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Derek Falvey

Twins Notes: Rotation, Ober, Arraez

By Mark Polishuk | January 22, 2023 at 6:26pm CDT

The dust is still settling in the aftermath of the Twins’ big four-player trade with the Marlins this past week, as Luis Arraez was sent to Miami in exchange for right-hander Pablo Lopez and prospects Jose Salas and Byron Chourio.  The move shook up Minnesota’s lineup and added yet another external arm to the Twins’ rotation.

As noted by Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, all five members of the projected starting five (Lopez, Tyler Mahle, Sonny Gray, Joe Ryan, and Kenta Maeda) were all acquired in trades over the last three years.  Chris Paddack is currently recovering from Tommy John surgery but was also acquired in a trade with the Padres prior to last season, while Simeon Woods Richardson is another arm on the depth arm that came to the Twins as part of the deal that sent Jose Berrios to the Blue Jays at the 2021 trade deadline.

While it is somewhat unusual for a team to built its rotation entirely via the trade market, Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey was blunt in telling reporters (including Miller and Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press) that, “I don’t care where [the starters] come from.  We need really good starters and we need really good pitchers.  Some of those are going to be free-agent signings, some of those are going to be trades, and some of those will also hopefully be from development.  But the goal here is to continue to deepen the starting rotation and pitching staff however we can do it.”

Bailey Ober is a homegrown product, selected by the Twins in the twelfth round of the 2017 draft.  The right-hander has pitched well in 148 1/3 innings and 31 starts over the last two seasons, though Lopez’s addition seemingly pushes Ober out of the rotation mix for now.  Of course, rotations rarely stay healthy for an entire season, leaving opportunity for Ober or other pitchers like Woods Richardson, Josh Winder, Louie Varland, etc. to make some starts if one of the top five needs to visit the injured list.

There’s also a chance that the starting five becomes a starting six, as adopting a six-man rotation is “something we talk about a lot,” Falvey admitted.  Minnesota’s depth gives the team the flexibility to shift to a six-man rotation if necessary, and “I will tell you that our hope right now is that we will go with five starters, and we feel like we have five good ones…but ultimately [we] have some depth behind it to make sure that we’re in a good place.”  If everyone stays healthy and the Twins do end up with a surplus of starting candidates, Falvey described that potential scenario as “a great problem to have.”

The Lopez trade closes the book on Arraez’s tenure with the Twins, as the infielder went from being a fairly unknown prospect to being an All-Star, Silver Slugger winner, and AL batting champion in 2022.  Arraez was already a strong performer in the three years prior to his big 2022 campaign, but his performance did dip a bit in an injury-shortened 2021 season.  In the wake of that relative down year, Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes that the Twins had some talks with Arraez about a long-term extension, but Arraez turned the club down.

As a Super Two player, Arraez is eligible for four trips through the arbitration process, and he and the Twins avoided a hearing in Arraez’s first year of arb-eligibility by agreeing to a $2.125MM salary for the 2022 season.  While the terms of Minnesota’s extension offer aren’t known, it is fair to guess that the Twins were looking for a deal that would’ve covered all four of those arbitration years, as well as at least one of Arraez’s free agent years.  Signing such a contract would’ve locked in a nice guarantee for Arraez, and the first major payday of a career that began with a modest $40K bonus as an international signing.

But, Arraez opted to instead bet on himself to rebound from his 2021 season, and that self-confidence paid off nicely.  Prior to the trade, Arraez and the Twins were headed to an arbitration hearing after not being able to reach a salary agreement before the arbitration figure-exchange deadline — Arraez is looking for a $6.1MM salary, while the Twins countered with $5MM.  It seems possible that the Marlins might still go to a hearing with Arraez due to general front office principle, even if an arbitration hearing would be something of an awkward start to the relationship between the infielder and his new team.

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Minnesota Twins Notes Bailey Ober Derek Falvey Luis Arraez Pablo Lopez

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Twins To Retain Derek Falvey As President Of Baseball Operations

By Nick Deeds | September 29, 2022 at 3:14pm CDT

The Twins have announced that president of baseball operations Derek Falvey will return for the 2023 season. Per MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park, team president Dave St. Peter said of Falvey: “We think we have a very dynamic, smart, forward-thinking leader, and he’ll be back in 2023, and I’m hoping many, many years after that.”

