Twins Part Ways With Longtime Scouting Executive Deron Johnson

[Cody Christie]

The Minnesota Twins are making another change behind the scenes. The organization has parted ways with longtime scout and former amateur scouting director Deron Johnson, according to Bobby Nightengale Jr. of the Star Tribune. The Twins eliminated Johnson's senior advisor position, bringing an end to more than three decades with the organization.

Johnson originally joined Minnesota in January 1994 as an area scout covering Northern California. He eventually moved into a larger role as the club's West Coast supervisor before being promoted to scouting director in September 2007.

His tenure leading the amateur scouting department included nine drafts and several notable selections. The first draft under his direction produced Aaron Hicks with the 14th overall pick in 2008. Johnson was also at the helm when Minnesota selected Byron Buxton second overall in 2012.

Other first-round selections made while Johnson served as scouting director included Kohl Stewart, Nick Gordon and Tyler Jay. Not every pick developed into a long-term contributor, but Johnson's fingerprints were on a significant portion of the organization's amateur talent pipeline during that era.

The Twins moved Johnson into a senior advisory role following the 2016 season. Rather than stepping away from scouting, he continued evaluating talent and contributed to professional, international and minor-league scouting efforts. Now, that position has been eliminated.

The timing is notable as Minnesota continues making changes throughout its baseball operations department. The Twins entered the final week of the 2026 season already eliminated from postseason contention, with the organization beginning to look toward what comes next.

Johnson's departure also comes on the same day Minnesota selected the contract of Aaron Sabato, the former first-round pick from the 2020 draft, allowing him to make his major-league debut.

After 32 years with the Twins and a career that included nearly every level of the scouting department, Johnson's departure represents the end of a significant chapter in Minnesota's front-office history.

 

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[DocBauer]

Well...this is a shocker. 

[Eris]

The Twins have had a decade of draft and development futility since Buxton was drafted in 2012. However it looks like there is a high probability that the last 4 first round picks (Lee, Culpepper, Houston, Vahn Lackey) are all going to be contributors. is this luck or have the Twins improved their scouting over the last half decade. 
 

The international scouting department also needs improvement. 

[wesnewy]

time to clean house! That includes yourself Tom!

[big dog]

This is not a commentary on Deron Johnson, more a commentary on how tough it is to predict players. Kohl Stewart was the 4th player taken in 2013, ending up with a WAR of 0.2. Nick Gordon (5th player chosen) has been out of baseball since May 2025, with a career WAR of -0.5. I never thought he'd be a great player but I thought he'd be at least replacement level. Tyler Jay (6th player chosen) has not played anywhere this season, with a career WAR of 0.00 based on 7 games in the majors. I think the Twins took at least Gordon and Jay well ahead of where they were expected to be drafted, but I doubt if the consensus was that neither had any chance of contributing in significant ways.

Here's an interesting fact: the player drafted next after Nick Gordon was...Alex Jackson!!! Yup, same guy. Keith Law described him as one of the best hitters in the draft class, and another ESPN writer called him the best hitter. He's had a better career than Gordon, but still.

 

 

[nicksaviking]

I'll be interested in finding out more about behind the scenes moves this offseason. 

Is Johnson being let go because of performance? Would be justified. Or is this just more 'streamlining' of the front office. Downsizing, consolidating and outsourcing? 

Because if it's that second one, the Tom Pohlad bluster of 'going for it' and 'putting a competitive roster together' is going to ring extremely hollow with the backdrop of even MORE operational cost cutting.

[Woof Bronzer]

The Pohlads already decimated the scouting staff and kept the savings, so this is in keeping with everything they do - never underestimate a Pohlad's willingness to scrounge couch cushions for sweet, sweet cash.  

Nothing says "we're investing in the team and building consistent competitive teams" like "we fired all the scouts and pocketed the savings".  

It's funny, part of the criticism of the Falvey/Zoll/Rocco/Shelton era is that it's "baseball by spreadsheet."  Many people here dismiss that as crazy. 

Well, sure looks like the Twins plan to scout by spreadsheet - or, my worst fear, scout by "AI".  

The Twins absolutely need to get better at drafting and developing.  Doesn't seem to me like cutting resources in this area, all to save the equivalent of like half of a minimum MLB salary, is an intelligent baseball decision.

