AL Central Notes: Twins, Falvey, A. Gordon, Yolmer
Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey has done impressive work atop the team’s front office since his hiring in 2016. Considering his success with the Twins and his Boston roots, he could land on the Red Sox‘s radar as they seek a replacement for fired president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. At this point, though, the Red Sox haven’t asked the Twins’ permission to interview Falvey, according to Dan Hayes of The Athletic (subscription required). Falvey, for his part, is “very happy” with his current gig, Hayes hears. However, as Hayes writes, the excellence of the AL Central-leading Twins may be costly for the club in a sense. Other organizations could attempt to poach some members of their front office and coaching staff, with Hayes naming three of manager Rocco Baldelli’s top assistants – bench coach Derek Shelton, hitting coach James Rowson and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner – as well as farm director Jeremy Zoll as possible targets for rival teams. Falvey realizes it’s going to be difficult to bring the entire band back in 2020. “As much as I love everybody we’ve brought in, I’ve never been of a mind that you’re always going to retain people,” Falvey told Hayes, adding, “If we’re creating the right environment, we’re growing a lot of people in that room into roles that may not exist here.”
- Back in May, Royals left fielder Alex Gordon considered himself “at about 60-40” to play again in 2020. Four months later, though, Gordon might not be quite as sure. The 35-year-old Kansas City icon told Andy McCullough of The Athletic (subscription) that he wants to distance himself from a trying 2019 campaign before mapping out his future. “Losing 100 games, you’re tired, obviously, there’s going to be days when you’re like, ‘I don’t want to play next year,’” said Gordon, who expressed a desire “to take the grind out of the season before I make that decision.” Gordon has already said he’ll either remain a Royal or retire, while general manager Dayton Moore seems more than willing to bring him back. But sticking around will require Gordon and the team to draw up a new contract, as KC will decline his $23MM mutual option in favor of a $4MM buyout.
- As noted on Thursday, the White Sox would be wise to seek an upgrade at second base during the offseason. Current starter Yolmer Sanchez hasn’t been the answer at the position, having batted .250/.320/.317 with almost no power (two home runs, .067 ISO) in 519 plate appearances. Consequently, Sanchez’s days with the team could indeed be numbered, Steve Greenberg of the Chicago Sun-Times observes. The 27-year-old’s slated to reach arbitration for the second-last time during the offseason, when he’ll seek a raise over his 2019 salary of $4.625MM, though the club may elect to move on from him instead. Sanchez doesn’t want that to happen, however, as the White Sox are the only organization he has known since he signed out of Venezuela in 2009. ‘‘When I was a little kid, I wanted to play baseball because I loved it,’’ Sanchez told Greenberg. ‘‘I still love it. I played for fun then, and I play for fun now. But I play for the Chicago White Sox. I’ve tried to enjoy every day I’ve spent here. I hope there are a lot more days.’’
Central Notes: Twins, Reds, Senzel, Tigers
Before hiring Rocco Baldelli as the 31st manager in franchise history (just the fourth in the last 33 years), the Twins had him vetted by a pair of professional contemporaries currently serving Minnesota’s baseball ops department as special assistants: LaTroy Hawkins and Torii Hunter, per The Athletic’s Andy McCullough. Not long after Baldelli’s hire, he faced a similar grilling from another pair of special assistants: Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer. The quartet of Twins’ legends do more than serve as protective older brother types for Senior Baseball Officer Derek Falvey and GM Thad Levine – they’re active in a variety of capacities, from analytics, to hiring, to hands-on engagement with players at all levels of the Minnesota system. Levine said this of their veteran cabinet, “We haven’t acquired a single player at the major-league level without asking them to do makeup work on them.” Subscribers to The Athletic should read this piece in full for a fascinating peak into the machinations of the Twins organization. While you do that, we’ll see what else is happening in the Midwest…
- The Reds don’t expect Nick Senzel’s torn labrum to affect his defensive placement moving forward, per MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon. Said Manager David Bell, “He’s so young that hopefully his shoulder — he gets through this and that won’t be a factor at all on what position he plays. I’m expecting a full recovery.” The organization was impressed with how quickly Senzel made camp in center, enough to let his future defensive home remain a dependent variable. Without a clear-cut alternative in center, however, Senzel’s likely to stay put in the near-term. There’s questions in the infield, too, where a handful of options speckle the 2020 landscape, though none of Freddy Galvis, Jose Peraza, Josh VanMeter, or Derek Dietrich have a firm hold on starter’s minutes.
