What The?!: Derek Falvey to Depart Minnesota Twins Front Office

[ashbury]

2 hours ago, Aggies7 said:

Never should have let Darnold walk.

Got any tips on lottery numbers to pick, while you are on a roll?

[Parfigliano]

5 minutes ago, Fred said:

There are so many theories thrown out here that one has to be correct. However, a betting man would take the "we will never know which theory is correct" bet.

AKA all the above.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

38 minutes ago, bunsen82 said:

Just to clarify,  you are saying Zoll was the decision maker on the tear down and not Falvey or Joe Pohlad?   the Pohlads are giving constant mixed signals.   Tear down,  telling front office they can't even have budget and start to plan trading off Ryan and Pablo,  then give them updated guidance the day before winter meetings.   To now all of sudden firing Falvey.  What is the advantage of firing Falvey now,  what was the necessity of firing him now.  

Does Tom think he can sell more tickets with Falvey fired.  Was Falvey unwilling to step aside from the business operations roll.   What has changed in 2 months if you didn't fire him after the season.  They have to have something suddenly that shows he was in violation of team policies,  over stepped with another organization or incompetence became so apparent they decided they couldn't move on.  Otherwise Tom appears just as herky jerky as previous iterations of Pohlad management.  

He wasn’t the final decision maker, he still had Falvey and Joe above him, but the reports are that he led the process.

[Aggies7]

1 minute ago, ashbury said:

Got any tips on lottery numbers to pick, while you are on a roll?

9, 12, 17, 25, 28

oh sorry those are my high temperatures for the next 5 days 

[Cris E]

11 minutes ago, BSLinPA said:

It appears Falvey, Levine and Zoll have established a decent minor league pipeline, mostly on the P side. However, as PBO, Falvey has apparently operated at/created a nearly a half a billion-dollar deficit......so not even break-even while the Twins have had one (maybe two?) solid season in the past eight years.  Falvey's MLB program was simply not successful and a money loser. My guess is a potential deal or two were in place to bring in a reliable RP/Closer (or bat?) and they were nixed by ownership.  Falvey's credibility with agents is diminished and trade leverage reduced while the 2026 team is mired in mediocrity and losing $$. 

Seems one of these deals.  FALVEY:  "Well if that's how you feel about me and what I'm trying to do, then why am I here?".  JPOHLAD: "You're here to do what you can pending our approval".  FALVEY: "I can't work like that".  JP: "OK then we'll find someone who can".  That's a textbook mutually agreed upon parting.

 

When your budget is closely approved each year you really can't run up nine digits of losses. That money was pumped out of the organization at an industrial scale by owners and accountants, not baseball operations. 

I do agree with your two other points, that a deal was probably scotched and that it led to a bad conversation that blew things up. That reflects poorly on Pohlad again, of course, since he mostly likely moved the goalposts on Falvey again. That's been the case many other times. 

[Parfigliano]

1 minute ago, Aggies7 said:

9, 12, 17, 25, 28

oh sorry those are my high temperatures for the next 5 days 

Im going to play those numbers in tonights Roadrunner Cash drawing.

[Cris E]

7 minutes ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

He wasn’t the final decision maker, he still had Falvey and Joe above him, but the reports are that he led the process.

But what does that say?  Was he the advocate for a burn down or just the busy hands? It doesn't indicate if he wants to sell Ryan/Buxton/Lopez or minimize the damage before rolling forward again.

[lukeduke1980]

Do we get to keep Taylor Rogers was was he never technically signed

[Chembry]

6 minutes ago, lukeduke1980 said:

Do we get to keep Taylor Rogers was was he never technically signed

The deal became official January 23rd.

[USAFChief]

1 hour ago, Vanimal46 said:

For years we talked about the pitching pipeline he was going to build. And this year when the cards were cleared to actually move ahead with the pitching pipeline, Falvey won't be here to see it through. 

And there's not much outflow from that pipeline anyway.

[Danchat]

3 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

And there's not much outflow front that pipeline. 

Yeah, not exactly a flowing pipeline that they felt the need to trade two of your biggest trade chips for Bradley and Abel. Not that they shouldn't have targeted any starting pitchers in trades, just that they went out of there way to acquire two starters who are MLB starters (Abel doesn't have anything to prove at AAA). If the pipeline is flowing you'd think they would be able to trade from the depth of it to supplement other positions.

[KirbyDome89]

2 hours ago, USAFChief said:

At the least, not a "half measure."

Well, they're not searching for a replacement and Zoll just got promoted. 

[farmerguychris]

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story indicated the team would begin an immediate search for a new president of baseball operations. During his press conference, a reporter asked Pohlad about that search, and Pohlad corrected the record: Zoll will be in charge of baseball ops. The team is not pursuing a replacemeny for Falvey outside the organization at this time.

This is what I expected to be the case -  I also think you get what you pay for in this case.  No one in that role will save them at least a few hundred K right?

[farmerguychris]

1 hour ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

You have to wonder what Dereck Shelton is thinking. The guy who he knew in 2019 and who hired him now just got fired. Is he safe and if so, is that just for now? this could rapidly spin out of control unless someone does some serious triage. Here's looking at you, Tom.  

Expect a new team manager next year with the last name Pohlad.

[USAFChief]

9 minutes ago, farmerguychris said:

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story indicated the team would begin an immediate search for a new president of baseball operations. During his press conference, a reporter asked Pohlad about that search, and Pohlad corrected the record: Zoll will be in charge of baseball ops. The team is not pursuing a replacemeny for Falvey outside the organization at this time.

This is what I expected to be the case -  I also think you get what you pay for in this case.  No one in that role will save them at least a few hundred K right?

They'll hire a new president of business ops.

