Please, Minnesota Twins, Do Not Surrender to Familiarity or Nostalgia

[Cody Schoenmann]

Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

Over three weeks after the Minnesota Twins (somewhat) surprisingly fired long-term manager Rocco Baldelli, team decision-makers have begun formally interviewing candidates for the position. The following names head the club's initial list of expected interviewees: Derek Shelton, James Rowson, Nick Punto, Vance Wilson, and Ramón Vázquez. Among the five aforementioned names, reputable sources have also floated former Twins players Torii Hunter, Kurt Suzuki, and Nelson Cruz as possible interview candidates. Of the eight total names listed, only two candidates (Wilson and Vázquez) have not been previously employed by Minnesota, signaling a concerning question: Are Twins decision-makers doing their due diligence in attempting to find Baldelli's successor?

To preface, many of the names listed are desirable candidates. There's nothing blatantly off-putting about Rowson, Punto, Hunter, or Cruz from a strategy or personality perspective. Suzuki and Shelton (for different reasons) are the only two truly undesirable names to be tied to the club so far. Yet, given that six of the eight names listed have ties to the Twins organization as former players or coaches, there is reason to believe those in charge of the managerial search aren't casting a wide-enough net.

Now, it's impossible to know if club decision-makers are trying to tap into nostalgia and are motivated to hire a manager whose name alone would elicit a positive reaction from the fanbase. Naturally, nobody in a position of power within the organization would admit that. Yet, given that a majority of the names publicly announced as managerial candidates have significant ties to the organization (and are embraced by the fanbase), there is reason to believe the club is placing greater emphasis on familiarity than merit, which would be a dire mistake.

MLB's managerial talent pool is incredibly rich. Up-and-coming names like Cleveland Guardians associate manager Craig Albernaz, Detroit Tigers bench coach George Lombard, Chicago Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty, and many others have been some of the hottest names during this hiring cycle. Minnesota's managerial opening is one of the league's most undesirable. That being the case, some of the league's most highly-touted candidates may not be interested in interviewing for the position. However, given that major league clubs often hire new managers before November and the significant number of names tied to the Twins, there is reason to believe one of Shelton, Rowson, Punto, Wilson, Vázquez, or a recently retired former Twins player will be the club's next manager.

Now, it's impossible to know who is and isn't going to be a successful major-league manager. Many factors outside of a manager's control dictate their ability to succeed. Yet, the reason names like Albernaz, Lombard, Flaherty, and others are among the most appealing managerial candidates this hiring cycle is because they own a considerable number of the same traits (skilled preparators, strategists, communicators, etc.) and have been employed by the same franchises as many of the league's most successful contemporary managers. These candidates have rightfully become the most sought-after names in baseball. Yet, Minnesota is neglecting to (openly) express interest in any of them besides Wilson and Vázquez.

Despite the Pohlad family still owning the team, Minnesota is entering a new era of baseball in various ways. Given the expected continuation of significant payroll limitations, Twins decision-makers will need to become more like fellow small-market teams like Milwaukee and Cleveland if they want to return to postseason relevancy in the near future. Milwaukee and Cleveland find success through having two of the savviest front offices and coaching staffs in the league working in unison with one another.

There is reason to believe Minnesota's front office is savvy enough to mold a contender with limited spending resources. The club possesses one of the AL's strongest starting rotations alongside a top-five farm system in baseball. Yet, if the club's next manager is unable to work in unison with the front office or lacks the traits necessary to lift a team like Cleveland's Stephen Vogt or Milwaukee's Pat Murphy, Minnesota won't be able to return to relevancy any time soon.

That being the case, team decision-makers must emphasize hiring a well-respected, external candidate with recent success with a different organization, like Vázquez or Wilson, over hiring someone because they used to be on Baldelli's staff or were a Gardenhire era fan-favorite who could generate short-lived nostalgia points with a fanbase that becomes increasingly more frustrated.

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[the_brute_squad]

 

First!

Then there's this. Making this statement without clarification is interesting. Why?

"Suzuki and Shelton (for different reasons) are the only two truly undesirable names to be tied to the club so far."

[old nurse]

A Pat Murphy type hire is a short term hire.  It is also a concession to if you did hire someone good, somebody will offer them more money.  