- Tigers President and CEO Christopher Ilitch spoke with reporters yesterday about the direction of the franchise, per Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press. Generally speaking, Ilitch didn’t provide any groundbreaking news. He appeared content with the speed of Detroit’s rebuild while focusing on continued progress as the organization’s only present mandate. Of course, he couldn’t say much to praise the Tigers’ current performance level without seeming disingenuous, and there would be little point in publicly denigrating a team that could well be on its way to a second top overall pick in three years. The primary takeaway seems to be an overall lack of urgency at the big league level – good news for prospect truthers, frustrating for those with hopes of seeing a competitive on-field product at Comerica Park in 2020. It seems there will be at least one more season of slow-and-steady as they continue to flesh out an increasingly well-regarded farm system.
Falvey On Twins’ Deadline Approach
The Twins face a fascinating trade deadline as they try to stay out ahead of the division-rival Indians. Minnesota chief baseball officer Derek Falvey discussed his club’s approach in a recent appearance on Darren Wolfson’s The Scoop podcast (audio link).
Many fans would prefer to have already seen some new additions populating the roster, but Falvey says that’s simply not how the summer trade period typically unfolds. Even with the unitary trade deadline, the “market dynamics” are similar to those in prior seasons, he suggests, with a crescendo presumptively building just in advance of the deadline (one week from today).
While the Twins have at least given internal consideration to forcing the action, they’ve obviously ultimately decided to wait until the market picture gains greater resolution. There’s little question of the buying status of the Minnesota club — they’re in — but rivals with possible acquisition targets are still waiting to make their final calls. And there are obviously quite a few possibilities to sort through.
It seems as if the Twins aren’t fully committed to a particular deadline approach. Per Falvey, the club is unsurprisingly “focused more on the pitching side.” Beyond that, its moves may not unfold “in the most orthodox fashion,” he says.”
Rather than specifically pursuing certain roles — say, a top-flight starter or closer — the Twins are interested in improving “overall pitching depth.” That could open the door to creative approaches. As he put it: “we may think about … if there are ways to add to our starting rotation, our pitching depth, is there a way to add to the bullpen at the same time?”
Fans probably shouldn’t expect any true blockbusters out of the Minnesota front office. Falvey says he’s “actively working that market to try and find ways to improve this club,” but strongly suggests it won’t come in the way of adding new core or high-end rental pieces. This year’s successes, he says, will surely come “from the group that’s in that clubhouse right now.” Deadline moves are likelier to function as “supplements” to the roster core.
It isn’t terribly surprising to hear of this general approach. The Twins have made clear since the offseason that they’d rely primarily on their slate of internally developed talent. Of course, it’s also arguable that the time is ripe for the club to push hard to add impact MLB talent right now. As GM Thad Levine stated over the winter, “We’re very eagerly waiting for this window to be opened, and when it is, we plan on striking.”
There’s plenty more of interest in the podcast for fans of the team, including a few health updates. Among other things, Falvey says that veteran reliever Cody Allen is dealing with a minor neck issue but has been “starting to show some signs” of promise. That obviously won’t dissuade the club from pursuing more reliable arms via trade.
