Manager Interviews

[Trov]

I read two of the people the FO intends to interview are former coaches under Rocco.  James Rowson and Derek Shelton.  This is kind of interesting as you would normally change up managers to change up directions.  Shelton did not do well with Pirates, but not sure anyone could have done well with them over that time.  Rowson has bounced to several teams like most hitting coaches do. 

Would either be an upgrade over Rocco, not sure.  I just thought it was interesting 2 of the 3 stated interviews coached under Rocco. 

[The Great Hambino]

21 minutes ago, Trov said:

I read two of the people the FO intends to interview are former coaches under Rocco.  James Rowson and Derek Shelton.  This is kind of interesting as you would normally change up managers to change up directions.  Shelton did not do well with Pirates, but not sure anyone could have done well with them over that time.  Rowson has bounced to several teams like most hitting coaches do. 

Would either be an upgrade over Rocco, not sure.  I just thought it was interesting 2 of the 3 stated interviews coached under Rocco. 

I'm intrigued by Rowson having spent time under multiple organizations since he's been with the Twins.  A lot of opportunities to learn different approaches and ideas that could potentially be blended with the familiarity he has from working under this FO in the past.  The combination of familiarity and fresh ideas could help him stand out among other candidates.

Kinda tricky to evaluate Shelton's time with the Pirates - as you said, it's a pretty tough environment to succeed in.  Although they apparently liked the change in voice his replacement brought to the clubhouse, since they elevated him from interim to full-time manager after the season.  That could also be Nutting not wanting to spend money on a search (wouldn't put it past him), but it's tough to really tell.

[jctwins]

I have absolutely zero faith in Falvey to make a good decision hiring. He might end up with a good manager, but it won't be for the right reasons.

[jorgenswest]

3 hours ago, Trov said:

I read two of the people the FO intends to interview are former coaches under Rocco.  James Rowson and Derek Shelton.  This is kind of interesting as you would normally change up managers to change up directions.  Shelton did not do well with Pirates, but not sure anyone could have done well with them over that time.  Rowson has bounced to several teams like most hitting coaches do. 

Would either be an upgrade over Rocco, not sure.  I just thought it was interesting 2 of the 3 stated interviews coached under Rocco. 

I do wonder about Shelton. The Pirates have ranked in the top ten in 13 of the last 14 Fangraphs prospect pools. They ranked fourth when he took over in 2020 with six top ten prospects. Cruz has league average wRC+ but moved off shortstop. Much more was expected from a prospect that peaked at number 7 overall. Hayes (peaked at #14) was given 2500 plate appearances and did not approach a league average hitter before they gave up on him. Keller (peaked at #23) has 163 starts with a career ERA of 4.51 and just one season with an ERA under 4. That’s the good news from the 4th ranked group with six in the top 100 that he inherited.

The Twins have added to their prospect pool and need a manager that can help get the best from them. Has Shelton shown that he is that manager? 

[Riverbrian]

I will not endorse any candidate for Manager unless I get a chance to interview them. 😉 

I'm pretty sure that whoever gets the job... I will end up being equal parts supportive and critical because the odds of any manager doing exactly what I want them to do is pretty close to nil. 

Therefore I will wait for the people in charge of making this decision to make a decision and I'll start with support until I feel the need to criticize constructively with continued support.  

I'll just start with these requests... find a manager that: 

1. Is Pro Development to his core... Someone that understands that growth and discovery are more important than predetermination. Someone who understands that limiting  tomorrows development by strip mining of parts off of young players will come with a large bill that will come due in the future. A bill that will probably include someone else managing the team as part of the payment due.    

2. Allows for competition amongst all roster spots. Reward good play from whoever is providing it over predetermination. Utilize all roster spots in search of good play because 26 players compared to 17 chosen ones increases your odds of finding 17 players. 

3. Understands that Predetermination is frequently wrong and actively avoids driving predetermination off the cliff waiting for performance to match predetermined expectation. 