Falvey has guided the team to a 449-414 record — a 52% winning percentage since he started leading the Twins after the 2016 season. That run includes three postseason appearances and back-to-back division titles in 2019 and 2020. After those seasons, which saw the Twins win 101 games in 2019 and post a .600 winning percentage in the shortened 2020 season, Minnesota has delivered consecutive disappointing seasons. In 2021, the team missed the playoffs with a 73-89 record, and through 155 games this season has posted a 76-79 record that has again eliminated from them from playoff contention. Despite these recent disappointments, the Twins will continue to turn to Falvey to lead baseball operations.

Although Minnesota has struggled, Falvey and his front office were aggressive this past calendar year in terms of making additions —  even beyond Carlos Correa joining the team in perhaps the most surprising deal of this past offseason. In that timeframe, the Twins have added Chris Archer, Sonny Gray, Chris Paddack, and Tyler Mahle to their rotation, Jorge Lopez to their bullpen, and Gio Urshela and Gary Sanchez to their lineup (in addition to Correa).

Aggressive moves aren’t always effective ones, however, and Minnesota’s moves have played out to mixed results this season. Signing Correa appears to have been a slam dunk in hindsight, and a handful of moves on the trade market seem to be clear wins at this point: trading for Gray, essentially swapping Josh Donaldson and Mitch Garver for Gio Urshela and Gary Sanchez in a pair of trades with the Rangers and the Yankees, and acquiring Joe Ryan for Nelson Cruz from the Rays at last year’s deadline. On the other hand, the additions of Archer and Emilio Pagan have largely fallen flat, and other acquisitions, such as Mahle, Paddack, and Lopez, provided virtually no value this season, although they could certainly still work out in the long term.

While the Twins certainly have their flaws, Minnesota has also undeniably been held back by a rash of injuries in 2022. The Twins have had 32 players spend time on the injured list this season, including each of their aforementioned rotation additions. Their lineup has suffered from these injuries as well, with Byron Buxton, Max Kepler, and Ryan Jeffers among those missing significant time. Overall, just four players have reached 130 games played for the Twins this season, and Ryan leads Minnesota pitchers with just 141 innings pitched.

Between the exceptional injury woes the organization has faced this year and the fact that Falvey is signed through 2024, it’s not a huge surprise that he, like manager Rocco Baldelli, be retained. Falvey will have more work to do this offseason, with Correa likely to opt out of his contract, and questions in a rotation that may lose both Archer and Dylan Bundy this offseason. The team holds a club option on Bundy and a mutual option with Archer, but neither option seems likely to be picked up. Gray’s option should be exercised, slotting him into next year’s rotation alongside Ryan, Mahle (health permitting) and a hopefully healthy Kenta Maeda (who missed 2022 recovering from Tommy John surgery). Still, there’s plenty of work to be done on both sides of the ball if the Twins are to avoid a third straight playoff miss next year.

Note: The original version of this post erroneously called the Twins’ record under Falvey 371-414, a 47.2% win percentage. The correct record is 449-414, a 52% win percentage. MLBTR apologizes for the error.

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Minnesota Twins Derek Falvey

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AL Notes: Yankees, Stanton, Blue Jays, Mayza, Twins, Maeda

By TC Zencka | August 20, 2022 at 9:13am CDT

Giancarlo Stanton is beginning a rehab assignment today, per Lindsey Adler of The Athletic (via Twitter). Before this latest injury, Stanton had been enjoying a run of sound health. For the season, Stanton has appeared in 80 games, slashing .228/.309/.498 with 24 home runs in 328 plate appearances. Stanton even started 38 games in the outfield grass, his most defensive action since 2018. Elsewhere around the Junior Circuit…

  • Blue Jays southpaw Tim Mayza will begin a rehab assignment in Triple-A today, per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com (via Twitter). Mayza has been a key piece of Toronto’s bullpen for a number of years, no less so this season when he has pitched to a 2.88 ERA/3.94 FIP across 41 appearances totaling 34 1/3 innings. Mayza has been out of action since August 7th. The 30-year-old has held lefties to a .157/.218/.275 line this season.
  • The Twins are cautiously optimistic that Kenta Maeda might be able to return late in the season to pitch out of the bullpen as he used to for the Dodgers. Maeda is throwing bullpens now, but President of Baseball Ops Derek Falvey was non-commital about Maeda’s ability to make a late-season appearance, per Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (via Twitter). Maeda is recovering from Tommy John surgery.
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Los Angeles Dodgers Minnesota Twins New York Yankees Notes Toronto Blue Jays Derek Falvey Giancarlo Stanton Kenta Maeda Tim Mayza