Quick Hits: Padres, Rule 5, Twins
The San Diego Padres were busy this week in shaping their 40-man roster ahead of December’s Rule 5 draft. The release of former prospect Cory Spangenberg and Christian Villanueva’s transpacific journey to the Yomiuiri Giants prefaced further roster reshaping via a pair of minor-league swaps. Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen reviews the prospects in those deals and others involved in swaps from this past week: Walker Lockett, Ignacio Feliz, Colten Brewer, Esteban Quiroz, Rowan Wick, Jason Vosler, Jordan Foley, Jefry Valdez and Tanner Anderson. While these moves appear minor, many of these players will have the opportunity to make an impact for pennant contenders next fall if they can impress their new gatekeepers in Cleveland, Colorado, New York, Boston and Chicago, respectively. Further Rule 5 news and more from around the league…
- MLB.com picks intriguing candidates that could be selected from each team in December’s Rule 5 draft. Though it requires patience and a roster spot, the Rule 5 draft has been a viable resource in team building, especially for worst to first hopefuls who are closer to the former than the latter. Notably, the Cubs and Astros, two recent exemplars of roster renovation, each took advantage of the process by snatching players (Hector Rondon and Marwin Gonzalez, respectively) who made significant contributions to their title campaigns.
- By the middle of last season, Twins’ chief baseball officer Derek Falvey was already preparing for the possibility that Joe Mauer might retire, per the Athletic’s Dan Hayes (subscription link). The Twins continue to explore every option at first base, including moving struggling slugger Miguel Sano from third to first. One path they are unlikely to traverse is trading for a one-year rental like Arizona’s Paul Goldschmidt. The focus of the 2019 season in Minnesota will be as much about monitoring the rebound efforts of Sano and center fielder Byron Buxton as making a push for the playoffs, and with such uncertainty around their two high-ceiling stars, Falvey and company aren’t ready for an all-in move like trading for Arizona’s All-Star first baseman. Still, seeking a multi-year option at first base does not equate to youth, necessarily, as they are open to players like Carlos Santana or recently-DFAed C.J. Cron, each of whom would have two years of team control if acquired.
- Elsewhere around the infield, the Twins are open to engaging Jorge Polanco‘s positional flexibility as well. Polanco and Sano are currently penciled in at shortstop and third base, but that could change depending on their offseason acquisitions. For now, they are in the market for an offensive-minded second baseman, in which case Polanco would stay at short. There are more than a few viable short-term options on the free agent market to keep second base warm for prospect Nick Gordon, who was recently added to the 40-man roster. You can check out MLBTR’s full Offseason Outlook for the Twins here.
- In the dugout, Bill Evers rounds out Rocco Baldelli‘s staff as the major league catching coach. Evers, 64, is a 30-year coaching veteran with experience as a bench coach, manager, and minor-league field coordinator. He managed Baldelli when he was a player in Triple-A back in 2002, a relationship redolent of Alex Cora‘s hiring of Ron Roenicke as his bench coach. Roenicke, too, managed his future helmsman when Cora was a prospect coming up in the Dodgers system.
Twins Complete First Round Of Managerial Search
The Twins have embarked upon a search for a new skipper after the somewhat surprising decision to remove Paul Molitor from the post. He had been a holdover appointee from the prior front office regime. The current hiring process, then, will represent the first opportunity for chief baseball officer Derek Falvey and GM Thad Levine to install their own preferred voice in the dugout.
As we have done with other openings of this kind, we’ll use this post to track the early developments in the hiring process in Minnesota.
First-Round Interviews
- The Twins have interviewed Astros bench coach Joe Espada, tweets MLB.com’s Jon Morosi. (Fancred’s Jon Heyman had previously noted the Twins’ interest in doing so.) Espada is in his first season as Alex Cora’s successor in that role, and he’s already drawn reported interest from the Angels and the Rangers in their own managerial searches.
- Cubs bench coach Brandon Hyde has interviewed with the Twins, per 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson (Twitter link). The 45-year-old served as the Cubs’ first base coach for three years prior to ascending to bench coach. He has five years of minor league managing under his belt and has been tied to numerous managerial postings around the league.
- Rays field coordinator Rocco Baldelli has interviewed, too, Wolfson tweets. Still just 37, he’s spent four years on the Rays’ staff since retiring as a player earlier this decade. Baldelli’s role as field coordinator was created in advance of the just-completed campaign and represented an expansion of his duties, seemingly to encompass some more forward-thinking approaches for the famously experimental organization.