4. Let's the players make the manager utilization decisions through performance instead of the manager making decisions and hoping for performance.  

[nicksaviking]

43 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

I will not endorse any candidate for Manager unless I get a chance to interview them. 😉 

I'm pretty sure that whoever gets the job... I will end up being equal parts supportive and critical because the odds of any manager doing exactly what I want them to do is pretty close to nil. 

Therefore I will wait for the people in charge of making this decision to make a decision and I'll start with support until I feel the need to criticize constructively with continued support.  

I'll just start with these requests... find a manager that: 

1. Is Pro Development to his core... Someone that understands that growth and discovery are more important than predetermination. Someone who understands that limiting  tomorrows development by strip mining of parts off of young players will come with a large bill that will come due in the future. A bill that will probably include someone else managing the team as part of the payment due.    

2. Allows for competition amongst all roster spots. Reward good play from whoever is providing it over predetermination. Utilize all roster spots in search of good play because 26 players compared to 17 chosen ones increases your odds of finding 17 players. 

3. Understands that Predetermination is frequently wrong and actively avoids driving predetermination off the cliff waiting for performance to match predetermined expectation. 

4. Let's the players make the manager utilization decisions through performance instead of the manager making decisions and hoping for performance.  

I agree with the sentiment, but #1 kind of conflicts with #2-4. If the team is focused on developing a young, and most importantly to ownership, cheap core, they can't constantly be losing their jobs to Kody Clemens, Manny Margot and Mickey Gaspar because they don't figure it out right away.

But I suspect your #2-4 were more aimed at the opposite approach Baldelli took; it was predetermined that journeymen vets would get all the playing time they could handle.

[Riverbrian]

3 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

I agree with the sentiment, but #1 kind of conflicts with #2-4. If the team is focused on developing a young, and most importantly to ownership, cheap core, they can't constantly be losing their jobs to Kody Clemens, Manny Margot and Mickey Gaspar because they don't figure it out right away.

But I suspect your #2-4 were more aimed at the opposite approach Baldelli took; it was predetermined that journeymen vets would get all the playing time they could handle.

Exactly. 

In the end. My 4 requests are just slight variations on the same core. Just building blocks in the shifting sand of baseball nuance. 

All things being equal... I want the front office and manager to commit to youth over committing to an expiring contract. 

The problem is... Things are rarely equal but I believe that if the manager allows for honest to god competition. The Wins today will take care of themselves while at the same time building a strong future. 

 

[Craig Arko]

 

[shortround81]

2 hours ago, Craig Arko said:

 

I literally just came here to ask if there was any truth to the rumor 

Also, I feel like there needs to be a TD Q&A vetting before any decisions are made

[jaimedude]

2 hours ago, Craig Arko said:

 

Why is the media feeding this false narrative that Punto was an extremely popular Twins player. He was not, he was a symptim of Twins playoff failure. Punto would not be a popular choice. 

[Craig Arko]

16 minutes ago, shortround81 said:

I literally just came here to ask if there was any truth to the rumor 

Also, I feel like there needs to be a TD Q&A vetting before any decisions are made

I’d rather any vetting be done by somebody qualified, but sure. I could support Punto.

[lecroy24fan]

10 minutes ago, jaimedude said:

Why is the media feeding this false narrative that Punto was an extremely popular Twins player. He was not, he was a symptim of Twins playoff failure. Punto would not be a popular choice. 

He was/is very popular with the fanbase.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

41 minutes ago, shortround81 said:

Also, I feel like there needs to be a TD Q&A vetting before any decisions are made

Falvey is just picking names from the StarTribune comment section at this point 🙂

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I have to admit, I have never met Punto or heard him talk about baseball, other than GET PAID GET MONEY 

(which might be enough to get him hired)

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

26 minutes ago, lecroy24fan said:

He was/is very popular with the fanbase.