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AL Central Notes: Twins, Guardians, Blitzer, Ilitch, Tigers

By Mark Polishuk | July 2, 2022 at 6:49pm CDT

The bullpen will be a focus for the Twins heading into the trade deadline, even though “the reliever (trade) market is always the toughest one to navigate and always the toughest one to pin down,” chief baseball officer Derek Falvey told The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman and other reporters.  “It all depends on what’s available, but this year we’ll be more open-minded to adding whatever what we think will be something that will help us more toward the middle or the back end, ideally.”

However, it doesn’t seem like a trade may come together quickly, as with a month still left before the trade deadline, Falvey noted that many teams still haven’t decided if they’ll be buying or selling.  “You can’t really accelerate that part of the conversation,” Falvey said.  “Sometimes it’s ’all right, we’ll wait and see, we’ll put you down as interested in Player X and we’ll circle back if we’re moving in that direction.’ ”  While the Twins could push the market with an aggressive offer, that only increases the risk of overpaying for a player now when they could get the same pitcher for less in a few weeks’ time.  Getting at least one of Emilio Pagan or Tyler Duffey pitching well would greatly help Minnesota’s bullpen and trade leverage, but until that happens, the club may need to continue to explore outside options.

More from around the AL Central…

  • The Guardians figure to make some middle-infield prospects available at the trade deadline, as The Athletic’s Zack Meisel writes that the club has such a surplus that some names will eventually need to be moved by this offseason at the latest.  In terms of deadline targets, Meisel figures Cleveland will look to add in the bullpen and perhaps at catcher, though the rotation (for the first time in a while) could also be an area of need.  Adding one more quality starter would help reinforce a rotation that has been only okay this season, rather than its normal above-average quality.
  • David Blitzer is now officially a minority owner of the Guardians, though GM Mike Chernoff told Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal and other reporters that “I wouldn’t expect our operating philosophy to change.  The industry economic model is what it is and so we know what our challenges are being a small market.  We don’t shy away from those at all.”  While the financial status quo will remain in place for now, it remains to be seen what could happen if Blitzer eventually becomes the Guards’ majority owner — in six years’ time, Blitzer has an option to buy a majority share of the franchise.
  • The Tigers have a disappointing 29-46 record, but owner Christopher Ilitch is still “very pleased with the progress” of his team.  “Despite a very slow start this season with our team, there’s actually some good progress happening with some of the young guys that have come up and developed and so on and so forth,” Ilitch told reporters, including Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press.  After years of rebuilding and a big offseason spending spree, the Tigers were expected to take a big step forward this season, but Ilitch sees these struggles as another natural part of “a process that takes time.”
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Cleveland Guardians Detroit Tigers Minnesota Twins Notes David Blitzer Derek Falvey

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Latest Rumors On Mets’ Front Office

By Steve Adams | September 9, 2021 at 2:50pm CDT

The Mets again find themselves in the midst of an effort to reshape their front office, less than a year after already making sweeping changes under new owner Steve Cohen. Team president Sandy Alderson temporarily assumed oversight of baseball operations last week as the team put acting GM Zack Scott on administrative leave following a DWI arrest, but there’s little expectation Alderson will return to the top of the baseball ops hierarchy on a full-time basis.

MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets today that Alderson signed a two-year deal to help Cohen’s ownership transition and front office changes, but he had no desire to return to a full-time baseball operations role. The team’s plan for the 2022 season is to have Alderson return to a broader-reaching team president role without directly running the baseball operations department. A new hire will need to be made, as has already been widely suggested in the wake of Scott’s DWI charge.

