The most publicly recognized local possibilities with potential to buy the Minnesota Twins are Marty Davis and Glen Taylor.

But there is another undefrstated potential suitor with the wherewithal and background who, insiders say, would be interested in the Twins. He’s Jim Hays, 67, a Minneapolis Patrick Henry High and University of Minnesota Carlson School of Business grad who is well-connected in baseball and loves the game.

Hays is the founder of Minneapolis-based Hays Companies, which is among the country’s leading business insurance brokerages and who also operates a myriad of other major businesses.

>> Davis is the Cambria quartz countertop businessman whose family became ultrawealthy in the dairy and cheese business.

Davis, 60, from St. Peter, Minn., is a baseball enthusiast you can find many summer days in front row seats behind home plate at Twins games at Target Field. He’s believed to have had an interest in acquiring the Twins for several years, but they have not been for sale until the other day.

>> It’ll be interesting if the Alex Rodriguez-Marc Lore-Michael Bloomberg group ends up with a hefty Timberwolves-Lynx buyout to settle with Taylor, then tries to buy the Twins. Also, it’s unclear whether Major League Baseball would approve Rodriguez, who as a player was suspended for all of the 2014 season for use of performance-enhancing substances.

>> As for Taylor’s possible interest in the Twins, the double-billionaire first wants the Wolves-Lynx ownership issue cleared up before considering.

>> With the Timberwolves-Lynx sale arbitration hearing to begin Nov. 4, the timing of the Twins sale announcement was intriguing.

>> White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf lobbied hard — and unsuccessfully — for Rodriguez to buy the Mets, who ended up sold to Steve Cohen for $2.4 billion four years ago. Reinsdorf, by the way, whose team lost a record 121 games this season, and a group that includes ex-pitcher Dave Stewart, are chatting about a sale that costs $2 billion.

>> A little birdie says the Twins are hoping for a $1.8 billion offer, but $1.5 billion is a more realistic expectation.

>> It wouldn’t be surprising if retired Twins Hall of Famer Joe Mauer is sought as a limited partner in a Twins sale deal.

>> Former Twins chairman Jim Pohlad gave the Pioneer Press a hint of the team’s next TV deal when he recently suggested the MLB Network might be the team’s best option, saying “maybe there’s a bit of a downturn for a little while, but there’s a lot of upside.”

>> To attain the nearly $55 million the Twins received last year in the Bally Sports North TV rights deal, in 2025 the club would need more than 500,000 pure streaming subscribers at the anticipated price of $100.

>> It could take until the final out of the 2025 season for a Twins ownership transaction to become official.

>> Brian Flores might be the Vikings’ best defensive coordinator since Tony Dungy in 1991.

>> The Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell remains favored to win NFL coach of the year, per BetOnline.ag.

>> The 5-0 Vikings were projected to win 6.5 games before the season.

>> It’s the 35th anniversary this month of the Vikings’ infamous Herschel Walker trade, which was a money deal made because GM Mike Lynn didn’t want to pay four players and eight draft picks, including three first-rounders and three second-rounders.

>> The Vikings stadium lease allows the team to play just one home game outside the stadium within a five-year period, so the recent victory in England over the Jets was the one for 2021-2025. Between 2026 and 2030, the Vikings can play just one home game outside of market.

>> The Vikings, seeking running back depth, last week opted for Cam Akers, 25, and his $1.2 million contract from Houston rather than another ex-Viking, Dalvin Cook, 29, who they could have had off the Cowboys’ practice squad, where he’s paid $380,000.

>> Some Target Center courtside seats for the WNBA Finals between the Lynx and Liberty cost $600. At Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the most expensive seat for Game 2 was $9,945, per Ticketmaster.

>> Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu, whose last-second, 28-foot 3-pointer won Game 3 against the Lynx, was wearing her alma mater Oregon Ducks green-colored basketball shoes.

>> At Game 3 Wednesday evening was Tommy Mauer, 64, who worked six WNBA Finals among 22 years in the league as a referee before retiring. He said WNBA officiating is better now than it’s ever been.

“Those are really, really, really good players, and officiating is hard, very difficult to do,” Mauer said. “But I’m never going to say they’re better than I was.”