*ahem* or should be 

[jaimedude]

Outside of Shelton, have any candidates been mentioned that have past managerial experience? Heck if your gonna interview Nick Punto you might as well interview Mike Redmond and Brian Dinkleman too, they are former Twins too. 

[Richie the Rally Goat]

3 hours ago, Craig Arko said:

 

LNP would be a fantastic manager, only so I can dust off “Get Money! Get Paid!”

edit: Ninja’d

[Irishman]

I’m not that impressed with Derek Shelton and his managerial records.    James Rowson or Vazquez would be a good choice as Minnesota Twins manager.    I’m not not so sure about Nick Punto.    

[shortround81]

4 hours ago, Craig Arko said:

I’d rather any vetting be done by somebody qualified, but sure. I could support Punto.

Ummm . . . Do you not remember my Question of the Game posts during game threads?!?!? 🤬

[S Bart]

Twins Skor North noted Joe Madden as a good choice.   Falvey would not want an experienced manager. The Pohlads have always hired MLB managers (5 of them in about about 40 years) who never had previous experience in that role. It seems a bit strange...to me. 

[Doctor Wu]

Punto's name seems to have come out of nowhere. What's he been doing for the past decade?

[lecroy24fan]

12 hours ago, Doctor Wu said:

Punto's name seems to have come out of nowhere. What's he been doing for the past decade?

He was a coach for the Padres this year.

[lecroy24fan]

21 hours ago, S Bart said:

Twins Skor North noted Joe Madden as a good choice.   Falvey would not want an experienced manager. The Pohlads have always hired MLB managers (5 of them in about about 40 years) who never had previous experience in that role. It seems a bit strange...to me. 

Madden would cost more than just about any manager available.

[jorgenswest]

I enjoyed this read on Madden from the Tampa Bay Times. He certainly has some thoughts on the role of the GM and also the balance of analytics. It is three years old but those beliefs probably have not changed. Would he take an interview with the Twins? It seems unlikely.

[jaimedude]

If LNP is hired, I will not be buying any Twins tickets as a fan. Last thing we need is a roster full of LNP type players that cannot hit polluting the roster. Bad enough we had to endure Gasper batting clean up in 2025. No thank you. 

[nicksaviking]

On 10/16/2025 at 8:19 PM, lecroy24fan said:

Madden would cost more than just about any manager available.

And that’s the only reason Falvey wouldn’t hire him. That’s exactly what he was aiming for with Rocco Baldelli.

 

 

[S Bart]

On 10/16/2025 at 6:19 PM, lecroy24fan said:

Madden would cost more than just about any manager available.

..very true.  .and Madden would desire more influence than Falvey would permit.

[S Bart]

On 10/17/2025 at 1:31 PM, jaimedude said:

If LNP is hired, I will not be buying any Twins tickets as a fan. Last thing we need is a roster full of LNP type players that cannot hit polluting the roster. Bad enough we had to endure Gasper batting clean up in 2025. No thank you. 

Rule 5 in 2026.. .."The Castoffs"

[Greglw3]

On 10/15/2025 at 10:59 PM, S Bart said:

Twins Skor North noted Joe Madden as a good choice.   Falvey would not want an experienced manager. The Pohlads have always hired MLB managers (5 of them in about about 40 years) who never had previous experience in that role. It seems a bit strange...to me. 

Joe Maddon would be the clear best choice, not even close. He is a Hall of Fame Manager and probably one of the top 5 managers of the last 60 years. (Francona, Leyland, Gene Mauch, Maddon would be my top 4).

I somehow reckon that none of the group of 5 or 6 so far will ever come close to having the achievements to be a near certain Hall of Fame manager.

Maddon is a master strategist, in total command in running a game.

To me, there’s zero reason to consider any of these others unless Maddon was the first interviewed and said no.

[Doctor Wu]

Most veteran ex-managers such as Maddon and Bochy will have zero interest in the Twins job. Most likely we will be getting a rookie manager of some sort. But let's hope it's a guy with imagination and patience.