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Twins Narrow Managerial Search To Top Four Candidates

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The Twins seem to have winnowed down their candidates for manager to a group of four. Dan Hayes and Brittany Ghiroli of The Athletic report that they’re still considering Derek Shelton, James Rowson, Ryan Flaherty, and Scott Servais. While Hayes and Ghiroli leave open the possibility the Twins could broaden the field, that seems to be a long shot.

All four of those coaches had been tied to the Twins’ search, though it hadn’t been previously reported that Servais and Flaherty had formally interviewed. Shelton and Servais have previous MLB managerial experience. Shelton led the Pirates for five-plus seasons. Pittsburgh never won more than 76 games and posted a 41% win percentage over his tenure. Shelton wasn’t working with the most talented rosters, of course, but the Bucs fired him in May after beginning this past season with a 12-26 record. They went 59-65 under Don Kelly the rest of the way.

Before moving to Pittsburgh, Shelton spent two seasons as Minnesota’s bench coach under Paul Molitor and Rocco Baldelli. The Twins interviewed him during the 2018 process that led to the Baldelli hiring. Rowson, who was Minnesota’s hitting coach at the time, also interviewed in 2018. He spent one season on Baldelli’s staff before departing to become bench coach in Miami. He also spent a season in Detroit and has worked as the Yankees’ hitting coach for the last two years. Hayes and Ghiroli write that Shelton and Rowson could be the frontrunners because of their previous ties to the Minnesota organization.

Servais managed the Mariners for parts of nine seasons. Seattle won 51.4% of their games and had five seasons with at least 86 wins during his tenure. The M’s stalled out in the second half of the ’24 campaign, leading them to fire Servais and hire Dan Wilson that August. The Mariners advanced to the ALCS in Wilson’s first full season at the helm. Servais worked as a special assistant for the Padres this year and has also gotten attention from the Orioles for their managerial opening.

Flaherty has worked as Craig Counsell’s bench coach with the Cubs for the last two years. He has also been mentioned as a candidate for the Baltimore and San Diego openings. Royals’ third base coach Vance Wilson, Red Sox’s bench coach Ramón Vázquez, and Padres’ coach Nick Punto had interviewed with the Twins but are now out of the running.

Yankees Part Ways With Coaches Mike Harkey, Travis Chapman

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The Yankees are making changes to their coaching staff. Bullpen coach Mike Harkey as well as first base and infield coach Travis Chapman will not be returning to the club in 2026, per Andy Martino of SNY.

Harkey, 58, has served two separate stints as the team’s bullpen coach. His first stint was from 2008-13, which included the World Series winning 2009 season. After spending 2014-15 as the pitching coach for the Diamondbacks, he returned as the Yankees’ bullpen coach in 2016 and had been in that role ever since, until today’s news. The club has generally churned out a strong relief corps in those ten seasons. Since the start of 2016, Yankees relievers have posted a 3.63 ERA which ranks third-best among all major league teams. They are tied for third-best with a 16.7% K-BB rate in that time and have been worth a combined 56.3 fWAR, which is second only to the Dodgers.

This year, however, the Bronx bullpen did not perform up to its usual standards. Yankees relievers ranked 23rd in the league with a 4.37 ERA. While they struck out plenty of hitters, tying the Guardians bullpen for fifth-best with a 24.9% strikeout rate, they also walked 9.7% of hitters, which was ninth-worst. Key offseason acquisition Devin Williams posted a 4.79 ERA in 62 innings, although his 3.07 xERA and 2.68 FIP are much more favorable. Luke Weaver also underperformed relative to 2024, and while David Bednar proved invaluable following his acquisition at the trade deadline, fellow relievers Camilo Doval and Jake Bird were not as successful, with Bird almost immediately being optioned to the minors.

Obviously, responsibility for the bullpen’s performance is not Harkey’s alone. Underperformance in 2025 aside, Harkey has been a steady presence on the team’s staff for the past decade and now departs the organization with 19 years of coaching experience on his resume.

