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Let’s assume the news is true, and the Wolves are indeed, as is being reported by ESPN and other outlets, trading Mark Blount and Ricky Davis to the Heat for Antoine Walker, Michael Doleac, Wayne Simien and, perhaps most importantly, at least one future draft pick. This is a classic addition by subtraction deal. I have been arguing for Mark Blount to be renounced since the Garnett trade. He laid down like a dog after the all star break last season as blatantly as any human being in a Timberwolves uniform ever laid down. The emergence of Theo Ratliff as a viable force in the middle, the ability of Jefferson to slide over to center, and now the arrival of Doleac, a classic banger with a midrange J (who should ease the fear of unloading Juwan Howard if McHale isn’t done trading), made Blount irrelevant as a niche talent as well as dislikeable for his anti-industry.

Ricky Davis likewise has issues, thoroughly discussed here and elsewhere on numerous occasions. He has a marvelous and multifaceted set of skills, and Miami is a good place for him to go, what with Shaq and Wade as the abiding 1-2 punch and a taskmaster like Pat Riley patrolling the sidelines. I suspect that trio plus Ricky’s impending contract expiration will give the Heat an invaluable, utilitarian third wheel. But in Minnesota, Pretty Ricky was destined to either be unhappy with his playing time or totally retard the team’s rebuilding efforts by hogging minutes and turning on the talent spigot whenever he felt like it, which has been about 60-70 percent of the time the past two seasons; just enough to engender a little faith and then dash it away.

Put simply, good riddance to a pair that had about a 99 percent chance of hurting rather than helping the long-term prospects for this franchise had they stayed.

The additions and the current situation are less exciting. To lose Blount, the Wolves essentially had to obtain Antoine Walker. I don’t know who is accurate here, but Shamsports.com has Blount and Walker both with contracts with team options for 2009-10, with Walker getting about $2 million more per season than Blount’s bloated deal. In his espn.com report on the rumored trade, Marc Stein claims that Walker has one year less if the option isn’t picked up. Walker is obviously more talented. While the salary situation is comparable to Blount, the personality issues are akin to Davis, in that when he’s Walker wants to play, he can be a generous and synergistic teammate–he was a key cog on Miami’s championship team throughout the postseason two years ago, and was a worthy complement to Paul Pierce for a few years of overachievement in Boston. But when ‘Toine doesn’t feel like playing D, he can sabotage rotations with disarming rapidity. And when he decides he’s going to launch anywhere from 6 to 10 treys in an evening, he can short-circuit an offense like nobody’s business. He also isn’t going to be doing jumping jacks over the notion of moving from glitzy Miami from a legit contender to the frozen tundra to nurture the nascent Wolves for the next two years. In other words, the Wolves may have traded two sure-fire problems for another, slightly more expensive, problem.

The other two guys in the trade, Michael Doleac and Wayne Simien, are bangers, pure and simple, fulfilling Kevin McHale’s smashmouth recipe with copious amounts of elbow grease. How many 6-9, 260 pound guys does it take to box out the Western Hemisphere? McHale is trying to answer that question. On the plus side, the contracts of Doleac and Simien are both up at the end of this year (Simien has a team option).
Last, but certainly not least, the draft pick, or picks, is crucial here. Even if Miami finishes well enough to make it up toward the end of the first round, it will ease the sting of the inevitable year Minnesota must fork over their own pick to complete the Cassell-for-Jaric trade.

Final thoughts on this first take: Miami has entered the arms race for the Eastern Crown. Davis is both insurance for Wade, who is iffy physically, and a potentially potent part of the future in Florida, provided he can keep his head screwed on straight. If he contributes big, he can command a pretty nice deal at the end of the season, and Miami, who are already committed to $35 million for Shaq and Wade alone over the next two years, will pay it to keep the contention going.

Meanwhile, this deal isn’t as much of a salary cap breather for Minnesota as you might expect–none actually, if you consider that Walker and Blount are a wash, and ditto RD versus Doleac and Simien.

Finally, all this talk about a 2-for-1 trade to shed contracts wound up being a 2-for-3 trade that adds more bodies. Are more trades on the horizon (like Howard)? It would be nice to see this squad flip some of their extra pieces to Atlanta for one of the Hawks’ caddies for Acie Law, either Speedy Claxton or Tyrone Lue. If that doesn’t happen, well, would this squad renounce Antoine Walker? Because he’s the new contract albatross (nudging out Marko Jaric) on the roster now. I don’t think the other shoe has dropped yet.

My guess is, Ryan Aberle dreams of someday running a restaurant like Grant Achatz’s Alinea in Chicago, or Thomas Keller’s Per Se in Manhattan. For the time being, though, he’s the executive chef at North Coast in Wayzata. During the summer months, Aberle runs a high volume feeding operation, turning out Thai chicken wraps and bacon cheeseburgers and Caesar salads for the crowds that pack the dockside patio.

When the leaves start to fall, and the crowds thin out, Aberle gets a chance to do something a bit more creative. He has already pushed his dinner menu about as far as a menu at a dockside restaurant can go, with dishes like Moroccan spiced rack of lamb, and Kobe beef short ribs braised in Guinness. But it’s his five-course tasting menu that really gives him a chance to show off his talent.

