Twins announcer apologizes to Yankees' Nestor Cortes over controversial comment

As mentioned by The Associated Press, Minnesota Twins announcer Jim Kaat landed in hot water during Thursday's Twins-Detroit Tigers game when he referred to New York Yankees left-hander Nestor Cortes as "Nestor the Molester" while offering praise for the 27-year-old. 

"'Nestor the Molester,' Nestor Cortes," Kaat remarked. "Angles and different speeds. He's a pitcher."

Twins vice president of communications and content Dustin Morse said he spoke with Kaat, 83, after the broadcast, but ESPN noted that Cortes said on Thursday he wasn't offended by the comment. 

Cortes addressed the matter again via a social media post shared on Friday. 

"Jim Kaat has spent an entire lifetime in this game we love," the southpaw wrote. "He reached out to me and apologized for his remark last night, but he didn't need to. We all make mistakes and feel 100% there was no malice intended. I plan on lifting him up with this tweet and I hope others do too. No sweat here Jim!"

Cortes temporarily deactivated his Twitter account last month after screenshots of some of his old tweets that included offensive words and racist slurs were shared. 

Kaat, meanwhile, was criticized last October when, per the AP, he said that teams should try to "get a 40-acre field full of" players similar to Chicago White Sox infielder Yoan Moncada. Some saw this as a reference to an unfilled promise by the United States government that assured freed slaves they would receive 40 acres and a mule following the American Civil War of the 1860s.