Chapman, 47, began his coaching career in New York’s farm system before being promoted to the major league staff following the 2021 season. Since the start of 2022, the club’s defense on the left side of the infield has generally been solid. With solid performances at the hot corner from the likes of DJ LeMahieu, Josh Donaldson, Oswaldo Cabrera, and now Ryan McMahon, Yankees third basemen have combined for 35 Defensive Runs Saved and 33 Outs Above Average in that time. Shortstop has also been a defensive strength, with Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Anthony Volpe leading the team to a combined 35 DRS (4th in the majors) and 8 OAA (14th) at that spot. First and second base have been more serviceable than excellent, being valued at 0 DRS and -6 DRS respectively.

This year, the infield defense was not quite as strong. Jazz Chisholm Jr. was worth 8 OAA at second base, but he was also forced to spend time at third base in the first half and was a negative there, which partly necessitated the trade for McMahon. Notably, Anthony Volpe regressed mightily at shortstop, as he was valued at -7 OAA after being lauded for his defense from 2023-24. As with Harkey, Chapman is not entirely to blame for the infield’s regression. Nonetheless, it appears the Yankees are moving on in hopes of improving their infield defense in 2026.

Other coaching changes are on the horizon as well. Per Martino, hitting coordinator Jake Hirst is being promoted to the major league staff. Assistant hitting coach Pat Roessler will not return in that role, although the team is discussing other potential roles with him. Meanwhile, hitting coach James Rowson is reportedly set to interview for the Twins’ managerial vacancy. In any case, the Yankees will look to have a capable staff in place under manager Aaron Boone in hopes of making a deeper postseason run in 2026 following their ALDS loss to the Blue Jays.

Twins To Interview James Rowson, Derek Shelton In Managerial Search

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8:40pm: Rowson, Shelton and Vázquez will all indeed get interviews, according to a Minnesota Star-Tribune report.

3:37pm: The Twins are looking for a new manager and are considering a current Yankee coach. According to reporting from Greg Joyce, Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman of The New York Post, the Twins are interested in Yankees hitting coach James Rowson. Clubs generally don’t stand in the way of their staff members seeking promotions with other clubs and the report notes that the Yanks have already given the Twins permission to speak with Rowson about the gig. The report also mentions Derek Shelton and Ramon Vazquez as potential candidates. MLBTR covered Vazquez earlier today.

Rowson, 49, has no managerial experience but has a long track record as a hitting coach. The Twins are surely familiar with his coaching abilities, as he was their hitting coach from 2017 to 2019. Minnesota’s bats fared well during that time, putting up a collective .260/.330/.445 line over those three campaigns. That translates to a 105 wRC+, which trailed only four clubs for that span. The 2019 club was particularly successful, hitting 307 home runs. That was the juiced-ball season but the Twins still led the league in putting that ball over the fence.

Going into 2020, he jumped to the Marlins with the titles of bench coach and offensive coordinator. Miami didn’t have especially strong offense during his time there but the club wasn’t trying especially hard to win, playoff appearance in the shortened 2020 season notwithstanding. Rowson then spent 2023 with the Tigers as assistant hitting coach before getting his current gig as the Yankees hitting coach.

Separating the contributions of the players versus a coach is always difficult but the Yanks have performed well under Rowson. The Yanks had a .248/.333/.429 line last year, translating to a league-leading 118 wRC+. This year, it was a .251/.332/.455 slash, again topping the league with a 119 wRC+.

Obviously, having a slugger like Aaron Judge on the roster helps but Rowson appears to be respected around the game, based on his continued employment. Whether his experience with hitters can translate to the larger role of manager is something the Twins will have to debate as they pursue various candidates to replace Rocco Baldelli, who was fired last month. For the Yankees, they will have to find a new hitting coach if Rowson ends up getting the gig in Minnesota.

Shelton brings more managerial experience, though without much success in the role. He managed the Pirates from 2020 to 2025, getting fired in May of this year. He produced a 306-440 record while at the helm of the Pirates. That’s obviously a poor mark but Pittsburgh has been rebuilding for that stretch, so it’s debatable how much of that record should be attributed to Shelton’s managerial abilities.

Photo courtesy of John Meore, Imagn Images

Yankees Name James Rowson Hitting Coach

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The Yankees announced Monday that they’ve hired James Rowson as their new hitting coach. He’d reportedly been offered the position last week.

Rowson, 47, is no stranger to the Yankees organization, having spent nine years as a minor league hitting coach and minor league hitting coordinator. He’s spent the past nine seasons on Major League coaching staffs, most recently working with the 2023 Tigers as their assistant hitting coach. Rowson has also served as a bench coach and “offensive coordinator” with the Marlins and the hitting coach with the Twins.