Cohen’s Mets were connected to numerous high-profile candidates last year in looking to fill their baseball operations void after parting ways with Brodie Van Wagenen, but several either declined to interview or were denied permission to do so. Teams generally only permit their executives to interview with other clubs if the position is a promotion over their current post. It’s probably not a coincidence that the Rays not only extended general manager Erik Neander but promoted him to president of baseball operations just yesterday; Neander was known to be of interest to the Mets last year.

There’s been quite a bit of recent speculation on Theo Epstein as a candidate. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale and the New York Post’s Joel Sherman all wrote on the topic within the same 24-hour period. Of course, as Rosenthal pointed out, it was Epstein who originally hired both Scott and Jared Porter — the former Mets GM who was fired a month into his tenure last offseason following revelations of past harassment of a reporter. Both joined the Red Sox under Epstein’s watch, and Epstein brought Porter to Chicago not long after being named Cubs president of baseball operations.

The optics of that aren’t necessarily damning, but a cleaner break from that tree might also be welcome. Furthermore, SNY’s Andy Martino wrote this week that nearly everyone he’s spoken to has strongly downplayed the Epstein rumors. All three Epstein columns also mention the possibility that he’d look to secure a minority stake with any team he joins, and Martino suggests the same: that Epstein is seeking a partial ownership opportunity.

Looking around the league, there aren’t many high-profile executives who’d seem like candidates to depart their current post and take on the spotlight of the Mets’ presidency. Twins GM Thad Levine and Indians GM Mike Chernoff both declined the opportunity to interview last offseason. A’s GM David Forst was reported to be of interest to the Mets (and the Angels), but there’s no indication he ever actually interviewed (or even spoke with) either club.

Heyman somewhat speculatively suggests two other executives whose names have been or could be of interest to the Mets: Dodgers senior vice president of baseball operations Josh Byrnes and Rangers president of baseball operations Jon Daniels. Martino, in similar fashion, listed off three more high-profile execs who’d be making lateral moves and require ownership permission to even interview: Cleveland’s Chris Antonetti, Minnesota’s Derek Falvey and Oakland’s Billy Beane.

Byrnes would make a fairly logical candidate for the Mets to pursue. He’s a high-ranking member of a large-payroll, consistently successful organization, but the Mets’ top baseball ops job would still represent a promotion for him. He’s also served as general manager of both the Padres and the Diamondbacks in the past, so he’s no stranger to running a baseball operations outfit himself. Somewhat coincidentally, Byrnes was the other finalist for the Mets’ GM post back in 2010 when the team ultimately hired Alderson to take over baseball operations.

As for Daniels, he would be making a lateral move, from one president of baseball ops role to another. However, the Rangers also just recently hired Chris Young as their new general manager, and that could be viewed as a means of grooming an eventual heir-apparent for Daniels, who was extended on a contract of still-unreported length back in 2018. Daniels — a Queens native, for what it’s worth — has been running the Rangers’ baseball operations department since being appointed general manager at just 28 years of age in the 2005-06 offseason.

Daniels’ situation bears some similarity to that of Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns, whose name was recently raised in connection with the Mets by ESPN’s Buster Olney. However, there are also some key differences. As is the case with the Rangers, the Brewers just named a new general manager, Matt Arnold, to serve under Stearns (who is, like Daniels, a New York native). The key difference is that Arnold was promoted to GM from within at a time when the Mets were known to be looking to hire a GM; Young was hired by the Rangers from outside the organization. (Although he also interviewed for the Mets’ job last offseason before joining the Rangers.)

Stearns is also newer to the Brewers’ top job than Daniels is to his own post. His contract extension and promotion are both more recent as well. There’s little reason to think Brewers owner Mark Attanasio would be open to allowing Stearns to depart when he’s still under contract another year and when the Brewers have emerged as one of the best teams in all of baseball. The Brewers denied him permission to interview last offseason, Martino notes.

Suffice it to say, speculation already abounds with regard to the Mets’ front office, and that’s before the team has even truly begun its search for a new baseball operations leader in earnest. These names and a dozen or more others will likely be tied to the Mets in the weeks and months to come, before a hire is ultimately made.

