The Twins Don’t Just Need Strategy. They Need Soul

[The Great Hambino]

4 minutes ago, Parker Hageman said:

Two of the 8 coaches in the divisional series (Boone, Counsell) had zero coaching experience before managing. 

Lovely.  So 6 of the 8 did have experience.  Give me someone with experience

[SteveLV]

And Counsell did have experience with Milwaukee before the Cubs.  But he did not when Milwaukee hired him.

So 7/8 had MLB coaching experience.

I agree that I want them to hire a coach who has proven coaching track record, please.

[RaoulDuke]

I am not sure who this would be but I would kinda like the next manager to have some championship or even just a chunk od post season success.

Hunter has a couple playoff series wins but his career was mostly in the regular season.  This organization has no one with more that the Blue Jays series win once Vasquez is gone.

I won't mind if Hunter gets the job, as I think he has the potential to be a good coach, but I wonder if an old vet for a couple years wouldnt be more helpful rebuilding the organization.

[Parker Hageman]

9 minutes ago, SteveLV said:

And Counsell did have experience with Milwaukee before the Cubs.  But he did not when Milwaukee hired him.

So 7/8 had MLB coaching experience.

I agree that I want them to hire a coach who has proven coaching track record, please.

When he was hired, he had zero experience… more to the point, neither of them had COACHING experience. 

6/8. 

[jorgenswest]

@Parker Hageman Appreciate your thoughts here.

The Lewis part had me recalling Hunter’s first years in the majors. He knows what the shoes of a struggling top prospect feels like. He has been in those shoes. He has shuttled back and forth in his first few trips to the majors. I wonder if that will make a difference in working with players in that part of their baseball journey. This along with all of your thoughts make him a worthwhile candidate.

I am in. He will need to find an experienced bench coach. He will need to identify a pitching coach that he trusts and gives full control over pitching decisions. He needs the Brian Flores of pitching coaches.

I think this can work.

[ashbury]

8 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

The most used word to describe the Twins last season was listless. 

I disagree.  What is a spreadsheet but a list with a college education?

[rv78]

It's a position under a man who thinks he can do no wrong. Don't kid yourself, the message will be the same. Falvey just wants better results from the new guy than what he got from Baldelli. Afterall, according to Falvey, the only mistake he made was not having a Manager that could deliver the results he wanted with his baseball playing philosophy. So, who is going to get hired? Another YES man. And if he ends up being a NO man, he darn well better be a very successful NO man. I'm not sure Torii would be willing to be a YES man. 

[thelanges5]

Would love to have a manager that challenges upwards. Organizations need people that share their ideas and voice their opinions. I’m not sure that is something that Falvey and the Pohlads value. 

[SteveLV]

Parker, Counsel is coaching the Cubs.  He HAD MLB managerial experience when he was hired by the Cubs.

7/8 with prior coaching.

If he were still coaching Milwaukee, 6/8 would be correct, but he is not.

[Linus]

I too would like a manager with prior experience. Specifically I want someone with a strong background in fundamental baseball. The Twins could improve by 6-8 games next year by executing basic plays reliably. 

[Gamblerssoftball]

I just hope that whoever they hire, puts his foot down and says, "in order for me to take the job, I'm doing things my way without interference from the front office or ownership. Otherwise, find a yes man from within."

I fear the last part.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

9 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Managing a bullpen might be the most important job for a modern manager. Why does anyone think Torii Hunter knows how to do that?

What about delegating the bulllpen job to a good pitching coach?

[jorgenswest]

Can we all agree that Counsell has made the playoffs 7 of the last 8 seasons including 5 with the Brewers. He has done this in spite of never being a coach or manager previously. Doesn’t that seem pretty relevant to this Hunter discussion?

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

What about delegating the bulllpen job to a good pitching coach?

What about making the good pitching coach the manager instead?

[Castinofan]

It depends on who is making the decision, given what Falvey said at his press conference re the need to solicit the advice of the new minority owners as well as Pohlads on major decisions,  If it's up to Falvey the answer on Hunter is NO.  However, if Hunter is willing to accept peanuts for pay,  the owners may see his charisma as a revenue generator, unlike any other candidate. They could build the 2026 buzz around him. 

[TNtwins85]

20 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Managing a bullpen might be the most important job for a modern manager. Why does anyone think Torii Hunter knows how to do that?