The Twins have always been a budget restrained team. The monetary gap between the budget teams spending and those that don’t has grown.. When the team expanded the budget and were in first place in the division, there was a few more fans but not like other cities.  It is unlikely the team would try that again.  They will have to assemble teams like Ryan did for winning teams. Players that work hard at their craft in all phases of the game and are ball rats is what he built and left for Smith.  

The hardest thing to find for a manager is one that likes to build over and over again. Maybe that is a good reason to hire a college coach like another team did 

[Mahoning]

Almost all the playoff teams averaged 4.8 runs per game or more. The Twins averaged 4.2. No manager is going to make up that gap. It’s the players.

[Maybebaby]

I still think Rocco was a puppet on strings even to the point of how he managed pitchers during games.  Next guy might be walking the same "plank".

[Brandon27]

I have a feeling twins going be last team to hire a new manager and its not going be good hire either

[Cody Schoenmann]

1 hour ago, the_brute_squad said:

 

First!

Then there's this. Making this statement without clarification is interesting. Why?

"Suzuki and Shelton (for different reasons) are the only two truly undesirable names to be tied to the club so far."

Hiring Shelton would functionally be the same thing as hiring Jayce Tingler. There’s very little that separates them from Baldelli from a philosophy or personality perspective. The Twins need a new voice and presence. 

Also, i’m worried Suzuki would be too soft on the players and try to hug them all the time. Google “Kurt Suzuki hug” for more information. 

[Rod Carews Birthday]

I think that this is an important consideration.  

Point A:  There is dissatisfaction in general about how things have been done in the organization.  People’s reasons differ, but the dissatisfaction is very widespread.

Point B:  Six of eight candidates mentioned are current or former employees of the team.  There may be others, but this is  a starting point. 

Question:  Is it really even plausible that six of the best candidates for the job are former or current employees?

Cast the net a little (a lot) farther and wider!  

[JBK]

If Falvey does the hiring, we can expect the same as under Rocco.

[Doctor Gast]

IMO, one of the greatest assets the Twins have had is their former players coming & helping out the club. For some reason or another, these last few years, these players are going elsewhere. How has this team fared lately? This idea (that you are suggesting) of removing ourselves from former players is a terrible one. We need to get away from being 100% focused on analytics (that has failed) & go to a more baseball smart, fundamental approach. While I'm not for Rowson & Sheldon as managers, I still wouldn't rule out Cruz or Hunter, who could rally the players together, bring in fans & put together a good & different coaching staff. If we go with another (non-Twin) Baldelli, we'll have the same results while paying 2 managers' salaries. 

"There is reason to believe Minnesota's front office is savvy enough to mold a contender with limited spending resources."

I totally disagree with this statement. Falvey has poorly managed the money allotted to him. He tends to overpay FA that he targets, pick up bad salary dumps, doesn't extend players they should & overpay those who they shouldn't. I like our pitching pipeline (although there are many who would debate that). But IMO, they are overconfident in the pipeline, where they don't supplement the rotation sufficiently. This overconfidence led them to totally dismantle the BP w/o any closer candidates, thinking that they could do that w/o any problems, like they have done when they expected Colume', J Lopez, Pagan, & Duffy to fill that role. Our farm system is loaded with poorly developed, AAAA, redundant prospects that Falvey loves to hoard. I have my doubts about them stepping up & contributing to the team any time soon for the team to compete.

[DocBauer]

I gave a thumbs down on the OP even though I agreed with a lot of the points. My negative selection has to do with a broad stroke implication that candidates with former ties should be a non-starter. 

I'm not big on Suzuki, but I could be convinced. But just because he played a couple of seasons with the Twins a decade ago doesn't make him a Twins "homer" choice. Ditto for Rowson and a couple others. A couple years spent in the Twins organization, vs a long career with multiple teams, doesn't make someone a "homer" selection.

I just want the best man for the job. Period.

Are the Twins one of the worst open jobs? I think that's somewhat debatable. Ownership is a mess right now, and that might provide a resounding YES opinion. But managing a team in the ALC, in a fantastic ballpark, some decent talent on hand, and one if the top ranked farm systems might offer some counter points.

But I digress.

I'm in favor of someone who has some coaching experience for solid organizations, who might even have some managing experience in MILB or winter leagues even. I like someone who's had time to see the game from different perspectives.

I'm in favor of a manager who isn't stern, who will embrace hus players, but also one who believes in basic fundamentals in how to play the game right, and who won't coddle players, even as he embraces them.