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Cleveland Guardians Los Angeles Dodgers Minnesota Twins New York Mets Oakland Athletics Texas Rangers Billy Beane Chris Antonetti Derek Falvey Jon Daniels Josh Byrnes Sandy Alderson Theo Epstein

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How To Get A Job In Baseball, According To GMs

By Tim Dierkes | April 4, 2020 at 1:22am CDT

Working in baseball operations for a Major League team is a dream job for many baseball fanatics.  If front office job-seekers are being honest, the pinnacle would be to one day land in the GM’s chair and call the shots on trades, free agent signings, and draft picks.  But in such a competitive field, how do you stand out?  What should you focus on to become as appealing as possible to an MLB team in a job interview?

Seven years ago, I polled many MLB executives on their advice for high school students with front office aspirations.  With so many new executives in the game since then, I decided to move a bit further down the career path and ask this question:

What one piece of advice would you give to a college student who hopes to work in baseball operations one day?

I posed this question to many of MLB’s top-ranking baseball operations executives.  Just like the rest of us, these people are currently sheltered in place with their families trying to get some work done in these difficult and strange times.  The following ten execs kindly took the time to answer my question: Ross Atkins of the Blue Jays, Jeff Bridich of the Rockies, Ben Cherington of the Pirates, James Click of the Astros, Mike Elias of the Orioles, Derek Falvey of the Twins, Matt Kleine of the Brewers, Dayton Moore of the Royals, Brodie Van Wagenen of the Mets, and Dick Williams of the Reds.  Their answers are below.


I always think of the creative examples of how several of the current team’s GMs and Presidents got their foot in the door when asked this question. Without sharing those ideas specifically, I tell the individual who asked to think of something that they can bring to the table today that would be beneficial for a baseball operations team. Is there something that they do or can do that would have an immediate impact even if very small. It could be data analysis, programming, scouting, performance coaching, or leadership/communication application but ideally in the form of a project or deliverable and in a perfect world something that the organization doesn’t already have.

I believe that if those looking to get into baseball have excelled in other arenas they should think about how they have done that and share that in a way that is applicable to baseball as that is usually an attractive approach to those who are deciding to add to their operations teams.  – Ross Atkins, Blue Jays Executive Vice President, Baseball Operations & General Manager


In terms of trying to trying to get into the world of baseball operations out of college, mindset and attitude will determine a lot. Create for yourself a mindset built around relentlessness, flexibility and hard work. The typical college school year and/or graduation timeframe do not lineup perfectly with when most Major League teams are hiring. So there could be some lag time between leaving college and getting hired.

Also, there usually are hundreds, maybe thousands, more applicants for jobs than there are jobs available. So chances are you’ll hear a bunch of “Nos” before you hear a “Yes”. That’s where relentlessness, flexibility and work ethic come into play. Your first opportunity in the baseball industry may not come in the perfect shape, size and package that you desire – but that’s OK. Be flexible in what you are willing to do and where you’re willing to work (be that departmentally or geographically).

At some point in your job search, you may feel like you are being annoying or that you’re bothering team employees too often. But know that relentlessness and persistence often pay off. It’s tough to count up how many times we have said over the years, “You have to give that person credit for his/her persistence,” whether we hired that person or not. If the worst outcome is that you are not hired (yet) but you are given credit for your relentless desire to work in the game, then it’s worth it.

Finally, look at the job search process like it is a job in itself. Put in the time. Make sure your resume is as good as it possibly can be. Ask thoughtful questions of any and all people who could help you. And always be ready – after you’ve sent off your resume and applied for a job, you never know when a team might call you. Those people who are ready for an in-depth discussion at a moment’s notice usually make a good first impression.  – Jeff Bridich, Rockies Executive Vice President & General Manager


It’s hard to narrow down to one but if I had to I’d say finding opportunities to solve complicated problems in groups. Almost all of the work we do in baseball operations focuses on assessing, predicting, or improving human performance. Human performance is complicated. Almost none of the work we do in baseball is done by ourselves. Just about everything we do is done by teams of people. So I’d say the more practice combining those two things the better.  – Ben Cherington, Pirates General Manager


There’s no magic bullet, no secret code to getting into baseball. All of us have a unique story about how we got here, so play to your strengths and put yourself in as good a position as possible to take any job that you’re offered, even if – especially if – it’s not in the area in which you see yourself long term. Every job is an opportunity to show what you can do, a chance to gain valuable experience and perspective on how the game works, and to make sure that this lifestyle is something you want to take on. Finally, don’t get discouraged! It took a lot of us a long time to get into the game, but it’s worth it.  – James Click, Astros General Manager