The prix fixe offerings change every couple of weeks, but recent offerings have included starters of juniper-scented Kumamoto oysters with apple-smoked King salmon and yuzu beurre blanc or a lavender braised Angus beef cheek with Stilton and Yukon potato croquette and herb-poached cherries. Last week’s menu, which I tasted, started with a salad of mache with sesame dressing and duck prosciutto, accompanied by a crispy tempura-fried poached egg and a wedge of Cabrales cheese with honey, followed by a vanilla-scented squash and lobster bisque. These were followed by a lamb chop with spiced figs and a pickled fennel and onion slaw, and then braised boneless beef short rib with horseradish spaetzle, and a sweet and sour finale of mango poached in black vinegar with coconut ice cream and a butterscotch pudding.

Not every course was as memorable as the first, but the overall batting average was pretty high, and it’s hard to beat the price: $35 for five courses, ($29 on Sundays), plus $20 for the optional flight of four 4-oz. glasses of wines (decent, not great) to accompany the first four courses. The new menu, which starts today, starts with kobe beef shabu-shabu, followed by monkfish Benedict, Tallegio “eclairs” and a pheasant confit cake with pumpkin coffee gnocchi and a spiced poached crab apple with hazelnut cream.

The cuisine may be haute, but the setting and service are more casual – a long bar in the center of the dining room is ringed with at least 10 large flat-screen TVs, mostly tuned to sports channels, which creates an atmosphere a bit less refined than, say, the dining room at Cosmos or D’Amico Cucina. And our young server was friendly and attentive, but not as polished as her counterparts at other restaurants that attempt cuisine of this caliber.

A six course $85 wine dinner featuring the wines of Cakebread Cellars on Friday, November 2 is sold out, but there are still a few places left for the second dinner on Saturday, November 3.

North Coast, 294 E. Grove Lane, Wayzata, 952-475-4960.

Tired of road salt rusting your car and ruining your shoes all winter? We might have another solution.

According to MPR, Bill Clinton’s recent visit to Minnesota proved lucrative for Hillary’s campaign.

Fresh off bad predictions in both league championship series (hat tip to Brad Zellar over at Warning Track Power who called both right), I’m not going to be cute or even especially original in calling the BoSox winners in six games or less. Here are the top two reasons why.

* Patient hitters
This was one of the few things I did get right about the Cleveland-Boston series. The ability of Red Sox hitters to wait for Fausto Carmona and CC Sabathia to consistently throw tough strikes–and the inability of the dual aces to do so–was the single biggest factor in the Red Sox triumph. There isn’t a team in baseball with a string of batting eyes connected to dangerous bats that ranks with the Youkilis-Ortiz-Manny-Lowell quartet. They played ropeadope with CC and Fausto and watched the pair wear themselves out and finally concede hittable pitches.
The most amazing thing about the Colorado Rockies unbelieveable 21-1 record the past month has been the success of their starting rotation behind ace Jeff Francis. But Rox manager Clint Hurdle (who with that name should be a member of Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos) knew he couldn’t get away with *two* rooks in the rotation facing these Red Sox, and thus activated opening day starter Aaron Cook to go in Game Four. Yes, Cook has immaculate control, walking just 15 hitters in 166 innings this year and less than 60 in more than 700 innings over the course of his career. But Cook hasn’t pitched in a real game since August 10. He’ll be rusty. And the Sox will be ready for him. Meanwhile, Game Two starter Ubado Jimenez is a good-looking rookie, but walked 37 in 82 innings during the regular season and another 8 in just 11 innings during the postseason. Think he’ll get through the Sox Murderer’s Row more than twice in any game he pitches? Me neither.

* Colorado’s Long Layoff
The last thing a team in the middle of a don’t-pinch-me run wants to do is remain inactive for more than a week, but that’s what happened when the Rox swept Arizona and Boston needed the full 7 to dispose of Cleveland. Throw in the home field and postseason experience advantages enjoyed by the Sox and there will be enormous pressure facing Colorado during the first two games at Fenway.

Of course if Colorado wins one or both–meaning if Francis can topple Josh Beckett and/or Ubado can reign in the strike zone without damage in the second tilt–the long layoff thing, and the experience thing, and the home field advantage thing all go out the window. If Colorado wins two, even the fabled grit of the Red Sox won’t recover. If Colorado splits the first two, this will be a hell of a series. And if you want to root for the Rockies, here are a couple of silver linings.

No DH in Colorado. That means either Ortiz or Youkilis or Lowell must sit. Yup, the consensus best clutch hitter in the game, a guy who had a 1.500+ OPS in the ALCS, or the team leader in rbis. Personally, I’d send Youk back to his old spot at third, play Ortiz at first, and hope that the slight drop in D translated into continued magnificence for the pair at the plate. On the other hand, you could argue that there is no better pinch hitter than Youk, the best of the great batting eyes, in a tight game with runners on base. And that gives you the upgrade of Lowell at third. Either way, I don’t think you can sit Ortiz, even against the lefty Francis. But I can envision Ortiz hitting a double late in 7th, 8th or 9th of a close tilt, getting Ellersby or Crisp as a pinch runner, and throwing Youk at first for the rest of the game.

Also, don’t underestimate the Rockies hitters versus the Sox hurlers. I made this mistake before, proclaiming Brandon Webb would tame them. Beckett is a money pitcher, but Curt Schilling is getting by on guile, not a good idea facing the likes of Tulowitzki/Holliday/Atkins/Helton and Brad Hawpe, who absolutely destroys right-handed pitching. Furthermore, can Dice-K pitch at Coors? Will the thin air hurt Okajima’s overhand breaking balls and changes of speeds?

Bottom line, great pitching trumps great hitting, and that is spelled Beckett. And patient hitters can eat up good-stuff pitchers who either are a tad wild (Jimenez) or rusty (Cook). That and the pinched Rockies waking up to the fact that they’re in a World Series is why I am going with Boston.