The 2024 season will be Rowson’s tenth on a Major League staff. Perhaps most notable on his resume was his third and final season in Minnesota, when he was the hitting coach for a Twins roster that set a Major League record with 307 home runs on the season. The year of the Twins’ “Bomba Squad,” as they were nicknamed, coincided with MLB’s juiced ball season, but it was nonetheless an impressive season for the lineup and one for which Rowson drew plenty of credit. The Marlins offered him a promotion and hired him away from Minnesota that offseason.

Rowson will replace outgoing hitting coach Sean Casey, who took the role midseason after the Yankees fired Dillon Lawson. Casey seemed to make an immediate impression on Yankees hitters, but after spending half a year on the job, he came to the conclusion that the time away from his family over the course of a full season would simply be too much. Casey said on October 25 that he planned to return home to spend more time with his two young daughters, stating that time for him simply isn’t “perfect” at this juncture. He did leave the door open for a possible return to coaching “in the next few years.”

With this hire, the Yankees are trotting out their fourth hitting coach in as many seasons and surely hoping that Rowson will have some staying power. The Yanks opted not to retain Marcus Thames following the 2021 season, and they’ve since quickly moved on from Lawson and seen Casey cite family reasons for his own departure. There’s always the possibility, of course, that another club will pry Rowson away with for a more prominent role. In addition to his three seasons as a bench coach in Miami, he’s also previously interviewed for the Twins’ managerial vacancy that went to Rocco Baldelli and was reportedly one of three finalists in the Red Sox’ most recent managerial search. That only speaks to how well regarded Rowson is throughout the industry, however.

Yankees Offer Hitting Coach Position To James Rowson

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The Yankees have offered James Rowson the job of hitting coach on Aaron Boone’s staff, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post. He is expected to accept the position.

Rowson spent six years as a minor league hitting coordinator in the Yankees organization before leaving for the Cubs in 2012, where he briefly took over as the major league hitting coach. After two years in Chicago, he returned to New York and resumed his previous role. Notably, he presided over the minor league system while Aaron Judge rose through the ranks from 2014-16. Rowson left for greener pastures again in 2017, spending the next year three years as hitting coach for the Twins. After that, he was the Marlins bench coach from 2020-22, and most recently, the 47-year-old spent the 2023 campaign as the assistant hitting coach for the Tigers.

Given his years of experience with the Yankees and his time as a hitting coach around the league, Rowson seems like a perfectly qualified and logical hire. Indeed, he makes particular sense considering the Yankees are looking for a hitting coach who can implement a “top-down” approach throughout the organization (per Brendan Kuty of The Athletic). In other words, the team is looking for someone who can develop certain universal practices and philosophies and spread those across all levels of the minor league system. Who better for such a task than the team’s long-time minor league hitting coordinator?

That said, Rowson represents a complete 180-degree turn from Sean Casey, the hitting coach he will be replacing. Casey took the job with no previous coaching experience but significant playing experience; across 12 MLB seasons, he hit .302 with an .814 OPS in over 5,000 career plate appearances. According to Kuty, the Yankees liked Casey for his on-field experience, and indeed, they’re looking for a similarly experienced candidate to replace newly-hired Mets manager Carlos Mendoza as bench coach. Rowson never made it to the major leagues, playing just three seasons in the low minors and one in the independent Heartland League. His experience comes from the dugout, not the batter’s box.

Should Rowson accept the job, he will become the Yankees’ fourth hitting coach in as many years. Marcus Thames, the White Sox’s new hitting coach, had the job until 2021, while Dillon Lawson took over in 2022 and held the role until he was unceremoniously fired ahead of the All-Star Break this past season. Casey replaced Lawson for the remainder of the 2023 campaign, but he stepped down this winter to spend more time with his daughters. 

In other Yankees news, the team is reportedly considering bringing back Frankie Montas for another go in 2024, per Sherman and Jon Heyman of the New York Post. While his tenure with New York was marred by injury, Montas was an effective starting pitcher during his time in Oakland, pitching to a 3.50 ERA in 89 career starts for the Athletics. Montas could represent an intriguing buy-low candidate for the Yankees, especially since the team is already familiar with his stuff and medical status.