- Giants bench coach Hensley Meulens has interviewed with the Twins, per Wolfson. Meulens has been a popular candidate in previous managerial searches and has 15 years of coaching experience –mostly as a hitting coach. The Curacao native has also managed Team Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic.
- Wolfson adds that current Twins bench coach Derek Shelton has also interviewed. He has ample experience in MLB dugouts, but only just finished his first season in his current role. Hired away from the Blue Jays, where he functioned as a quality control coach, Shelton spent the prior dozen years as a hitting coach with the Rays and Indians.
- The Twins have already held a meeting with hitting coach James Rowson, per La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. While his coaching background is somewhat specialized in the hitting arena, Rowson has obviously drawn positive attention from the front office. As Neal describes it, he’s an “ebullient” presence in the clubhouse.
Expected To Interview
- Also per Neal, the Twins would like to host chats with recently retired David Ross. A long-time backstop, Ross played as recently as 2016, wrapping up his playing career with the World Series-champion Cubs.
Other Potential Candidates
- The Twins at least performed some background work on Brewers bench coach Pat Murphy, Wolfson (via Twitter). Murphy is obviously tied up for the moment assisting manager Craig Counsell in the Milwaukee organization’s postseason run. The former interim Padres manager has held the Brewers bench coach position since the 2016 campaign.
- Wolfson also tabs Indians bench coach Brad Mills as a name to watch. (Twitter link.) His prior experience with Falvey, who came over from the Cleveland front office, certainly makes Mills an obvious potential candidate. Whether he’ll be asked to interview isn’t yet known. With the Indians’ season just drawing to a close, though, that seems reasonably likely to take place.
Not Under Consideration
Twins Showing Interest In Controllable Starters
The Twins are “checking in” on a few starting pitchers around the game, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). Minnesota is seemingly limiting its interest to controllable arms at this point.
That’s not terribly surprising to hear. After all, the Twins are still treading water in the AL Central and AL Wild Card races. And GM Thad Levine said recently that the organization “would be very open to spending aggressively on assets that we could use to propel our team forward this year and for years to come.”
As noted in that above-linked post, the Twins have an obvious need — both now and in the near future — for reliable starting pitching. While there’s little reason to think that the team would part with significant future talent just for an immediate upgrade, it makes sense that the club would value the chance at contending this year while also considering arms that could bolster the roster for a few more seasons to come.
Rosenthal notes that Jose Quintana of the White Sox and Sonny Gray of the Athletics are two pitchers who’d likely appear on Minnesota’s list of possible targets, though it’s not clear whether the Twins have eyes for either in particular. He also suggests Dan Straily of the Marlins as an option, though again there’s still no indication that he’s specifically on the radar of Levine and chief baseball officer Derek Falvey.
Of course, those sorts of pitchers — Quintana and Gray, in particular — figure to draw interest from many other organizations. Those two have done so for quite some time, in fact, with the continued demand perhaps also representing a big reason that their respective organizations have felt comfortable waiting to deal them.
At this stage, there’s still a lack of clarity as to how the market will develop. Quintana and Gray might spur bidding wars; certain contenders could pivot to more affordable rental pieces (or even relievers); and/or we could see other long-term rotation assets (such as Julio Teheran or Gerrit Cole, among many other possibilities) reach the market to meet the demand. The level of involvement of teams such as the Twins will very likely play a role in dictating those developments, though the question remains whether Minnesota will press to get a deal done for a new starter.
AL Central Notes: Lindor, Tilson, Twins, Falvey
The Indians have made a habit of signing young stars to extensions, and it isn’t any surprise that the team has apparently been in talks with shortstop Francisco Lindor. The specific nature of the talks may have been revealed by a unique source — Brody Chernoff, the six-year-old son of Tribe GM Mike Chernoff (as per the Associated Press). Young Brody sat in with radio broadcaster Tom Hamilton during today’s game and, when asked what deals his dad was working on, replied “he’s trying to get Lindor to play for seven more years.” (audio link) A seven-year extension would cover Lindor’s two remaining pre-arb years, his three arbitration years and his first two free agent seasons. This is assuming that the proposed extension would begin for the coming season and overwrite Lindor’s current minimum salary, though we’ll have to wait for Brody’s next report for more details.
