Twins Looking For President Of Baseball Operations

The Twins have been in the market to replace general manager Terry Ryan, who was relieved of his duties in mid-July. But it seems that the team will not just hire a direct replacement. Instead, Minnesota is looking for a president of baseball operations who will in turn hire a GM and other front office personnel, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports on Twitter.

That’s not exactly a big surprise. Many teams around the league have moved toward such a two-tier approach to managing baseball operations, with variations on the general theme proliferating. And Twins owner Jim Pohlad has hinted that his club could follow suit, as Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reported in the wake of Ryan’s firing.

Still, it’s rather notable that the Minnesota organization is now apparently committed to that path. This is just my speculation, but the news could suggest that the club will look for a fairly seasoned executive to sit in the top spot, perhaps reserving the GM chair for a younger, more analytical type. Or, perhaps, the structure could help carve out a role for interim GM Rob Antony, who has been in the organization for the better part of three decades and remains under contract for next year. (For what it’s worth, after being hired as PBOp by the Red Sox, Dave Dombrowski decided to elevate Mike Hazen to serve as his GM.)

The precise nature of the arrangement obviously remains unknown — and may not even yet be decided. Rival organizations have utilized an array of different set-ups. Some presidents of baseball operation seem to hold onto many of the duties typically associated with a general manager, while others appear to be largely removed from day-to-day decisionmaking. Assessing the best arrangement for the Twins organization may well be part of the process of deciding upon a new operations chief.