Tigers Hire Michael Brdar And Keith Beauregard As Hitting Coaches

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The Tigers announced a batch of additions to their coaching staff, including Michael Brdar as major league hitting coach, Keith Beauregard as major league hitting coach, James Rowson as assistant major league hitting coach, Robin Lund as assistant major league pitching coach and Ryne Eubanks as head athletic trainer.

Brdar, 28, has proven to be a popular name for coaching positions in his young career. As a player, he was drafted by the Cardinals in 2017 and got some action at rookie ball that year. That was the end of his playing days, with Brdar then joining the University of Michigan, where he played college ball, as a coach. He followed that up by getting hired as the Giants’ minor league hitting coordinator.

One year ago, he was hired away from the Giants by the Padres, who made him hitting coach at the major league level. After one season in San Diego, he’ll now head back to the state of his alma mater. The Tigers’ new president of baseball operations Scott Harris was general manager of the Giants until recently, meaning he presumably was aware of Brdar’s work in that organization. Joining Brdar as hitting coach for the Tigers will be Keith Beauregard, who had previously been coaching in the Dodgers’ system. Those two will be joined by James Rowson, who had been working as bench coach for the Marlins and has had some interest for managerial openings in recent years.

Hitting will likely be a key focus for the club after that was a huge weakness for them in 2022. Just about every player in the lineup underperformed at the plate, from veterans to prospects. As a collective, Detroit hitters produced a batting line of .231/.286/.346. The resulting 81 wRC+ indicates they were 19% below league average, the worst such mark in the majors. Their 110 home runs were also dead last by a significant margin, as the Guardians were 29th with 127. For a team that entered 2022 with aspirations of ending their rebuild and competing for a playoff spot, those results were disappointing to say the least.

The Padres will now have a vacancy in their own hitting coach position, though Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Ryan Flaherty is expected to take over the role. Flaherty played in the big leagues from 2012 to 2019 but has since transitioned into the coaching side of the game. The Padres hired him as quality control coach going into 2020 and he has remained with the club since then. The Mets tried to pry him away to be their bench coach a year ago, though the Padres denied their request to interview him.

Marlins To Hire Luis Urueta As Bench Coach

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The Marlins plan to hire Luis Urueta as their bench coach, as first reported by Enrique Rojas of ESPN (Twitter link). He’ll join the staff of first-year manager Skip Schumaker. It isn’t clear whether previous bench coach James Rowson will remain on the staff or in the organization.

Urueta, 41, has spent the past decade and a half in the Diamondbacks organization. After a lengthy run coaching and managing in the minors, he was bumped up to Torey Lovullo’s big league staff heading into 2018. He was promoted to bench coach in 2020, a year that also saw him attract some attention from the Red Sox during their managerial search. After two years as bench coach, he was reassigned to a minor league instructional role last offseason.

The Colombia native now gets back to the highest level, joining Schumaker’s first MLB coaching staff. That’s beginning to take shape. Miami retained Mel Stottlemyre Jr. as pitching coach and agreed to hire Jon Jay as first base coach this week. Meanwhile, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported yesterday (Twitter links) that former big leaguers Jody Reed and Rod Barajas are joining the staff. Reed will be the new third base coach, reports Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald (on Twitter), while Heyman adds that Barajas is taking on a quality assurance role.

Hitting coach is now the biggest remaining vacancy, as Marcus Thames departed to take the same position with the Angels this week. Heyman reports that Dave Hansen, a former MLB infielder and now a minor league hitting instructor in the Reds system, is under consideration.

COVID Notes: 7/31/21

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The latest on coronavirus situations from around baseball…

  • Marlins manager Don Mattingly has tested positive for COVID-19, the team announced (MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola was among those to report the news).  Mattingly is experiencing some mild symptoms but has been vaccinated against the coronavirus.  Bench coach James Rowson will serve as acting manager while Mattingly is absent for the mandatory quarantine period.  Tests of other Marlins personnel revealed no other positive cases.
  • Brewers right-handers Hunter Strickland and Jake Cousins both tested positive for COVID-19, manager Craig Counsell told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Haudricourt (Twitter links) and other reporters.  Righty Jandel Gustave is also not available due to contact tracing.  No official moves have been made in regards to the COVID-related injured list or roster replacements, though newly-acquired relievers John Curtiss and Daniel Norris are both on hand and could be activated for tonight’s game.  Counsell said that Strickland and Cousins both reported mild symptoms, and both relievers have been vaccinated.