I never understood the need for both a "President of Baseball Ops" and a "GM" anyway.

 

[Tom in MN]

Just an outlandish thought, are they preparing to move the team? 

[shimrod]

1 hour ago, bunsen82 said:

Kwesi fired today now too.  There may be something more at hand here which signifies the odd timing on both.   

Probably a casual conversation in the private club smoking room.  "Things need shaking up so we've decided to fire our GM." "Hey, great idea, I think we'll try that too."

[Doc Lenz]

3 hours ago, LewFordLives said:

This organization does everything ass backwards. Don't get me wrong, he needed to go. Now you are trying to hire someone who will knowingly inherit Falvey's mess of a roster and hand picked manager. Who's gonna want this job?

Zoll takes over 

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

I don't think Zoll lead the charge with the tear down. I think that came from ownership and Zoll was tasked with finding trade partners. You can certainly argue he didn't get enough or get the right pieces back, but a sell off of that magnitude - it's not mandated from someone at Zoll's level or even Falvey's.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

I'd go so far as to add that there isn't a GM or VP of ops across the four professional sports that would advocate for the type of tear down that the Twins had last summer. It's a nearly impossible job and even if you 'hit' on the return, by the time those prospects are playing in the big leagues, the GM is usually long gone. Simply put, the GM isn't spending his own money when he signs a free agent.

[ashbury]

17 minutes ago, Tom in MN said:

Just an outlandish thought, are they preparing to move the team? 

I don't know, "Tom" in MN - ask the rest of your Pohlad clan what they have in mind.

j/k

Welcome to the site.

[Trov]

The timing of this move suggests the new owners, and new leader from the Pohlad family gave a mandate to Falvey to do something, most likely continue the fire sale that started last year, and he pushed back on it.  I think it is the new owners that did most of the pushing.  If Pohlad family planned on doing this you do at end of season, not have him hire the new manager, go through winter meetings, arb process, and most of the off-season, spring training is coming up in a couple of weeks. 

Say what you will about Falvey and his moves, he always appeared to try to keep the team relevant even when trading established players away he would trade prospects to bring in established players.  It was a lot of shuffling with no all in or full rebuild.  Not sure if that was how Twins wanted it or he did.  I think it is how he wanted it, because it is how Cleveland, where he came from, has done it, and Tampa Bay as well to some extent. 

I think he knew that he was near the end, and did not want to make any major moves based on mandates of owners that could affect his future with other teams. 

[weitz41]

My 2 cents:

We'll find out what the disagreement (if there was one) was about soon. If Zoll trades away a bunch of guys before the season starts...Yep...Go big or go home Tom wants scorched earth. If not Falvey wanted more $ to try and compete.

In the end, the rollercoaster of Donaldson, Correa, Pablo's extension and Buxton's extension too two offseasons of reducing payroll by 25-30% There is bound to be some exasperation on both sides and probably best for all to have a reset.

US fans included...

[Jim H]

I will never celebrate someone losing their job. I also think you have to have clear lines of authority and responsibility for everything to go well. When he was GM, Falvey clearly had his fingers all over decisions that have traditionally been the manager's to make. As President, I suspect he likely has been involved in decisions the GM usually makes.

All of that would be all right if actually works. When it doesn't people get fired. The same thing can about the analytic driven decisions that have been a huge part of his time with the Twins. They are great if they work.

[Dave Borton]

Quote

Jeremy Zoll, previously Falvey's lieutenant and the general manager, will take over his duties running baseball operations, while Tom Pohlad will become the point person for business operations, which Falvey had taken under his purview in 2024.

LOL. I looked up "Jeremy Zucker" when I wanted to find out just a bit of background on the understudy "Jeremy Zoll." How little I know.

The former Haverford catcher will have to heavily lean on skipper Derek Shelton during Spring Training; TPohlad surely doesn't know the game.

[Teflon]

This significantly decreases the odds of signing more lefty-hitting corner outfielders.

[NYCTK]

With everything going on, the entire world is looking at Minneapolis with adoration due to the extreme courage and resilience the city is showing. And I'm again struck by how cruel it is that this metro hasn't been blessed with a championship in 127 seasons between the 4 major leagues. 

The people of the Twin Cities deserve so much better. I'm not optimistic this is the beginning of that unfortunately. As long as the Pohlads are in charge, there's little hope to be had. 

[Blyleven2011]

4 hours ago, Parfigliano said:

An off-season move that definitely moves the needle.

I'm glad he's gone but the timing isn't quite right , reminds me when our pitching coach left to go back to college coaching ...

Maybe Zoll will show some guts and add something worthwhile for the lineup  ...

Did Falvey clash with leadership Tom  , tom trying to be the alpha dog when falvey wouldn't have none of it , falvey wanted to do it all , im reallysurprised he never went to the dugout to manage when we all knew all the yes men had to follow Falvey's plan ...

Shelton hopefully can manage footloose and fancy free ...

It's also good for the players ( i hope ) it also allows them to play the game with a Shelton plan and not a falvey plan  , Zoll will have to follow him out the door ( falvey clone ) as soon as a new president of operations is hired and changes GM's ...

It's a good day for the team and fans , baseball just got alittle more exciting , now the players need to play like professionals and I think they will with nothing holding them back now  ...

 

[jorgenswest]

I don't see why it matters how they got here. I can accept the mutual parting and move on. It doesn’t matter.

I care about where they are going and I don’t have a clue. Do they trade Ryan and Jeffers? Do they attempt to extend them? It seems unlikely they will stay the course. I don’t care about where they have been. Where will they go? 

[sweetmusicviola16]

I'm late to the party. Just saw this. Wow. Today became a very good day all of a sudden.