There's a handful of candidates that I really like including Vazquez, Flaherty, Lombard, and Albernaz based on what little knowledge I possess as a fan, their experiences, and the organizations they've worked for. Doesn't mean I have any idea who the best choice might be.

But I don't believe someone who played a couple of seasons for the Twins in a career that has spanned 15-20yrs as a player and coach should be considered a poor choice simply because he wore a Twins uniform for a couple 2-3 years.

 

[tony&rodney]

Maybe the Twins should look afar for someone who has worked in the minor leagues and is currently a coach that has a general level of respect. Here is an outside the box name - Mark Hallberg.

[Parfigliano]

9 hours ago, Maybebaby said:

I still think Rocco was a puppet on strings even to the point of how he managed pitchers during games.  Next guy might be walking the same "plank".

Also a reason people will not be interested in the job.

[dxpavelka]

Typically, the best managers are guys who were role players, sat on the bench quite a bit where they spent time picking the brain(s) of some smart baseball guys along the way.  Guys like Torii & Albert Pujols, who were stars, and had everything come easy for them and never had to work to get an edge don't seem to be the best managers.  Sure, you will be able to comeback with few exceptions to what I just said, but by and large, I'm right on this one.  Cap Anson was probably the most successful player to have managerial success.  Maybe we could reach out to him.  Quite a reach since he's been dead for a hundred years but (insert typical Twins fan joke about him working cheap here) it's worth a shot.  The perfect example would be Billy Martin.  Played over a decade, less than a thousand hits, one All-Star team, finished 25th in the MVP voting, once.  Basically a role player, sat on a lot of benches, learned a lot from some guy named Stengel.  If memory serves me right, seemed to have a bit of an edge to him.  Not sure about that.  Guess we could ask Dave Boswell, but he's dead too.  Gene Mauch played 9 years in the big league and totaled less than 900 plate appearances.  Sat on a lot of benches and learned from guys like Leo Durocher, Charlie Grimm & Eddie Stanky.  Guys like Torii & Pujols profile more like  Ted Williams as managers.  Also, hitting & pitching coaches tend to be specialized in their own field and NOT make great managers.  Ray Miller was a great pitching coach.  His biggest accomplishment as a manager was getting fired and clearing the way for TK.  Guys like Punto, Suzuki &  Ramon Vasquez profile as potential TK or Billy Martin types.  Guys like Torii profile more like Ted Williams guys.  You pick.

[LastOnePicked]

"The club possesses one of the AL's strongest starting rotations alongside a top-five farm system in baseball."

You're not serious, are you? This is just a big no. I'm not even sure if they're in the top ten in the AL. I mean, I appreciate the optimism, but come on.

And working in unison with the FO is not at all something I'm looking for in a Twins manager. Not until that FO changes hands.

[Nshore]

"Losing is a disease.  It is as contagious as polio, syphilis, and the bubonic plague, affecting one person, but infecting all." - The  Natural.

Therefore the Twins should hire a good doctor as manager and thoroughly disinfect Target Field ASAP.

[dxpavelka]

1 hour ago, LastOnePicked said:

"The club possesses one of the AL's strongest starting rotations alongside a top-five farm system in baseball."

You're not serious, are you? This is just a big no. I'm not even sure if they're in the top ten in the AL. I mean, I appreciate the optimism, but come on.

And working in unison with the FO is not at all something I'm looking for in a Twins manager. Not until that FO changes hands.

Actually they ARE top 5 in the AL and it's not really close.  If you look at teams entire rotations, Texas actually has the best.  The Twins, Yankees, Seattle & Boston are pretty closely bunched in the 2 thru 5 spots, granted Minnesota probably slots at 5 but very little difference between them and the other three.  Detroit easily has the best # 1 starter in the league but when you consider the entire staff, there is a considerable drop off from Minnesota at 5 to Detroit at 6.  Another drop off to Toronto at 7 probably tells the story of why there's a pretty good chance they're going to join the Twins on the golf course by mid week.  I know you don't WANT to believe this but the numbers bear it out.  Now the numbers I cited include a full season worth of data and the rotation may have been dragged down by the bullpen after the trade deadline.  At the end of the day it's usually a lot easier to build a bullpen than it is to build a rotation.  We HAVE a rotation.  As long as we don't **** it up by trading guys that we'll find ourselves just needing to replace.