Because when you have the analytics of who matches up best against who and what their strengths and weaknesses are it’s essentially playing the human side of things. Knowing the player, trusting the player and relying on your pitching coach who helps set the game plan and your catcher to help set the pitch by pitch plan along with the pitcher. Managing a bullpen isn’t rocket science when you have the stats in front of you gathered by your coaches and stats team and you know the players. Managing is simply creating and maintaining the culture and the goals, deploying the players in situations that give you the best chance to win and managing a team to all be headed the same direction at once. The position is manager. He manages. Who better than a guy like Hunter? 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

58 minutes ago, TNtwins85 said:

Because when you have the analytics of who matches up best against who and what their strengths and weaknesses are it’s essentially playing the human side of things. Knowing the player, trusting the player and relying on your pitching coach who helps set the game plan and your catcher to help set the pitch by pitch plan along with the pitcher. Managing a bullpen isn’t rocket science when you have the stats in front of you gathered by your coaches and stats team and you know the players. Managing is simply creating and maintaining the culture and the goals, deploying the players in situations that give you the best chance to win and managing a team to all be headed the same direction at once. The position is manager. He manages. Who better than a guy like Hunter? 

Agree 100 per cent.

[Western SD Fan]

Here's a thought.  Hire Hunter as the manager and see if Hunter will bring in Ron Washington as his bench coach.  We then have a similar situation than the Twins did when they hired Baldelli in 2019 with Derek Shelton as his bench coach.  Shelton was the experienced voice that helped Baldelli that first year.  I think Washington could do the same for Hunter without all of the stress of being the field manager.  You have the flair of a manager that can connect with the players and the sage of an experienced manager to help make the decisions and maybe teach the infield how to play defense.

[DJL44]

Bringing in Torii Hunter to manage this Twins team feels a lot like when Detroit brought in Alan Trammell to manage the Tigers, except Trammell had 3 years experience as a major league coach.

[bean5302]

I see some comments about how Torii Hunter was a great resource for Royce Lewis. I guess that doesn't move the needle much for me since I'm not all that impressed with Royce's production.

Love Royce Lewis, but if you're going to use a reference, at least use a successful one.

[Twins33]

22 hours ago, Squirrel said:

Hasn’t Hunter moved on from the Twins? Doesn’t he have a job with the Angels? Wouldn’t be surprised, now that Washington is out, the Angels offer him the manager job there. Aren’t those the rumors?

The rumors are that the Angels are looking at Pujols and that they’ve talked contract. 

[Hrbowski]

On 10/12/2025 at 8:48 AM, Vanimal46 said:

It’s difficult, damn near impossible, to build a culture like that when your President of Baseball Ops treats everyone as a row on a spreadsheet. Changing a culture starts at the top. 

A culture change is much needed. The most used word to describe the Twins last season was listless. 

Agreed. Your best asset is your people, analytics are just an insight on how to make them better.

[Twins33]

I like Torii, but I just don’t see it. I prefer someone else’s idea of going after Rickie Weeks Jr, though I’m guessing he’s probably going to be a hot target. 

[LA Vikes Fan]

23 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

Thanks, Parker, I respect & enjoy your analytical expertise. So your insight for the Twins' need for soul strikes more weight. Analytics has its place in baseball, but Twins have gone 100% analytics & have lost its soul. Baseball is played by humans & you can't ignore the human element. Many like to confront me with stats, stating that stats are everything while refusing to recognize the human element.  

Twins had very good coaches but Falvey let them walk. And has hired & promoted inferior personnel who can follow his weird analytics. Tingler has failed as bench coach, Conger has failed as catching coach, 1B coach & assistant bench coach, Watkins has failed as a coach & Gardenhire has been a yes-man for Falvey & Saints have been terrible. These guys should be fired much less be considered for the manager job. (I'd be willing to give Gardy a chance to stay w/o Falvey's interference).

There has been a big hole for someone who can come in & be that club culture leader & the best one who can do that is Tori Hunter, who has been loved by everybody that he's had contact with. Tori has baseball smarts & fundamentals, a good friend of Washington, who's famous for that. Twins' players seem to be playing w/o soul & confused. Tori can simplify & straighten out these confused players that Falvey has tried to indoctrinate.