I think there are so many public forums today to showcase your work online. Whether it’s contract analysis, data analysis, or scouting evaluation that you want to do, you can start to build this body of work on your own, before anyone hires you. It is so helpful when we are interviewing when someone has a portfolio already started. It shows how you work and think, but also shows initiative and that you are truly passionate about this line of work.  – Mike Elias, Orioles Executive Vice President and General Manager


I’d recommend that you don’t wait around for the perfect opportunity to come your way and instead find a way to create one. People who want to work in baseball will reach out and say they’re just waiting for that “break” to come their way. It’s not uncommon that a year later we’ll hear from them again still waiting for that opening to show up.

My suggestion – dive into a topic within the game that interests you, learn as much as you can about it, and then generate a work product that shows you have the baseline skills and passion to impact a baseball operation as soon as you walk through the door. Don’t be afraid to try something because you might fail. Of all the resumes we get, it’s the ones that are accompanied by a work product (and therefore a willingness to put yourself out there) that generate the most interest.  – Derek Falvey, Twins President of Baseball Operations


My advice to students is to create baseball-specific opportunities for yourself. Don’t wait for them to come to you. Volunteer to capture video, analyze data or operate pitch tracking software for your school’s team. Connect with your Sports Information Director and ask how you can help. Learn SQL. Learn Spanish. Contact baseball-centric websites and volunteer your time. Devise your own work product that attempts to solve meaningful questions you believe are currently unanswered within the public sphere. This is especially important because providing MLB clubs with examples of self-driven work product showcases your curiosity, thought process, and reasoning. It’s equally as important – if not more so – than a strong resume.

Students should also understand that our approach to hiring is shaped by our constant pursuit of the next marginal win. How can the next hire help us win games both today and in the future? Students who approach us with hard skills, novel work product and a strong resume quickly move to the front of that line.  – Matt Kleine, Brewers Vice President – Baseball Operations


As it pertains to teams and front office, compatibility is the most important trait. This will only exist if you have an above and beyond attitude with the commitment to do the jobs that others simply find meaningless. You must have an “others first” mindset and model that behavior. Finally, never stop looking at this game from the eyes of your youth. – Dayton Moore, Royals Senior Vice President – Baseball Operations/General Manager


1. When interviewing with a prospective employer/executive, be specific about the area in which you want to work. Prove to your audience that you have you done the research in his/her area of focus. This will enable you to be versed enough to hold a meaningful conversation. Those who want a “PARTICULAR job” are much more compelling than those who simply just want “a job.”

2. Be willing to work in any city that has an opportunity to further your pursuits. Don’t let geography limit your search.  – Brodie Van Wagenen, Mets Executive Vice President & General Manager


The best way to get your foot in the door is to figure out how you can solve a problem for me that I may not have even known I had. It makes for a much more effective cold call when you email your resume into an organization if you can articulate what you can do that the Reds are not doing today that could make us better. At least it makes us more likely to read further.

Keep abreast of the evolving trends in the industry and tailor your coursework accordingly. If you have baseball experience, focus on adding database management or machine learning or something technical. And if you are technically skilled, work on adding the baseball experience however you can.  – Dick Williams, Reds President of Baseball Operations

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Baltimore Orioles Cincinnati Reds Colorado Rockies Houston Astros Kansas City Royals Milwaukee Brewers Minnesota Twins MLBTR Originals New York Mets Pittsburgh Pirates Toronto Blue Jays Ben Cherington Brodie Van Wagenen Dayton Moore Derek Falvey Dick Williams James Click Jeff Bridich Mike Elias Ross Atkins

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Twins Targeted Wheeler, Bumgarner, Ryu Before Winning Donaldson Sweepstakes

By TC Zencka | January 19, 2020 at 12:06am CDT

Before the holidays, the Twins offered Josh Donaldson a four-year, $84MM contract that would have made him the second-highest paid player in team history after Joe Mauer, writes Phil Miller in a profile well worth a read from the Star Tribune. Another interesting tidbit from Miller confirmed that Zack Wheeler had been the Twins’ primary target at the outset of the offseason, shifting only to Donaldson after missing out on Madison Bumgarner and Hyun-Jin Ryu. Donaldson offered a potent bat, of course, but the ability to improve their infield defense at third (and by effect, their pitching) also keyed the Twins on the Bringer of Rain. 

