Twins vice president of player personnel Mike Radcliff passed away today following a three-plus year battle with cancer, the organization announced. He was 66 years old.
“The Minnesota Twins today mourn the loss of Mike Radcliff,” the franchise said in a statement. “Mike was the heart and soul of our scouting department for over 30 years, a man who was beloved and respected by staff, players, fellow scouts, agents and his peers alike. One of baseball’s most revered talent evaluators, his character, work ethic, kindness and sense of humor set the tone for our player development and evaluation processes.
His baseball legacy lives on in the number of Twins Hall of Famers, All-Stars and great teams that bear his fingerprints, while his impact as a person will be forever felt by those that knew him. In the words of his trade, Mike was the epitome of a five-tool player, and he will be greatly missed across Twins Territory. Our deepest sympathies are with his wife Sherry, son Brett, daughter Erin and the entire Radcliff family during this difficult time.”
Radcliff spent the better part of four decades with Minnesota. First hired as an area scout in 1987, he’d worked his way to scouting director within six years. During his tenure as scouting director, the Twins selected numerous players who logged key roles on the Minnesota teams of the 2000’s — including Justin Morneau, Torii Hunter and recent Twins’ Hall of Fame inductee Joe Mauer.
In 2007, the organization gave Radcliff the title of vice president of player personnel — a role he would hold for the rest of his career. He remained involved in the scouting department and played a part in the franchise’s drafting and/or signing of players like Byron Buxton, Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco.
The 2011 recipient of the Midwest Scout of the Year Award from Major League Baseball, he was inducted into the Professional Scouts Hall of Fame a few years ago. Radcliff’s passing has resulted in a flood of tributes from colleagues, peers and media personnel. MLBTR joins countless others around the game in sending our condolences to Radcliff’s family, friends, colleagues and the number of players whose careers he impacted.
Rest In Peace.
This site seems like it has a daily obituary lately.
RIP Radcliff
RIP. not normal to be dying that young.
Wow, 66. That’s me. RIP.
Love your family more than you love being an online poster.
Yes, we should all keep our priorities straight.
Appreciate Trade Rumor images for these obits: wistful, artistic, tasteful.
Cliffy was such a great guy and an amazing scout as well. Anybody who knew him or had a chance to spend some time with him remembers his knowledge, honesty and humanity. He told you what he thought and you knew where he stood on players. I will miss seeing him at the ball field. He was a true gentleman.
Well, if you ever watched The Crown you saw a tutor tell the Queen that books and the education system are just for the common people to learn trades, and there is no real reason for the royalty to read books or involve themselves with universities
Queen Elizabeth II never got a “degree”, but was only educated about the constitution
The point is, reading is a sign of being uneducated and less wise, something the common people do
Lol that because people literally believed she was ordained by God to lead the people of England…
Cancer sucks
So sorry to the family for the loss. What a great baseball person and someone that did his job right. He will be missed by the many players and fans of Minnesota!
RIP Mike.
Have a bit of respect, most of this obit is bitching about Covid and vaccines and conspiracy theories. Not the place for it. Discuss the man.
“Reading is a sign of being uneducated”. I mean, I’m sorry Camden 453 but…wha???
RIP Mike Radcliff…the Twin Cities and baseball are better for having had you be a part of them.
RIP