It has hurt me so to see so many of our beloved former Twins' players like Hunter, J Santana, Cruz & Guardado on other teams' staff.  Why is that so? Can anybody tell me? There seems to be a rift between them & the organization. Is it because Falvey doesn't like their advice?

Many experienced managers won't want to come here because of the uncertain ownership, reset & lock-out. So Tori makes a lot of sense. His charisma. baseball knowledge, & the right balance of analytics makes Hunter a good choice. Anything lacking a bench coach can supplement. And Falvey keep your nose out of his business

How about Hunter as the manager with Ron Washington as his bench coach? Washington wants to manage again but probably won't get a shot because of his heart condition and his age. He could mentor Hunter through the tough parts of the job, like bullpen management, and use the next 2-3 years as a way to go out gracefully while making a contribution. An added bonus would be Washington's skills as an infield fielding coach, either on his own or in tandem with a younger coach. Better infield play is something we could use.  Hunter's charisma and relative youth could add the sou we need while Washington adds the expertise. I'm sold. 

[LA Vikes Fan]

1 hour ago, Western SD Fan said:

Here's a thought.  Hire Hunter as the manager and see if Hunter will bring in Ron Washington as his bench coach.  We then have a similar situation than the Twins did when they hired Baldelli in 2019 with Derek Shelton as his bench coach.  Shelton was the experienced voice that helped Baldelli that first year.  I think Washington could do the same for Hunter without all of the stress of being the field manager.  You have the flair of a manager that can connect with the players and the sage of an experienced manager to help make the decisions and maybe teach the infield how to play defense.

Didn't see this before I posted the same thing. You beat me to it. I'm right there with you. 

[jmlease1]

It's a little amusing to see Aaron Boone's name here as a potential comp when Yankees fans are ready to fire him into the sun.

Torii might be fine. He's the risk/reward candidate, I think? The vibes would definitely change, which would help. The real question is what happens if/when the team has their first losing streak (and if the Cheap Pohlads stick him with a payroll under $100M, they will have a long losing streak at some point, possibly many of them) or something like that. Will Torii play to the media or his team? There's evidence from him as a player that he might play to the media, but he's also older, more experienced, and no longer a player. So you don't know.

The people looking for a different type of tactician or for less general strategy to be directed from the front office will probably be disappointed.

The people who expect the manager to be spending lots of time themself drilling players on the fundamentals will also likely be disappointed.

The people who want a little more fire and more interesting interviews from the manager are likely to be happier.

I do think the team would be wise to pair a manager like Torii with an experienced hand as a bench coach.

Personally, I think Torii Hunter would be a manager whose flaws will be minimized when his players are healthy and performing well and maximized when they're injured and underperforming. Which applies to a lot of the league.

[Doctor Gast]

59 minutes ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

How about Hunter as the manager with Ron Washington as his bench coach? Washington wants to manage again but probably won't get a shot because of his heart condition and his age. He could mentor Hunter through the tough parts of the job, like bullpen management, and use the next 2-3 years as a way to go out gracefully while making a contribution. An added bonus would be Washington's skills as an infield fielding coach, either on his own or in tandem with a younger coach. Better infield play is something we could use.  Hunter's charisma and relative youth could add the sou we need while Washington adds the expertise. I'm sold. 

I'd love that & Nelson Cruz as hitting coach & phase him into bench coach when Washington is ready to be eased out. Washington could really help out INFers & Cruz could be an added Latino connection to help out with continuity of the club & international draft.

[jjswol]

First off I will say I am against bringing in a former Twins player to be their new manager, especially someone with managing experience. If I was going to bring in a former Twins player to be the new skipper it would be Doug Mientkiewicz. My favorite candidate to be the new Twins manager remains Don Mattingly.

[ashbury]

Maybe it's obvious to everyone, but I didn't see anyone (including the OP) explicitly bringing out the headline's connection to the legendary Soul Patrol of 2000-01: Jacque/Torii/Matt.  Nicely done.

[farmerguychris]

19 hours ago, thelanges5 said:

Would love to have a manager that challenges upwards. Organizations need people that share their ideas and voice their opinions. I’m not sure that is something that Falvey and the Pohlads value. 

Agreed - BUT, I don't think this will ever happen under this F.O. because they're the ones doing the hiring and I don't think they welcome feedback.  Same reason why we'll end up hiring a newbie happy to have the job and say yes to whatever Falvey wants.  No changes coming until the team is sold - IMO