Could One of These High-Demand Bench Coaches Become the Twins' Next Manager?

[saviking]

I'll take the ,, Hard Ass 

[Dawgzilla]

Twins will promote Toby Gardenhire...duh!

[Otaknam]

Analytics does have its place, but I hope the next manager isn’t welded to making every decision based on analytics, which Rocco seemed to do. Showing some confidence in your players and going with your intuition still has a place. But Falvey is a devout follower of analytics, so the next manager will have to be a devotee too. 

[Sparky55]

How fun would it be to have Tori Hunter as manager, latroy hawkins pitching coach, Justin Morneau hitting coach and Nick Punto as bench coach? 

[Greglw3]

2 hours ago, kmwerfamily said:

Ricky Weeks as Manager, Mike Maddux as pitching coach would be a nice combination.

Weeks would be a good selection for giving the team a good direction, I think!

[Cris E]

9 hours ago, S Bart said:

It should be noted that the Pohlad regime has never hired a person in this role who managed previously at the MLB level..Miller, Kelly, Gardy, Molitor, and Baldelli...first time for each one...

Baldelli was the only one that didn't come from within, so as much as the "new blood" sounds good it's mostly a case of the Cs: Cheap and Continuity.

[Cris E]

Also, there's a lot of mention that these outsiders are going to be bringing in their own guys, but the staffs they are on are not theirs.  We're not going to be getting a lot of MIL or CLE coaches as those guys are already working with playoff rosters. 

That said, we have hired some really good position coaches the last few years as evidenced by how well they performed elsewhere right after leaving MN.  Think of James Rowson (NYY) or David Popkins (TOR) before thinking that no one here knows what they're doing. Coaching at the MLB level is much more than just reminding guys to stay still or open their hips a little. There's some psychology, more physiology, some analytics, and a lot of trust involved. Rowson showed up at Byron Buxton's big contract signing even though he wasn't in the organization anymore just because they had developed such a bond.  

Sometimes coaches are a problem, but often there's way more involved when player performance dips or doesn't evolve and they get used a scapegoats.  

[Blyleven2011]

It be wise for our next manager to have some experience  , I'm thinking of Mike Redmond  , a former catcher for the Twinsand good club house guy ,  a former manager that managed the Marlins but was let go with a new front office taking over , he also was bench coach with the rockies , he's been in coaching positions since his retirement as a player ....

Mike Redmond has the qualifications for the job as does  tingler but I want nobody from the twins coaching staff to fill this position ...

The Detroit and Cleveland coaches sounds very capable too but most likely will be purged by another team ...

[Doctor Wu]

On 10/9/2025 at 12:50 AM, Woof Bronzer said:

The Twins tend to extend their managers a fair amount of leash, and they've been pretty clear that the next couple years will have nothing to do with trying to win so there won't be a demand for results. 

You are right; the Twins certainly do allow their managers a few years to re-shape the team, or whatever the goal is at that juncture. But I'm not sure that the front office has been "pretty clear" about not wanting to win the next couple of years. At least I hope that's not their strategy at this point. 

[Doctor Wu]

I have this sinking feeling that the search for a new Twins manager will mirror the front office strategy in signing free agents each winter: wait until the very last minute and sign the cheapest guy still available. 

[rv78]

1 hour ago, Doctor Wu said:

I have this sinking feeling that the search for a new Twins manager will mirror the front office strategy in signing free agents each winter: wait until the very last minute and sign the cheapest guy still available. 

Signing a Manager is not even close to being the same thing as signing Free Agents. There are too many former players that are coaching now and have never managed that would jump at the chance to take a Manager job. Much like Baldelli. Experience and proven ability as a former Manager means nothing to Falvey. He'll look for someone that will be another "yes man" to him and his ideas and we'll have Rocco 2.0. Falvey admits that he is responsible for the Twins failure. Used Rocco as the scapegoat to save his own butt. And will espect the new guy to have better results delivering his same message and style of play in his players. Nothing changes until the Pohlads and Falvey are gone.

[Doctor Wu]

3 minutes ago, rv78 said:

Signing a Manager is not even close to being the same thing as signing Free Agents. There are too many former players that are coaching now and have never managed that would jump at the chance to take a Manager job.

That's true, but this off-season there are already several manager openings, more than usual it seems, and I don't think the Twins will be rushing to sign the first quality candidate. Their tendency always seems to be to play the waiting game. Too many other teams are more attractive landing spots or they will offer more money. We will end up with a less high-profile name, but that may not be such a bad thing in the end. 

[Greglw3]

On 10/8/2025 at 4:06 PM, JADBP said:

I too love Madden as a choice too but are you convinced he’d come out of retirement???  For the Twins???  He’s got the magic touch.  

 think he would if promised by Falvey, no pre-planned or any time interference, i.e. let me do what I did in Tampa. I heard he wants to manage again under those conditions but Falvey probably won’t call him.

[The Great Hambino]

On 10/10/2025 at 6:07 AM, Doctor Wu said:

I have this sinking feeling that the search for a new Twins manager will mirror the front office strategy in signing free agents each winter: wait until the very last minute and sign the cheapest guy still available. 

It's only a sample size of one, but Rocco was hired before the 2018 World Series had finished.  I don't see any reason to believe they'll wait that long to hire the next manager, especially if they've already begun interviewing candidates.