The Twins have hired recently retired outfielder Michael A. Taylor as an outfield instructor, per Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He won’t be a member of the big league coaching staff but will be in camp for several weeks this spring and will visit the Twins’ minor league affiliates to work with their up-and-coming outfielders throughout the 2026 season.
Taylor, 34, retired following the 2025 season. He played in parts of 12 major league seasons and spent the 2023 season as a member of the Twins, hitting .220/.278/.442 with a career-high 21 home runs. Taylor spent his final season in 2025 with the White Sox and also played with the Nationals, Royals and Pirates (under new Twins skipper Derek Shelton). He retired as a career .232/.288/.379 hitter with 109 home runs, 128 steals, 156 doubles and 15 triples in 3801 major league plate appearances.
It was below-average production on the whole, but Taylor’s calling card was always his defense and baserunning. He played 7473 innings of center field in his major league career and logged outstanding marks in both Defensive Runs Saved (83) and Outs Above Average (58). His work in the corners was more limited but also above-average, per both metrics. Overall, Taylor finished his playing days with 97 DRS and 61 OAA in just under 9000 defensive innings. He chipped in 128 steals in 163 tries — a 79% success rate.
Taylor “only” won one Gold Glove in his big league career, although that’s due to his frequent status as a fourth outfielder. His penchant for strikeouts (and thus batting average/on-base percentage marks) kept him from picking up enough innings in the outfield to garner consideration in most seasons. On a rate basis, however, Taylor is one of the elite defenders of this generation — at any position. From the time of his 2014 debut through his final game late this season, only six players amassed more DRS than his 97: Kevin Kiermaier, Nolan Arenado, Andrelton Simmons, Mookie Betts, Jason Heyward and Matt Chapman. His 61 OAA tie him for 12th among all big leaguers in that same window.
Though the role with the Twins is a relatively limited one, Nightengale suggests that the intent is to give Taylor some experience working with younger players as he gauges whether he wants to pursue a second act in baseball as a coach. For the time being, a Twins organization that has a long lineage of plus defenders in center field — Taylor briefly among them — will have one of the better outfield defenders in recent memory working with its young players in an effort to continue that hallmark.
Those that do teach. Congrats on a solid career
You can say the same to Ted Williams…
He could do it beautifully, but he wasn’t a great teacher.
Over 100 career homers and over 100 career SBs. And lots of solid D. Congrats!
Pretty good instructor to have, he was consistently a very good defender when he played.
Will probably be their best move all winter!
🤣
Dipping his toe in the pool. Good luck.
Good luck.
Goose luck
He can pretty much make his own schedule during the season as roovers/coordinator usually visited affiliate once or twice a season and usually about a week worth of being with the teams, so he doesn’t have to be away from family much except during spring training
or if you become a permanent member of a minor league teams coaching stuff- it is a pretty normal hours job. Yes there is travel like the players, but the minor league season is shorter, and the teams tend to not be quite as far apart (even more so in the lower minors). Even in AA something like the eastern league, you can get to 75% of the teams in under a 3 hour drive.
I didn’t know. Thanks for the insightful comment.
I remember thinking Taylor could be the next Mike Cameron…. making that tool set work is a razors edge; the gap between hitting .240 with 25hr and 25sb and hitting .215 and never getting on base enough to steal 20 bags is just so small.
Great on him for finding where he needs to be now. LEarning to take a good first step and tracking the ball is so important. It is a teachable skill, and getting on of the best for the last 15 years will help teach the young guys how.
Wonder what he did in 2017 when he hit .271 with a .806 OPS and would have had a 20/20 season had he played the full year.
mlb
Put up a BABIP 50 points higher than his career BABIP
And a HR/FB rate 7 percentage points higher than his career HR/FB
Part of it was almost certainly luck. Some of it was almost certainly just having things come together. But he couldn’t sustain it.
@mlb Id attribute some of it to the depth of Nats lineup that year. Hitting in such a deep lineup has the added protection and gets into teams bullpens quicker.
Just takes a little boost and players are swinging with more confidence and much less inclined to over think things. The mental aspect of hitting can have a huge impact.
Good for him with Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez being such good prospects it’s good to see him come in to help them get ready for the bigs.
He probably could hang around the edges of the league for a few more years but he had a solid career earning his pension for 10 years of service time with $27,000,000 in earnings
prediction: they may ask him to suit up by the late summer.
🤣👍
A great hire from a dude who has given a lot to the game
The Nats moved him out for Victor Robles. Better career when it’s all said and done?
Gut thats an idiot and wouldnt hustle and let balls get behind him is gonna coach people how to do the same? Twins suck so this is fitting
you know what you can do with your piney wood there rooter. Bet you couldn’t catch a cold.
That is nothing like Michael A. Taylor’s reputation in Washington, where we see him as a good guy and a fine fielder with some pop.
I went to minor league game once primarily to see him play. That he’s retired now, and coaching, makes me feel old. But what a great outfielder! One of the best I’ve seen.
Anyone, even a bag of popcorn, is better than their previous OF coach, Tommy Watkins.
Taylor was a fine center fielder with the Pirates in 2024 but his most arduous task was trying to teach ONeill Cruz how to play CF.
Not an easy gig.
His personality seems to me that he is a patient person and that will help him in his coaching career.
Good luck Michael.
Michael A. back in the game!