Donaldson and his agent Dan Lozano fielded recruitment efforts from all corners of the Minnesota Twins extended universe before committing, from Miguel Sano over video eagerly offering to accommodate Donaldson by changing positions, to a former tennis professional and friend of Donaldson’s who happens to be a Twins fan, to the substantial recruitment effort put in ink by Twins’ ownership when they offered him a four-year, $92MM contract. The fifth year, $16MM team option helped push the deal over the edge, especially once the Twins’ agreed to set the buyout amount at $8MM. If the option is picked up, the deal becomes a five-year, $100MM pact.

Some of the heaviest lifting was done in a meeting between Donaldson, Lozano, Twins’ manager Rocco Baldelli, General Manager Thad Levine and Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey. Baldelli sold Donaldson on clubhouse culture and his plans for deploying Donaldson. The front office put together metrics on their 2019 success and profiled some of the talent on its way to Minneapolis from the minor leagues, establishing a belief that the Twins will remain in contention throughout Donaldson’s tenure.  

Misinformation persisted in the media throughout, with Lozano suspected of leaking the $110MM asking price in the hopes of a team with deep pockets (like the Dodgers) matching the number. It worked, in a way, as the Twins realized Donaldson must not have had the offer he wanted, so they set out with renewed enthusiasm (and more money). Obviously, $100MM turned out to be the magic number.

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Los Angeles Dodgers Minnesota Twins Derek Falvey Hyun-Jin Ryu Joe Mauer Josh Donaldson Madison Bumgarner Miguel Sano Rocco Baldelli Thad Levine Zack Wheeler

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Twins To Extend Derek Falvey, Thad Levine

By Steve Adams | November 13, 2019 at 3:48pm CDT

3:48pm: In addition to the extension, Falvey’s title has been updated to president of baseball operations, Hayes tweets. Falvey was already the top decision-maker in the organization, but the nomenclature of his previous title, “chief baseball officer,” was rather atypical. This more closely aligns with industry norms and marks a clearer definition of his status both within the Twins organization and in relation to other executives throughout the league.

2:08pm: The Twins have agreed to contract extensions with the top two members of their baseball operations department, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). Chief baseball officer Derek Falvey and general manager Thad Levine are set to sign new deals that’ll keep them in the organization through the 2024 season. Both were already under contract through 2021. The news comes less than a week after the organization announced another series of front office promotions.

It’s now been three years since Falvey was brought in to take over Minnesota’s baseball operations department and quickly hired Levine to serve as his top lieutenant. The Twins’ new-look front office duo made some small-scale changes in the 2016-17 offseason, and the 2017 Twins exceeded expectations with a surprise Wild Card berth. The 2018 campaign was a disaster that led to an overhaul of the coaching staff and a series of new additions on one- and two-year deals in the 2018-19 offseason.

The Twins, under Falvey and Levine, hired eventual Manager of the Year Rocco Baldelli to replace Paul Molitor last winter before signing Nelson Cruz, Marwin Gonzalez and Jonathan Schoop, claiming C.J. Cron off waivers and extending potential cornerstones Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco. Short-term deals for Martin Perez and Blake Parker proved less fruitful, but the majority of Minnesota’s moves paid off in spades as the Twins spent the bulk of the season in first place and ultimately won the American League Central by a margin of eight games.

The 2019-20 offseason will now bring increased pressure for the team to make impactful additions with an eye toward finally breaking through a near-unthinkable run of postseason futility over the past 15 years. Pitching will be of particular importance, as Jose Berrios is the only rotation member who is under team control; Jake Odorizzi, Michael Pineda, Kyle Gibson and the aforementioned Perez are all free agents. Minnesota’s front office duo spoke last winter of being aggressive once it becomes clear that the team’s window is open, and they’ve already stated that they intend to pursue “impact” pitching this offseason. With extremely minimal payroll commitments on the books in 2020 and 2021 and a fairly modest arbitration class, the Twins are currently more than $50MM south of their club-record payroll (set in 2018), so they certainly have the resources to make good on those intentions.