Here’s more from around the AL Central…
- White Sox center fielder Charlie Tilson told reporters (including Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune) that he will be forced to continue wearing a walking boot for a few more weeks. Tilson suffered a stress reaction in his right foot last month, and between his continued recovery time and his preseason training, it might be late May before Tilson reaches the majors. Sox manager Rick Renteria said that the team is still deciding between Peter Bourjos, Jacob May, and Leury Garcia to handle the center field job in Tilson’s absence.
- Yoan Moncada will begin the season in Triple-A, and Fangraphs’ Craig Edwards argues that the White Sox should keep the star prospect in the minors until at least mid-May for both baseball reasons (Moncada has never played at the Triple-A level) and for service time reasons. Moncada acquired his first 31 days of MLB service time last season with the Red Sox, so an extended stint in the minors would help Chicago gain an extra year of control over Moncada’s services. In fact, the White Sox could even delay Moncada’s promotion until after the All-Star break to prevent him from getting Super Two status. While this system may not be the fairest for a player, Edwards writes, this extra control is more valuable to the franchise than any early reps Moncada might get playing for the big league club in April.
- Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey is profiled by Tyler Kepner of the New York Times, who details Falvey’s rise from scouting prospects in the Cape Cod League to running Minnesota’s baseball operations department. A former college pitcher himself, Falvey’s biggest priority is to upgrade the Twins’ pitching philosophy after years of subpar results from their arms. “There’s an organizationwide desire to shed that label, the pitch-to-contact term,” Falvey said. “So there’s a lot of energy around embracing some new programs to make sure we are talking about velocity development and how we get strikeouts and some elements to finish pitches. I think it’s the right fit now, because the organization is open to that conversation.”
- In an effort to potentially cut down on injuries and player fatigue, the Twins have been monitoring the cumulative total of their players’ baseball-related activities, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press writes. Everything from time in the batting cage to workouts to actual on-field playing time is charted under this system. For another angle, Berardino’s piece features some interesting quotes from MLBPA head Tony Clark about how the players’ union has some concerns about how such information is being collected and how it could be used by teams.
Twins Introduce Derek Falvey, Thad Levine
It’s been an uncharacteristically jarring few months for the Twins organization. In the midst of just the second 100-loss season in the post-D.C. history of the franchise, the Twins parted ways with longtime executive Terry Ryan, breaking with their usual pattern of organizational continuity. Months later, they officially have two key new executives in place, and on Monday, they introduced their new hires, Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey and GM Thad Levine, to the Minnesota media.
The Twins’ reputation for loyalty is a big reason why jobs with the organization are coveted in the industry, Levine said at today’s press conference. “People all over the game would like to work for the Twins,” Levine said. “But part of that loyalty from ownership means that it’s perceived as a difficult organization to get into as well.”
Twins CEO Jim Pohlad admitted to having virtually nothing to do with the Levine hire. “I had not met Thad until last night,” Pohlad said. “It was Derek’s entire decision to hire Thad, and we couldn’t be happier.” Pohlad added that he wouldn’t stand in the way of Falvey’s need to add resources to beef up the team’s analytics department, which currently is a three-person operation.
Falvey and Levine, along with as longtime assistant GM Rob Antony, will head out Monday evening to the general manager’s meetings in Arizona. If that seems a bit sudden, it’s because it is. The Twins had to wait to formalize hiring Falvey until his Indians were eliminated from the playoffs, per a handshake agreement between the two clubs. When that took seven games — plus a rain delay — to materialize, it meant the timing would naturally be a bit hurried.
Falvey said he wasn’t too worried about that, even if it would be a bit of a crash course over the next few days up to and after free agency formally opens on Tuesday. In his mind, it’s going to be good for the three minds to converge upon the offseason together, as he can bring the best of his information from the Indians organization, Levine the same from the Rangers and Antony from the Twins to blend it all into what ends up being their offseason path.