Managerial/Coaching Notes: Cora, Rowson, Fuld

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Alex Cora’s return as the Red Sox manager was widely predicted and even expected by some pundits, though the club’s managerial search “wasn’t a dog-and-pony show,” a source tells The Athletic’s Chad Jennings (subscription required).  Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom spoke to a wide range of candidates, and as Jennings writes, “the feeling within the organization was, if Bloom wanted someone else, ownership would support that choice.”  There was even some sentiment that Cora was initially only included in the search as “a courtesy interview,” though Bloom increasingly became convinced that Cora was the best choice to lead the club going forward.

More coaching-related notes from around baseball…

  • Marlins bench coach James Rowson was the third finalist for Boston’s managerial job, Jennings writes.  It was already reported that Cora and Phillies director of integrative baseball performance Sam Fuld were the other two finalists (and perhaps the top two choices) for the position, though it wasn’t known whether Rowson or Pirates bench coach Don Kelly was the other candidate to make the final cut.
  • Rowson’s future still looks bright, however, as The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal writes that Marlins “officials are intrigued” by their bench coach as a potential manager of the future.  Miami hired Rowson as their bench coach and something of an organizational hitting coordinator a year ago, following Rowson’s past stints as a hitting coach for the Twins and Cubs and multiple years working as a hitting instructor in the Yankees’ farm system.  Of course, the Marlins already have a manager in Don Mattingly, though Mattingly’s contract is only guaranteed through the 2021 season (with a club option for 2022).  It certainly doesn’t seem like Mattingly is in danger of being replaced any time soon, both due to Miami’s success last season and, as Rosenthal puts it, “it’s difficult to imagine them making a move with Mattingly and paying two managers at once.”  However, Mattingly is one of the few holdovers remaining from Jeffrey Loria’s ownership, so Derek Jeter could want a hand-picked manager in charge if he feels the Marlins have fully turned the corner on their rebuild.
  • Fuld may not have been the choice as Red Sox manager, but Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe wonders if the team’s interest in Fuld could make him a candidate to be the team’s next bench coach.  Fuld has never worked as a coach or manager at either the MLB or minor league levels, as his post-playing career has been spent in his current role with the Phillies.  If not Fuld as bench coach, the Sox could promote from within their current coaching staff, with Abraham suggesting Ramon Vazquez or Carlos Febles as potential candidates.

Red Sox Down To Three Managerial Candidates

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The Red Sox are beginning to narrow the list of managerial candidates they’re considering, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (via Twitter). While five finalists have been previously reported — former manager Alex Cora, Phillies director of integrative baseball performance Sam Fuld, Pirates bench coach Don Kelly, Marlins bench coach James Rowson and Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza — Heyman characterizes Cora and Fuld as the favorites.

Alex Speier of the Boston Globe also suggests that the search is nearing a conclusion, reporting that Mendoza and one other finalist have been informed they’re no longer in the running. Cora and Fuld are indeed among the three remaining finalists, per Speier, who adds that a decision is expected to be made “soon.” While the widespread expectation has been that the Red Sox will simply re-hire Cora, Heyman notes that Fuld is seen as having a “very real” chance at winning the gig.

Fuld’s name was only linked to the Boston job less than a week ago, though the 38-year-old has past ties to Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom since both were members of the Rays organization (Fuld as a player, Bloom in the baseball operations department) from 2011-13. Multiple teams have expressed interest in Fuld for managerial positions in the past but he has declined interviews, so the fact that he has been speaking with the Red Sox is perhaps itself notable. Fuld was hired to his current position by former Phillies GM Matt Klentak, though since Klentak is no longer running Philadelphia’s front office, this could hint at why Fuld may now be open to exploring job opportunities on other teams.

Fuld has never worked as a coach or manager at any level, making him an interesting contrast to a World Series-winning manager like Cora. The unknown candidate, whether it’s Rowson or Kelly, would also be a first-time manager.  Rowson has worked as Miami’s bench coach for a season and over a decade of experience as a Major League hitting coach and minor league hitting instructor.  Since retiring from playing after the 2016 season, Kelly spent two season as a scout for the Tigers before moving onto coaching roles with the Astros and Pirates.

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