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Minnesota Twins Newsstand Derek Falvey Thad Levine

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Organizational Notes: Falvey, Red Sox, Washington, Padres, Royals

By Mark Polishuk | October 27, 2019 at 11:59am CDT

Some front office and dugout items from around the game…

  • Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey turned down a request to interview for the top baseball operations job with the Red Sox, La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.  There wasn’t much public news about Boston’s search prior to the hiring of Chaim Bloom as the new CBO earlier this week, though there had been rumors that the Sox might have interest in Massachusetts native Falvey, and Neal indeed writes that Falvey was “high on their list of candidates.”  Reports from earlier this month suggested that Falvey and the Twins could be close to a contract extension, in the wake of Minnesota’s 101-win season.
  • Braves third base coach Ron Washington was the runner-up in the Padres’ managerial search and also won’t be taking on a bench coach job with San Diego, Dennis Lin of The Athletic reports (subscription required).  There had been speculation that Washington could provide a veteran counsel to first-time manager Jayce Tingler, though it appears that Washington will remain in his current job in Atlanta.
  • Lin’s piece also details the risk GM A.J. Preller is taking in hiring another first-time skipper in what seems like a must-win year for the Padres.  Going into such a pivotal season, however, Preller “preferred to take his chances with a candidate he clearly knows and has long held in high regard.”  Lin also notes that Preller originally tried to hire Tingler away from the Rangers when Preller first became San Diego’s general manager back in 2014.
  • The general consensus has been that the Royals would wait to hire their new manager until John Sherman officially took ownership of the franchise, though GM Dayton Moore tells Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star that this isn’t the case.  “We have been given full autonomy to hire the next manager of the Kansas City Royals when we feel that we are ready and the process is complete.  That could be today, tomorrow or sometime prior to the winter meetings,” Moore said, noting that Sherman has already been involved in the search process.”  Since Moore described the front office as still being “in the middle of a very thorough process,” however, a new managerial hire doesn’t yet seem near.  Royals special advisor and former Cardinals manager Mike Matheny has been widely seen as the favorite for the job, and to date, the only other publicly known candidates are also internal names, though the club has spoken to some external candidates.
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Twins Discussing Extension With Derek Falvey

By Mark Polishuk | October 10, 2019 at 2:21pm CDT

The Twins and Derek Falvey “could soon complete a new deal” to retain the executive VP/chief baseball officer beyond the end of his current contract, ESPN’s Buster Olney reports.  The specific terms of Falvey’s original deal weren’t released when he was hired by Minnesota after the 2016 season, though it was believed that he was signed through at least 2020.

Still only 36 years old, Falvey has enjoyed quite a bit of success since taking over the Twins’ baseball operations department.  Brought in to provide fresh perspective within an organization that had perhaps become too insular and old-fashioned, Falvey and GM Thad Levine have managed to both modernize the Twins’ front office while also leading the club to the playoffs twice in three seasons.  Minnesota won a wild card slot in 2017 and then captured the AL Central this year with 101 victories, the second-highest win total in the 119-year history of the Twins/Washington Senators franchise.  The only downside is an 0-4 record in the postseason, losing all four games to the Yankees (who have dominated the Twins for the better part of two decades).

Perhaps most importantly, Minnesota is well-positioned to remain in contention going forward.  Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler were signed to long-term extensions in the spring, and Falvey and Levine focused on acquiring only short-term assets last winter, several of whom (most notably Nelson Cruz) ended up being big contributors to Minnesota’s division title.  This leaves the Twins in position to spend more significantly this offseason, and Falvey said yesterday that “impact pitching” will be targeted to help a rotation that could be thinned out in free agency.

It isn’t surprising that the Twins would look to keep Falvey in the fold given his already-strong track record with the team, though Olney notes that the timing could also be related to the Red Sox, who currently the only team looking to fill a general manager vacancy.  Falvey is from Massachusetts, though as of last month, was reportedly “very happy” in Minnesota and seemingly not looking to take on another position elsewhere.

If a new contract for Falvey could be coming soon, it stands to reason that Levine might also be in line for an extension in short order.  Levine has been on the radar for other teams looking to make front office hires, though he turned down a request from the Mets to interview for their open GM position last year.

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Minnesota Twins Derek Falvey

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