Falvey joins the Twins from the Indians organization, where he was third in command behind team president Chris Antonetti and general manager Mike Chernoff. Falvey joined the Indians in November 2007, and ascended quickly before settling in for the last year as the assistant general manager.
Levine joins the Twins from the Rangers organization, where he’d spent more than a decade working under current GM Jon Daniels. Levine started in baseball with a brief stint with the Dodgers before joining the Rockies full-time in 1999, ultimately becoming Senior Director of Baseball Operations.
There’s no question addressing the pitching staff will be paramount to whatever path Falvey and Levine take this offseason, and they’re keenly aware of it. The Twins ranked last in starting pitching ERA (5.39), and the bullpen wasn’t much better (4.63, 26th). With little in the way of MLB-ready pitching in the pipeline (considering the struggles of Jose Berrios and the relative lack of certainty with Stephen Gonsalves and Kohl Stewart), Falvey said he’s aware the team is going to have to get creative in supplementing the pitching staff.
“With pitching, I think you want to explore every avenue and opportunity to add talent,” Falvey said. “Whether that’s being opportunistic in the free agent market, or through trades, or through unique development philosophies, which I think are things that we will apply moving forward, there’s no one way to attack that. This year’s free agent market is a little lean on the pitching side, so I think we have to explore every opportunity that we have to develop the players we have internally, and figure out what it is that we need to do to develop the strengths into useful pieces at the major league level.”
Part of working on the pitching staff will be evaluating players in-house to determine what assets the club has to move around to acquire pitching in addition to what it might find on the market. Falvey wasn’t prepared to go down that road mere minutes into his tenure, but he did suggest the team would search high and low, internally and externally, to revamp the club’s woebegone pitching staff.
“I think we’ll spend time over the next week in Arizona to dig in and talk to other teams about needs and fits and what the landscape looks like for this offseason,” Falvey said. “We will commit to being collaborative in our approach to pitching development. It’s something I feel very strongly about. Utilizing different resources to help us develop the current pitchers that are on the staff and the players coming up through the minor leagues. We wouldn’t shut out any avenue to acquire or develop a player, and I expect that will be a slight change from how we’ve operated here, but I look forward to leading that.”
Falvey’s vision isn’t limited to the pitching side, though it can be easy to focus on that part. Not only are the Twins coming off an incredible run of subpar pitching — including carrying an MLB-worst K/9 every year from 2011-15 — but the Indians are coming off the seventh-best ERA in baseball. Beyond that, the Indians found some of their best pitchers in unlikely places. Corey Kluber came in the Jake Westbrook trade and was far from an instant success. The same can be said of Carlos Carrasco, who came over in the Cliff Lee deal with the Phillies and needed multiple years and even a stint in the bullpen to find his way. Mike Clevinger, who is one of the team’s more promising young pitchers, arrived in a deal for a broken-down Vinnie Pestano. That sort of resourcefulness, if Falvey can duplicate it in Minnesota, will only serve to make the search for pitching more interesting for Twins fans.
“The goal here is straightforward and measurable,” Falvey said. “It’s to build a sustainable and championship-caliber team and organization that Twins fans across Twins Territory will be proud of. Thad and I know there are no shortcuts to getting there. We intend to relentlessly identify, pursue and advance top-performing people, cultivate world-class process and build a culture that’s collaborative and transparent to achieve our goals.”
Falvey didn’t stop there, as he promised wide-sweeping changes to the “Twins Way,” which is such a key phrase that the organization made it the address when they opened Target Field at “1 Twins Way” in downtown Minneapolis.
“The Twins Way will be to thrive together,” Falvey promised at the outset of the conference. “That’s important to me. Both Thad and I have grown and experienced a measure of success within organizational cultures that understand the value in creating balanced systems, designing, implementing and evaluating processes and rewarding hard work and professional character, both on and off the field. We will root our decision making in evidence-based practices, both subjective and objective in nature, which means a commitment to understanding the metrics, but always making human decisions. That will never change. There is no substitute for the people and the input from our senior leadership group.”