>> Mauer is assistant AD at Concordia University, St. Paul. From a highly respected officiating family, he and brothers Ken, Mark, Brian and Jim refereed Wednesday’s 37-0 Mounds View victory over St. Michael-Albertville.

>> On Sunday evening, line judge Jeff Seeman from Chaska will work his 350th career NFL game (Jets -Steelers), including two Super Bowls.

>> The Lynx finished seventh in regular-season attendance, averaging 9,291 per game, in the 12-team WNBA.

>> Highest-paid Lynx player is Napheesa Collier, 28, at $215,469 this season. Average NBA player salary: $12 million.

>> WNBA star Caitlin Clark, whose Indiana Fever finished No. 1 in attendance (17,035), plans to play in an LPGA pro-am golf event Nov. 13 at the Pelican Club near Tampa, Fla.

>> The Gophers’ lone senior hockey player, forward Aaron Huglen from Roseau, and wife Maddie are expecting their first child in February.

>> Gophers men’s hockey coach Bob Motzko on Wednesday is featured speaker at a Capital Club breakfast at Mendakota Country Club.

>> Timberwolves coach Chris Finch speaks at a Dunkers club breakfast on Oct. 31 at Interlachen Country Club.

>> Wild GM Billy Guerin speaks Nov. 5 to the Twin Cities Dunkers at a breakfast at Interlachen CC.

>> The Twins still rank as the second-best minor league farm system among baseball’s 30 clubs, per mlb.com.

>> Jerry Kill, the ex-Gophers head coach, is senior offensive adviser for the Vanderbilt football team that recently upset No. 1 Alabama 40-35.

>> That was former Gophers All-American Bobby Bell, 84, introduced to new Minnesota president Rebecca Cunningham at his alma mater’s 24-17 football upset of USC.

>> Mike Guentzel, the longtime former Gophers men’s hockey assistant, is a pro scout for the new Utah Hockey Club.

>> Guentzel’s son, Jake, 30, the former Hill-Murray star with the Lightning, at $13.5 million a season is the eighth-highest paid player in the NHL, per Forbes.

>> A Terrence Fogarty-designed 90-pound plaque of Johnson hockey coaching legend Lou Cotroneo will be displayed at the high school.

>> Ray Hitchcock, the popular former Johnson, Gophers and Washington Redskins offensive lineman and coach, is recovering well after a recent heart attack. “I was at death’s door, but I guess the guy upstairs didn’t need a line coach,” Hitchcock, 59, said.

>> Former Gophers QB Ray “Stretch” Stephens, 76, younger brother of late Gophers QB All-American Sandy Stephens, recently passed away.

>> Dick Larson, the former Gophers QB and assistant coach, passed away at age 88 the other day from a brain infection.

>> That was QB Drake Fritz, grandson of former Vikings coach Bud Grant and U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer Dean Blais, and son of ex-Eden Prairie QB Rick Fritz, coming off the bench to rally Lakeville South 20-13 past Champlin Park on Thursday.

>> It was 37 years ago this month that Kent Hrbek, hitting from a crouched stance, homered off the Tigers’ Jack Morris in the Twins’ 6-3 Game 2 ALCS victory the Metrodome. “It was opposite field,” said Hrbek, 64, who married Kristen Thoen on Saturday in Casper, Wy.

>> Cam Christie, who just turned 19 and left the Gophers for the LA Clippers via the NBA draft, is averaging 2.8 points after five exhibition games and will make $1.2 million this season.

>> USC defensive tackle Jide Abasiri is a true freshman from Prior Lake.

>> University of St. Thomas junior guard Kendall Blue, son of former St. Paul Central star guard Lisa Lissimore, has been named to the Summit League’s preseason first-team.

>> Kendall Brown, 21, the 6-7 former East Ridge basketball star, last week was released by the Indiana Pacers.

>> Grant Christensen, a 1995 Roseville Area High grad, runs the game clock for Kansas City Chiefs games.

>> The most in-demand tickets for Timberwolves Target Center games this season, per StubHub: Golden State on Dec. 21, Lakers on Dec. 2 and Nuggets on Nov. 1.

>> Macalester College men’s basketball coach Abe Woldeslassie has added Peter Vang and Riley Miller as assistants this season.

>> Kid to watch: Four-year-old Leo Casalenda of Bloomington the other day won his age group in the National Pedal Pull tractor championship in Mitchell, S.D.