he knows to work on his body, spends a lot of time working on his body, strength and physical conditioning and things of that nature,” Paddy said. “As a competitor, we had opportunities to see him play for the Venezuelan national team. He played in a tournament in Mexico against good competition and he did extremely well as a 15-year-old playing with 18-year-old kids.

“Once we got all the information together and the evaluations, the looks, the at-bats, the time on the ground with him and knowing him as a person, we decided to move forward and we’re happy to have this young man become part of the Chicago White Sox organization.”

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Herrera bats and throws right-handed.

“We did not hesitate to go after him aggressively when it came to having the opportunity to sign him,” Paddy said. “In comparison to other guys we’ve signed in the past, most of the times when you get a guy that’s a power guy, you always question his full ability as a hitter. But in the case of this young man, he’s shown the ability to recognize (and) adjust. So we had no doubt about his ability as a hitter.”

The Sox also signed infielders Jurdrick Profar ($600,000) and Jesús Premoli ($550,000) and right-handed pitcher Jeziel Boekhoudt ($55,000).

The 6-foot-0, 190-pound Profar, 16, is the brother of longtime major leaguer Jurickson Profar — who spent 2023 with the Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres. A native of Willemstad, Curaçao, Jurdrick Profar throws and bats right-handed.

“You look at Profar and he doesn’t profile like his brother,” Paddy said. “He’s going to be a bigger, stronger kid and actually reminds me of Jonathan Schoop. That type of kid. He can play all over the infield. Profar has excellent hands and feet to play shortstop.

“He’s going to get bigger, stronger and shortstop might not be a fit. He plays second base extremely well. He has the ability to play third base, too.”

A left-handed hitting former catcher, Premoli now plays third and first base. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound 17-year-old is a native of Barquisimeto, Venezuela. Boekhoudt, 17, is 6-foot-4, 215 pounds and also a native of Willemstad, Curaçao.

Expect more international signings to be announced in the coming weeks.

“Jan. 15 is the first day they can sign but this is a process that may take a couple months,” Paddy said. “Once we sign those kids we know the job is complete but yes, the intent is to sign more guys that we have already pretty much agreed on.”

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Edwards scores 37 as Timberwolves overcome 22-point first-half deficit to thump Clippers

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The Clippers came out of the gates firing on all cylinders Tuesday in Los Angeles. They hit 8 of their first 11 shots from deep and generally found offense with ease through the game’s first 18 minutes.

Los Angeles led Minnesota 57-35 midway through the second frame.

Then Anthony Edwards came alive. The 22-year-old star guard started attacking the rim relentlessly. That led to points and a whole lot of confidence for himself and his teammates. Edwards’ aggression set a tone of physicality for Minnesota that the Clippers simply couldn’t match.

Once he started rolling, it no longer became a question of if Minnesota was going to snatch the lead, but when?

The answer was early in the third quarter. And the Wolves never looked back from there. They dominated the final 30 minutes of play en route to a 118-100 victory over the Clippers.

After falling behind by 22, Minnesota out-scored the Clippers 83-43 the rest of the way. The win marks the Wolves’ largest comeback since 2012.

Edwards finished with 37 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

“Just a bunch of mismatches,” Edwards said in his postgame, on-court television interview when asked what he saw on the floor. “Their best defender is Kawhi. Kawhi went down, and they was just putting two on me and trying stuff. And I hit one shot and got going.”

Indeed, not only is Kawhi Leonard a top 10 NBA player, but he is also the Clippers’ one defender capable of making Edwards’ life difficult. Leonard’s defense in the second half was largely responsible for Los Angeles’ win at Target Center 10 days prior.

Once Leonard left Tuesday’s game after the first frame with apparent back spasms, Edwards saw a flashing green light as his queue to attack without hesitation. Paul George, Terance Mann, Norman Powell, it really didn’t matter — none of them play with the physicality to go toe to toe with Minnesota’s all-star guard.

Edwards scored 14 points in the second quarter alone to help trim Minnesota’s halftime deficit to eight.

From that point on, the Clippers were planted firmly on their heels. The Wolves — who still have yet to lose three straight games after dropping the two contests leading into Tuesday’s bout — sank in their collective teeth defensively and played some of their best basketball in recent memory, as Los Angeles struggled to generate shots while Minnesota got whatever it wanted on offense.

Minnesota led by six at the end of the third. That lead ballooned to 14 just four minutes into the final frame.

Edwards’ help came from a pair of backcourt mates. Mike Conley hit five triples in his 23-point showing, while Nickeil Alexander-Walker finished with 28 points on 9 for 10 shooting.

Minnesota’s depth simply overmatched that of the Clippers.

The victory seals the season series for the Wolves, who are now three games clear of the Clippers in the standings with the tiebreaker, to boot.

That would seemingly all-but guarantee Minnesota a top three seed in the Western Conference playoffs.

The Wolves — who did lose Rudy Gobert in the fourth quarter to an apparent rib injury after the center suffered a hard fall — are currently just a half game back of Denver and Oklahoma City. Meanwhile, if Leonard misses time, the Clippers could potentially drop as far as into the play-in round.

That was the magnitude of Tuesday’s comeback on national television.

“We feel like this was a statement game,” Edwards said. “Regardless of who they lose, I think my team came out that second half and put on a show.”

