Article: It’s Official: Twins Announce Derek Falvey Hiring

[Parker Hageman]

After a week of reports suggesting that the Minnesota Twins had made their decision on the person to lead their baseball operations, the organization has finally made it official on Monday.

 

The 33-year-old Derek Falvey, a Terry Francona-proclaimed “rising star” in Cleveland’s front office, will assume the positions of executive vice president and chief baseball official for the Minnesota Twins.The unofficial direction for Falvey is to make the Twins win again; however, the team's official statement says that Falvey will be responsible for establishing the vision and related strategies for the club’s baseball operation.

 

“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 Twins Cities,” said the 33-year-old Falvey. “We will work diligently and collectively to select and develop top-performers, advance our process, and nurture a progressive culture that will make fans across Twins Territory proud.”

 

Falvey's pedigree with Cleveland includes assisting Indians President of Baseball Operation Chris Antonetti and General Manager Mike Chernoff in financial, statistical, and contractual dealings as well as player development and procurement. He also worked closely with Indians manager Terry Francona in the scouting process.

 

"He does everything," Francona told MLB.com. "I don't know how much you see it a lot of places, but we go to him a lot with questions. And, if he doesn't have the answer, he'll go find it. He's a great resource for even the coaches. I know Chris and Cherney use him, too, but we use him a lot."

 

“Throughout his baseball journey, Derek has earned a reputation as a talented executive thanks to innovation, collaboration and a relentless pursuit of individual and organizational improvement,” St. Peter said. “We believe Derek represents the next generation of dynamic, game-changing MLB leaders. We expect Derek to create positive change directed at restoring our winning tradition.”

 

Falvey will be introduced as the new head of the baseball side of the Twins’ front office at a press conference once the Indians season is over.

 

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[clutterheart]

Wow.  Its a bit surprising as I was expecting his hire to happen after Cleveland's season is done.

 

Great.  Glad its going forward.  I would've preferred the Chicago candidate but I wasn't in the interview room.   I am not sure if I trust the Pohlads to make the right choice but...I don't expect them to sell the team any time soon so all we can do is hope for the best.   

 

Hopefully Falvey will close the Target Field Country Club and create an atmosphere of accountability.  I am looking for a clean sweep of the current regime and a new start.  

 

[Parker Hageman]

 

 

Hopefully Falvey will close the Target Field Country Club and create an atmosphere of accountability.  I am looking for a clean sweep of the current regime and a new start.  

 

Interesting note from Berardino yesterday that Falvey was working on bringing Indians director of player development Carter Hawkins with him. Hawkins was in Falvey's wedding, which, I don't know necessarily means anything but it will be interesting to see how he assembles his front office. 

 

http://www.twincities.com/2016/10/02/byron-buxton-leads-minnesota-twins-to-season-ending-victory/

[wsnydes]

Welcome aboard and good luck with the rebuild.  We're pretty hungry for some good baseball by the home team around here.

[clutterheart]

 

Interesting note from Berardino yesterday that Falvey was working on bringing Indians director of player development Carter Hawkins with him. Hawkins was in Falvey's wedding, which, I don't know necessarily means anything but it will be interesting to see how he assembles his front office. 

 

http://www.twincities.com/2016/10/02/byron-buxton-leads-minnesota-twins-to-season-ending-victory/

 

If you would've told me 7 years ago that the Twins were going to become  "Cleveland West" I would've laughed in your face.  Its humbling how far we have fallen.

 

 

[Willihammer]

 

Interim Twins general manager Rob Antony and Rays vice president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, two of the four runner-ups to Falvey for the CBO spot, are no longer candidates for the Twins’ full-time GM role, according to people with direct knowledge.

http://gifrific.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Bill-Murray-Laughs-Then-Turns-Sad.gif

[Parker Hageman]

Speaking of Carter Hawkins, someone shared a link on Twitter of a Reddit Q&A he did last month. Hopefully he decides to join the community over here too. 

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/WahoosTipi/comments/4ydqqs/im_tribe_farm_director_carter_hawkins_ama/#bottom-comments

[Loosey]

Hope someone from TD will be able to get a nice one on one interview with Falvey.  I think he would appreciate the knowledge of the main writers on this site as well as members (fans) compared to some of the local newspaper journalists who will ask dumb questions about pitcher wins and RBI.

 

 

[ashbury]

Hopefully Falvey will close the Target Field Country Club and create an atmosphere of accountability. 

The Twins just hired an ex-jock, a pitcher, from a liberal arts college in Hartford, who eked out an economics degree. The Pohlad organization will be comfortable with this kindred spirit from the east coast variety of the country club. No threatening Ivy League MBAs or law degrees to shake things up or anything.

 

Or maybe I just described Jed Hoyer. No, Hoyer's degree was in History. Never mind.

[Parker Hageman]

 

The Twins just hired an ex-jock, a pitcher, from a liberal arts college in Hartford, who eked out an economics degree. The Pohlad organization will be comfortable with this kindred spirit from the east coast variety of the country club. No threatening Ivy League MBAs or law degrees to shake things up or anything.

 

Or maybe I just described Jed Hoyer. No, Hoyer's degree was in History. Never mind.

 

The ex-pitcher angle might be played up a bit. According to Trinity College's stats, Falvey threw a total of 7.2 innings over two seasons, allowing 13 hits, 14 runs and posting a 5/5 K/BB at the Division III program. 