[Whitey333]

The Twins rotation is bordering on incompetence.  Ober looks awful, Ryan looks great but has had 2 bad second halves tye past two years.  Lopez is good but limited by injuries and his 21.5 million dollar salary.  The rest are unproven inconsistent AAAA type players.  I will admit there is potential.  But top 5 in American League?  No way.  The manager they select will will be a Baldelli clone micromanage by Falvey.  

[tarheeltwinsfan]

I'm glad I'm retired. It is 45 degrees and sunny. I'm going for a long walk along a quiet North Carolina road, lined with soy bean fields and woods. Then I'm going to drive to Boone, NC and have lunch with my college- student granddaughter at a mountain college-town cafe. Along the way I will enjoy viewing the beautiful fall colors of the North Carolina mountains. I will not think about the Twins. I will not think about the Twins. I will not....

[Jeff K]

12 hours ago, dxpavelka said:

Typically, the best managers are guys who were role players, sat on the bench quite a bit where they spent time picking the brain(s) of some smart baseball guys along the way.  Guys like Torii & Albert Pujols, who were stars, and had everything come easy for them and never had to work to get an edge don't seem to be the best managers.  Sure, you will be able to comeback with few exceptions to what I just said, but by and large, I'm right on this one.  Cap Anson was probably the most successful player to have managerial success.  Maybe we could reach out to him.  Quite a reach since he's been dead for a hundred years but (insert typical Twins fan joke about him working cheap here) it's worth a shot.  The perfect example would be Billy Martin.  Played over a decade, less than a thousand hits, one All-Star team, finished 25th in the MVP voting, once.  Basically a role player, sat on a lot of benches, learned a lot from some guy named Stengel.  If memory serves me right, seemed to have a bit of an edge to him.  Not sure about that.  Guess we could ask Dave Boswell, but he's dead too.  Gene Mauch played 9 years in the big league and totaled less than 900 plate appearances.  Sat on a lot of benches and learned from guys like Leo Durocher, Charlie Grimm & Eddie Stanky.  Guys like Torii & Pujols profile more like  Ted Williams as managers.  Also, hitting & pitching coaches tend to be specialized in their own field and NOT make great managers.  Ray Miller was a great pitching coach.  His biggest accomplishment as a manager was getting fired and clearing the way for TK.  Guys like Punto, Suzuki &  Ramon Vasquez profile as potential TK or Billy Martin types.  Guys like Torii profile more like Ted Williams guys.  You pick.

Very interesting perspective.  I've kind of felt this way too; but was unable to put into reasonable expressions.

[Western SD Fan]

I have a feeling that the number of former Twins-heavy candidates is because the team in general is looking for any form of positivity for the team moving forward as I'm sure there were quite a few season-ticket cancellations in the last couple months of the season.  Many people believe that the manager does not have a huge role anymore and many of the decisions are made by the FO and not the manager.  IF that is the case, why wouldn't you want a manager like a Torii Hunter, Nelson Cruz, or James Rowson to come back and manage to bring back some of the nostalgia of when the Twins were better and sort of "grow up" with the team.  If nothing else, those types of managers (sans Rowson) will still be loved in Minnesota regardless of how they do at being a manager, similar to Paul Molitor.

I personally believe that the manager is still responsible for much of the day to day managing, such as filling out the lineup card, managing the bullpen, sending runners on a contact play, when to deploy pinch-hitters.  They also have control over mandatory PFP, hitting cages, fielding work, base-running, etc.  They are responsible for finding out what their coaches are doing and if they are addressing problems within the team in terms of fundamentals and game play. 

To counter the poster that suggested that because Hunter and Cruz have been stars during their career, they would not be good manager material.  I counter with Joe Torre, a borderline HOF player (see Torii Hunter).  Somehow, I think he did alright as a manager.  Think Torre is a fluke because he was able to manage the high spending Yankees?  I'll give you a HOF player that managed, Yogi Berra.  He managed 7 years for the Yankees and Mets leading each team to a pennant in those 7 years.

[S Bart]

15 hours ago, Parfigliano said:

Also a reason people will not be interested in the job.

 

On 10/19/2025 at 6:35 AM, Maybebaby said:

I still think Rocco was a puppet on strings even to the point of how he managed pitchers during games.  Next guy might be walking the same "plank".

Maybe rehire Baldelli?