Grand jury convened in Burnsville shooting of first responders, with apparent focus on how shooter got guns

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A former girlfriend of the Burnsville man who fatally shot three first responders last month testified Tuesday before a federal grand jury, which is apparently focused on how he obtained guns.

Noemi Torres said she never purchased guns for Shannon Gooden, who died by suicide after he killed two Burnsville police officers and a firefighter/paramedic.

A subpoena from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota shows Torres was ordered to go to court Tuesday to testify before the grand jury.

Torres said a federal prosecutor inquired about their relationship, which ended in 2016, and whether Gooden asked her to purchase guns for him when they were together.

“I told them ‘no’,” she said Tuesday of her testimony to the grand jury. “The reason why was because I feared for my life.”

Torres has said Gooden was abusive to her and would threaten to kill her if she called the police. “He would definitely have a standoff,” she previously told the Pioneer Press. “… It was going to go down.”

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Minnesota said Tuesday she could not say whether or not the office convened a grand jury in the Gooden case.

While grand juries meet in secret, that does not apply to witnesses and Torres said she was not told she couldn’t speak publicly about it.

Gun shop owner has said investigation underway

Police responded to a 911 call from the woman who was Gooden’s current girlfriend early Feb. 18, Torres said of what the woman told her. Gooden, 38, barricaded himself in a Burnsville rental house where he lived; seven children were inside — five were his and two are his girlfriend’s.

Shannon Cortez Gooden in 2007. (Courtesy of the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office)

While officers tried to negotiate with him to surrender, Gooden opened fire “without warning” and shot more than 100 rifle rounds at law enforcement and first responders, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has said. Burnsville officers Matthew Ruge and Paul Elmstrand and firefighter/paramedic Adam Finseth died of gunshot wounds.

Gooden had a lifetime ban on possessing firearms after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to assault with a dangerous weapon. Gooden petitioned to get his gun rights restored in 2020. His request was opposed by the Dakota County Attorney’s Office and a judge ruled he could not possess guns.

A firearm found at the shooting scene was traced to the Modern Sportsman, a Burnsville firearm shop, owner John McConkey said late last month. He said the person who bought the gun was being investigated for committing a straw purchase — when someone buys a gun legally and provides it to someone who is prohibited from having it.

“The Modern Sportsman had no way of knowing the lower receiver (of an AR-15) would end up in a convicted felon’s/prohibited person’s possession,” McConkey said in a statement at the time. “The prohibited person was not there during the transfer process nor was his name on any of the enclosed documents.”

Someone bought the AR-15 lower receiver from an out-of-state online retailer and shipped it to the Modern Sportsman’s Burnsville location for transfer.

“The purchaser passed the background check and took possession of the firearm on Jan. 15, 2024,” McConkey said.

Photos of Burnsville police officers, from left, Paul Elmstrand, Matthew Ruge and firefighter/paramedic Adam Finseth are displayed during a community vigil Feb. 20, 2024, at the Burnsville Police Department/City Hall. (Mara H. Gottfried / Pioneer Press)

Sorrow for officers’, firefighter’s families

Torres said she understands that authorities “are trying to figure out how (Gooden) obtained the guns” and she thinks they will make that determination.

Torres had three children with Gooden and was in a custody dispute with him.

“My biggest concern is my children were placed in that house when I was trying my hardest to keep them out of there,” she said.

Her children were in the home when Gooden was barricaded inside; Torres said she never knew there were guns in the house until he killed the first responders. Torres’ 12-year-old daughter was in the same room with her father when he was shooting at the first responders and when he fatally shot himself.

Her daughter recently told her mother that Gooden said his current girlfriend “got away,” according to Torres. “Basically, he should have killed her,” she said Wednesday of Gooden’s statement.

The girl continues to feels sorrow for the officers’ and firefighter’s families. “It’s in her heart, heavy, and I’ve constantly got to remind her that it’s not her fault,” Torres said.

How to help

Donations for the families of the first responders who were killed are being accepted at lels.org/benevolent-fund.

Township election results: Write-in candidate wins in West Lakeland, incumbent holds on to seat in May

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Township elections results in Washington County ranged from a nail-biter to a landslide on Tuesday night.

In May Township, Town Board Supervisor Steve Magner held off a challenge from Mark Deissner and won by four votes. Magner received 240 votes; Deissner got 236 votes.

Magner served on the township’s planning commission for 17 years before being elected to the town board in 2021.

In West Lakeland Township, write-in candidate Rachel Dana soundly defeated Vince Anderson. Dana received 811 write-in votes; Anderson received 160 votes.

Dana, 40, who has served on the planning commission since 2021, said she was asked to run as a write-in campaign after residents realized former town board chairman Dave Schultz had decided not to run for re-election. She missed the deadline for filing for election.

Dana, who also serves on the township’s building committee, is a director of construction for Ryan Cos. in Minneapolis, where she leads the company’s national retail construction team.

Anderson and the township recently reached a settlement regarding the litigation for ordinance violations; neither party admitted any liability, township officials said.

In 2021, the Minnesota Department of Administration, in response to an inquiry from Anderson, found that the West Lakeland Township Board had violated the state’s open meeting law when it failed to maintain a journal of votes and when it changed meeting locations without proper notice.

On Tuesday night, Anderson thanked everyone who voted.

“Rachel and I have talked, and I will do all she wants to help her with town history, and Minnesota statutes, and town ordinances,” he said.

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