 

More to the point, however, I do not think his college performance dictates in anyway how well he will do or not do as an administrator and vision-setting for the organization. I'm more interested in his learning experience with a well-respected front office.  

[ashbury]

Satire just doesn't play well on this site.

 

Had I just straightforwardly said his pedigree compares interestingly and favorably with Jed Hoyer's, that pedigree would all of a sudden seem like a small plus, no?

[Parker Hageman]

 

Satire just doesn't play well on this site.

 

Had I just straightforwardly said his pedigree compares interestingly and favorably with Jed Hoyer's, that pedigree would all of a sudden seem like a small plus, no?

 

You forgot your tags.

 

The thing is, I have read about his college pitching background in a lot of media reports. I just wanted to see what sort of career he had and was rather surprised how little he actually played (not that that is a bad thing).

 

[nicksaviking]

 

The ex-pitcher angle might be played up a bit. According to Trinity College's stats, Falvey threw a total of 7.2 innings over two seasons, allowing 13 hits, 14 runs and posting a 5/5 K/BB at the Division III program. 

 

 

So you're saying if it doesn't work out for him in the front office there's a job waiting for him in the Twins bullpen.

[Ncgo4]

"...eked out an economics degree". I guess you know something about his college work?

[Ncgo4]

“We will work diligently and collectively". This is a bit non-commital don't you think? Sure hope he got his authority in writing. Collectively with whom, is my concern. Has he been charged to work with Jim Pohlad, Paul Molitor, or Gardenhire?,

[Craig Arko]

Satire just doesn't play well on this site.

Supersaturation. Expialidocious.

[tobi0040]

Very nice to hear Antony is no longer in the running

[ashbury]

"...eked out an economics degree". I guess you know something about his college work?

A little poetic license.

[tobi0040]

Also quite disturbing how involved St Peter seemed in all of this.

[Teflon]

Derek Falvey quoting Geno Smith: "It's almost exciting to think about all the room for improvement that we have."

[Mr. Brooks]

Also quite disturbing how involved St Peter seemed in all of this.

Yeah the fact that St Peter and Pohlad were the ones doing the interviews is the one thing that gives me pause on this.

They strike me as 2 guys who might not even know what to look for, which is how you end up with a huckster like Tim Brewster running your organization.

I still cautiously like the hire though.

[drivlikejehu]

Hopefully what Korn Ferry did was put only strong candidates in front of St. Peter and Pohlad, so that regardless of the outcome it would be a solid hire. 

[dgwills]

 

Satire just doesn't play well on this site.

 

Had I just straightforwardly said his pedigree compares interestingly and favorably with Jed Hoyer's, that pedigree would all of a sudden seem like a small plus, no?

I get the satire, but the thing Hoyer has is the confidence of Theo Epstein. That's a pretty strong recommendation in the baseball world.

Falvey had a good interview and Terry Francona said he take's good notes. 

I couldn't be less impressed with this hire. What's worse is they are giving him a position above GM and he really hasn't earned either.

We are giving Pohlad too much credit for just hiring someone outside the organization. Hopefully I'm wrong, but Falvey hardly seems like the guy who runs a championship team.

[Old Twins Cap]

Buy the worst house on the block.

 

Done.

[mdonaghue]

I hope he is able to improve player development down on the farm.  There is loads of talent there but it sure looks ugly when it gets to the big show.

 

I'd love it if we had young outfielders who threw to the cutoff man,  young infielders who could at least move to the right position on a play, and young pitchers who can get someone out.  Striking out a lot less would be great, too!  

 

Not moving young talent into positions they have never played - and doing it for the first time at the MLB-level - would be great, too!

 

Letting a player do something that works - and has worked for their entire MiLB career - at the MLB-level would be great, too!

 

Having everyone in player development and scouting interview for their jobs would be great, too!

 

Not that I have any strong ideas, or anything.  Good luck, Falvey!

 

[Rosterman]

I liked Molitor commenting about the status of the coaching staff (under review) and acting like he will be part of the decision-making solution. Sadly, maybe he will. But I would think the new powers-that-be should have full decision-making process and get ahead of the whole mess as soon-as-possible, rather than wean people in and out of the organization. If the organization will still have another doomed year, let it be rapid rather than long-lasting. Time for the Twins to become MORE than a family business. It is time to become a sports entertainment business!

[Parker Hageman]

The thing for me is that Falvey leaves the Indians as a pitching guru. What exactly is he bringing to the Twins that he hasn't divulged to the Indians org? He may have kept a few tricks up his sleeve but the fact that he's lauded as a pitching-centric guy makes me think that at least one other organization knows all his secrets. 

[Boom Boom]

Yeah the fact that St Peter and Pohlad were the ones doing the interviews is the one thing that gives me pause on this.

They strike me as 2 guys who might not even know what to look for, which is how you end up with a huckster like Tim Brewster running your organization.

I still cautiously like the hire though.

To be fair to Pohlad and DSP, I'm sure they delved deep into the media guides to find their guy.

[Loosey]

 

Also quite disturbing how involved St Peter seemed in all of this.

What is the hierarchy now?  Are St Peter and Falvey equals and both Report to Pohlad.  Does one report to the other?

 

I would hope that they are in two completely separate areas reporting through a different org.

[Seth Stohs]

Head over to the Twins Daily Twitter page to place your vote for the Approval Rating of the hiring of Derek Falvey: