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Tigers Hire Joe Vavra

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The Tigers have hired Joe Vavra to join the staff of new skipper Ron Gardenhire, LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune reports. Vavra had been employed as the bench coach with the Twins but will become “quality control coach” in his new job, per Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free-Press (via Twitter).

Gardenhire, of course, previously managed in Minnesota. Vavra had never served as his bench coach, but slid into that role under Paul Molitor when he took over for Gardenhire.

Another former Twins coach is also joining the Detroit staff, per the report. Rick Anderson, who served as the pitching coach under Gardenhire, is “expected” to become the Tigers’ bullpen coach.

While the move fills some staff vacancies for the Tigers, it creates a new opening for the Twins. The club had previously announced that it was retaining Vavra and others, after hammering out a new deal with Molitor. Now, it’ll be back on the market for a bench coach.

Twins Hire Garvin Alston As Pitching Coach

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The Twins announced on Thursday that they’ve selected Athletics bullpen coach Garvin Alston as their new pitching coach, replacing the previously dismissed Neil Allen.

Alston, 45, was the Diamondbacks’ bullpen coach in 2016 and opened the 2017 season as the Padres’ coordinator of pitching rehab before joining the Athletics as their bullpen coach for the bulk of the 2017 season. He’s served as a minor league pitching coach and minor league pitching rehab coordinator with the A’s for parts of 10 years as well. Alston made a handful of appearances with the 1996 Rockies during his playing days and spent parts of nine seasons playing professionally after being taken in the 10th round of the 1992 draft.

With the Twins, he’ll be tasked with molding a young staff that is fronted by veteran Ervin Santana but otherwise figures to consist largely of still-developing arms. Young Jose Berrios is among the Twins’ most important core pieces, and top prospects Stephen Gonsalves and Fernando Romero could both figure to factor into the Twins’ 2018 plans (though both will almost certainly open the year in Triple-A). Alston’s background in pitching rehab is also of note for a club with Phil Hughes (thoracic outlet surgery), Trevor May (Tommy John surgery) and touted minor league relievers Nick Burdi (Tommy John surgery) and J.T. Chargois (stress reaction in right elbow) all missing the majority of the season due to injury.

Twins Have Interviewed Jim Hickey, May Be Interested In Carl Willis

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Carl Willis’ name has been oft-mentioned in the Twins’ search for a new pitching coach, tweets FanRag’s Jon Heyman. The 56-year-old Willis has held that same position with the Red Sox since the 2015 campaign, but Boston’s coaching staff under now-former manager John Farrell was given the opportunity to explore opportunities with other teams. Willis is no stranger to the Twins organization, as he spent five seasons pitching for Minnesota in the early 90s and enjoyed a career year with the World Champion ’91 Twins. Heyman also notes that the Twins have interviewed former Rays pitching coach Jim Hickey, but Hickey’s ties to Cubs skipper Joe Maddon are strong. The Cubs also have a pitching coach vacancy after dismissing Chris Bosio following their exit from the NLCS.

Latest On Health Of Tyler Jay

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  • While there were reports that Twins prospect Tyler Jay, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2015 draft, would require thoracic outlet surgery earlier this summer, the left-hander is healthy and pitching well in the Arizona Fall League, writes MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger. Jay did miss nearly three months of the season with neck and shoulder issues, Bollinger continues, but TOS was ruled out by doctors. Rather, Jay was diagnosed with a shoulder impingement and biceps tendinitis. The Twins have moved Jay to the bullpen for the foreseeable future and expect him to open next season in Double-A Chattanooga. ESPN’s Keith Law recently wrote that Jay has been “electric” in  the AFL. The 23-year-old could well emerge as a late-inning option in Minnesota next year.

Twins Inform Glen Perkins His 2018 Option Will Be Declined

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1:57pm: Bollinger tweets that there is indeed a chance that Perkins could return to the Twins on a minor league contract, but he’s likely to retire if such a deal cannot be arranged.

1:26pm: The Twins have informed former closer Glen Perkins that his $6.5MM club option for the 2018 season will be declined, tweets MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger. The three-time All-Star will instead receive a $700K buyout and become a free agent.

It’s not clear what’s next for the St. Paul native, who has spent his entire professional and collegiate career playing in the Twin Cities. This outcome has been seen as a foregone conclusion for some time now, as Perkins has pitched just 7 2/3 innings over the past two seasons after undergoing significant surgery to repair a torn labrum during the 2016 campaign. He did return to the roster and toss 5 2/3 innings out of the ’pen late in the 2017 season.

Upon his activation from the disabled list, Perkins averaged just 90.3 mph on his fastball — a far cry from the 94.9 mph he averaged during his peak years with the club in 2012-13. It’s seems reasonable to believe that the Twins could look to bring him back on a minor league pact in hopes of better health next year, or he could seek out similar opportunities with other organizations if he wishes.

However, Perkins told Bollinger and other reporters in an emotional interview that he may also consider retiring if he is unable to return to the Twins next year. That interview came after a fitting tribute from the team, when the Twins brought Perkins on for the final out of their second-to-last game of the season, and he took the field to his former entrance music as the team’s closer: Johnny Cash’s “God’s Gonna Cut You Down.”

Perkins, 35 in March, struggled as a starter early in his career but emerged as a dominant reliever for Minnesota in 2011. From 2011-15, he pitched to a 2.84 ERA with 9.8 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9. Along the way, he established himself as the Twins’ closer and racked up 120 saves, including a career-high 36 in a 2013 season that was the finest of his professional tenure.

Twins Hire Baseball America's John Manuel

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The Twins have hired longtime Baseball America editor John Manuel and added him to their pro scouting department, Manuel announced yesterday (on Facebook). The Twins later confirmed the hiring, as MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger writes. Chief baseball officer Derek Falvey suggests to Bollinger that the team has no intention of cutting its scouting department despite a notably increased emphasis on analytics. “We’ve talked a lot about staff enhancement and continuing to build out,” said Falvey. “We’ll do that with different voices with advances in video scouting and live scouting. We have a good number of pro scouts, but we’re looking to add to it. It’s not our expectation to have fewer people in the field.”

Manuel has spent more than two decades at BA and has been the publication’s editor-in-chief for more than half that time. As someone who owns a mountain of BA Prospect Handbooks and has had an active BA subscription for a decade or so now, I can earnestly say that his work will be missed. Congrats to John, and best wishes in his new role with the Twins.

Twins Interested In Bringing Back Matt Belisle, Brandon Kintzler

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  • After Twins pitchers recorded the majors’ third-worst swinging-strike rate in 2017, team brass is hoping to build a staff capable of missing more bats, Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press details. At the same time, the Twins aren’t ruling out having some pitch-to-contact types on hand. In fact, even though closers Matt Belisle and Brandon Kintzler (now with the Nationals) generated fewer swings and misses than the average reliever this season, the club’s interested in re-signing the former and reuniting with the latter in free agency, according to Berardino.

Pohlad "Looking Forward" To Long-Term Talks With Young Core

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  • Twins owner Jim Pohlad tells Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press that while there have yet to be any talks of long-term deals for young talents such as Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano or Eddie Rosario, those topics could come up in the near future. “I’d be looking forward to that conversation,” said Pohlad, who generally praised his team’s emerging core. Pohlad also suggested that while Brian Dozier was the focus of trade rumors last offseason and is entering the final season of his contract, it’d be tough to consider trading him this winter. “You would have to believe you’re getting a future core player back,” said Pohlad, going on to stress that it’d need to be a player (or players) that could help the Twins immediately.

Pohlad On Spending In Free Agency

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Left-handed reliever Fernando Abad has changed agencies and is now represented by Octagon, FanRag’s Robert Murray reports (on Twitter). Abad’s shift in representation is particularly notable, as Abad is set to become a free agent once the playoffs come to a close. The 31-year-old lefty (32 in December) enjoyed a solid season out of the Boston bullpen, working to a 3.30 ERA with 7.6 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 with a 45 percent ground-ball rate in 43 2/3 innings. Abad was shelled in 12 2/3 frames with the Red Sox in 2016 after being acquired in a trade with the Twins, but his 2017 numbers bear a strong resemblance to his quality work in 34 innings with Minnesota prior to the trade. In all, lefties have posted a putrid .186/.240/.304 batting line against Abad in 150 plate appearances across the past two seasons. His change in representation has been reflected in MLBTR’s Agency Database, which contains info on more than 2,500 Major League and Minor League players.

  • Despite whiffing on free-agent investments to starting pitchers in recent years (most notably Ricky Nolasco), Twins owner Jim Pohlad tells Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press that he won’t be afraid to add starters via free agency if that’s what his front office recommends to him. “There’s no question we have to work on the pitching,” said Pohlad. “It’s absolutely obvious.” Asked specifically about free agency in the wake of some deals that haven’t panned out, Pohlad stated: “Not everything works. … You can’t be afraid to try.” Those decisions, of course, will be largely up to chief baseball officer Derek Falvey, general manager Thad Levine and the rest of the Twins’ front office. Minnesota figures to be a bit more aggressive in adding pieces this offseason than last now that the team has greater expectations of contending on the heels of a Wild Card berth.

Twins Notes: Front Office, Sano

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The Twins announced a few baseball operations changes on Tuesday, including the hiring of 27-year-old Jeremy Zoll as the team’s new director of minor league operations. Brad Steil, who had previously been the team’s farm director since 2013, will now instead head up the Twins’ pro scouting department. Zoll has spent the past few seasons in the Dodgers organization, most recently holding the title of assistant director of player development. Zoll has also worked as an advance scouting coordinator with the Angels. “We’re really fortunate and excited to have him,” said chief baseball officer Derek Falvey of the newly hired Zoll (link via MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger). “He came in highly recommended from the people he worked with and around. He’ll bring some new ideas into what we’re doing developmentally.”

  • While it’s been suggested that surgery isn’t expected for Twins slugger Miguel Sano, GM Thad Levine said today that surgery is still an option for the third baseman’s ailing shin (via Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press). Levine painted surgery as a last resort, however, and said the team will explore other avenues. A decision will be made sooner rather than later though, as the procedure Sano would theoretically require would come with an eight-week recovery, so the Twins understandably don’t want to wait too long before making the call. Whether Sano requires surgery or avoids going under the knife, manager Paul Molitor said today that he doesn’t think Sano needs to play in the Dominican Winter League this year, per Berardino.
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