Indians Name Co-Assistant General Managers
Indians president Chris Antonetti and general manager Mike Chernoff have decided it’s going to take two executives to replace former assistant GM Derek Falvey, who became the Twins’ chief baseball officer after the World Series. The American League champions promoted Carter Hawkins and Matt Forman to co-assistant GMs on Friday, Chernoff announced (via Jordan Bastian of MLB.com).
“I don’t expect we’ll fill [Falvey’s role] exactly the same way, but Carter Hawkins and Matt Forman will be promoted to assistant general managers. Carter, who had been director of player development, will continue to oversee our player development,” said Chernoff.
Hawkins, whom the Indians hired in 2008, became their player development director in 2014. He oversaw the Tribe’s farm system in that role, which will continue to be the case in his new position, per Bastian.
This is the second promotion in less than a year for Forman, who took over as the Indians’ director of baseball operations last Nov. 20 when Falvey moved up to assistant GM. Prior to joining the Indians in 2013, Forman worked for Baseball America.
“Matt, who had sort of come up through more of a scouting background, will oversee a lot of our scouting and acquisition processes — international, professional — and continue to be involved in the amateur stuff,” Chernoff stated. “And then, both guys will be part of our leadership team with all personnel, staff development and other initiatives.”
It doesn’t appear the AL Central rival Twins will force Cleveland to undergo more front office changes during the offseason, as Antonetti said Friday that he doesn’t expect Falvey to hire away any Indians execs. Falvey already tabbed a GM earlier in the week in former Rangers assistant Thad Levine.
Twins Hire Derek Falvey To Oversee Baseball Operations
The Twins have officially announced that they’ve hired Indians assistant GM Derek Falvey as their executive vice president and chief baseball officer. Falvey will join the Twins once the Indians’ season is over. Rob Antony will continue as interim GM until then. Twins Daily’s Jeremy Nygaard and ESPN’s Keith Law were among the first to tweet that the Twins would hire Falvey, with Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan tweeting that Falvey had emerged as a favorite.
“I believe the addition of Derek Falvey to the Minnesota Twins will markedly enhance our organizational excellence and bring championship baseball back to Minnesota,” says Twins Owner Jim Pohlad.
“It’s a tremendous honor to have the opportunity to lead the Twins baseball operation. This is a proud, resilient franchise, and I’m eager to return championship-caliber baseball to the Twin Cities,” says Falvey. “We will work diligently and collectively to select and develop top-performers, advance our processes, and nurture a progressive culture that will make fans across Twins Territory proud.”
The Twins had been linked to a number of young executives as they look for a replacement for recently dismissed GM Terry Ryan. Among the other names known to have been in the mix were Rays vice president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, Royals assistant GM J.J. Picollo and Cubs senior vice president of player development Jason McLeod.
The 33-year-old Falvey will become one of baseball’s youngest executives and represents a significant departure from the status quo for Minnesota. His rise to the position of president is a surprise, to say the least, as he’s spent less than one full season as an assistant GM. Falvey was promoted to that post last October in conjunction with the promotions of Chris Antonetti to president of baseball operations and Mike Chernoff to general manager. Prior to that, he spent four seasons as Cleveland’s director of baseball operations. The Boston native holds a degree in economics from Trinity College, where he also played baseball, and has contributed to the Cleveland front office in many capacities. In addition to his longstanding role in the team’s player development process, Falvey has overseen the advanced scouting department and worked with Antonetti and Chernoff on “financial, statistical and contractual dealings,” per the Indians’ media guide.
Falvey figures to be the first of multiple new hires for the Twins, who reportedly will allow their new president to hire a general manager to work underneath him as well. Beyond that, changes atop a baseball operations hierarchy often lead to personnel shuffling further down the pecking order, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise if further new faces join the Minnesota front office. One name that won’t be changing, however, is manager Paul Molitor, whom owner Jim Pohlad has already stated will remain his manager in 2017.