Next time Tommy Pohlad says something like "we are dedicated to investing in this team" just remember that they fired basically their entire scouting department just to save like 0.01% of the overall budget.    

[HarmonK03]

15 minutes ago, Woof Bronzer said:

The Pohlads already decimated the scouting staff and kept the savings, so this is in keeping with everything they do - never underestimate a Pohlad's willingness to scrounge couch cushions for sweet, sweet cash.  

Nothing says "we're investing in the team and building consistent competitive teams" like "we fired all the scouts and pocketed the savings".  

It's funny, part of the criticism of the Falvey/Zoll/Rocco/Shelton era is that it's "baseball by spreadsheet."  Many people here dismiss that as crazy. 

Well, sure looks like the Twins plan to scout by spreadsheet - or, my worst fear, scout by "AI".  

The Twins absolutely need to get better at drafting and developing.  Doesn't seem to me like cutting resources in this area, all to save the equivalent of like half of a minimum MLB salary, is an intelligent baseball decision.

Next time Tommy Pohlad says something like "we are dedicated to investing in this team" just remember that they fired basically their entire scouting department just to save like 0.01% of the overall budget.    

I think most teams have been reducing their scouting departments, so I am not so sure it is about cost savings per se. I agree that it doesn't seem that the analytics group ever has any reductions and they will be making the decisions going forward.

I am more curious about the timing of this move, why are they making moves in the staff.  Does this mean Zoll has been told he will be back.  You would think if his future hasn't been decided that they would not make any staff changes big or small until it has been especially this late in the season.

[Vanimal46]

My initial concern is there is no replacement mentioned for the role. So the Twins will likely rely on technology and AI instead of hiring another human. This area in the organization probably needs a fresh set of eyes on it anyway. It's not like our drafting and development of prospects has been great. 

[big dog]

Or gee, maybe they are going to look around and try to hire someone better rather than just grab the next person in line. Not mentioning a likely successor doesn’t make me assume they won’t hire anyone. 

[jmlease1]

There's so much that goes into scouting, drafting, and development that fans never see that it's very difficult to assess outside of very broad categories like:

• all-star
• successful MLB career
• made it to the majors
• advanced in the minors but never broke through
• bust

Figuring out exactly WHY a player landed in these kinds of categories? Not sure anyone can say for sure with any real accuracy...which is part of the problem.

Twins have had a problem in translating top prospects into consistent MLB producers in recent years under the Falvey regime. They've had a lot of highly rated guys that have made it to MLB but not been able to sustain it, and some who have never really made it in MLB at all for more than maybe a cup of coffee. But it was a real issue for the end of the Ryan II Era as well.

I don't know if Deron Johnson was "the problem", but we're kind of at the stage where they have to keep trying new things, getting in new voices, maybe investing more resources in order to get different results. Because it's a huge problem if the team keeping getting prospects to a point where they're seen as Top 100 guys...and then can't turn them into the next wave of MLB regulars.

Of course, if Culpepper, Jenkins, and Rodriguez all work out with Lee taking another step forward and Lackey or Houston showing up ahead of schedule while Bradley, Preilipp, and Matthews form a new rotation core...then the perception of developmental problems changes rather drastically, doesn't it?

[Woof Bronzer]

1 hour ago, Vanimal46 said:

My initial concern is there is no replacement mentioned for the role. So the Twins will likely rely on technology and AI instead of hiring another human. This area in the organization probably needs a fresh set of eyes on it anyway. It's not like our drafting and development of prospects has been great. 

I'm all for a fresh set of eyes, but their strategy seems to be eliminate the eyes altogether.  

[Cris E]

Yeah, this is a part of something much larger and mostly hidden. I do not think it's a move forward. Time will tell what emerges, but if you want to follow in the steps of MIL or TAM or even LAD then you need a heap of scouts and player development guys; the back office becomes more expensive, not less.

[jaimedude]

7 hours ago, Cris E said:

Yeah, this is a part of something much larger and mostly hidden. I do not think it's a move forward. Time will tell what emerges, but if you want to follow in the steps of MIL or TAM or even LAD then you need a heap of scouts and player development guys; the back office becomes more expensive, not less.

Tampa Bay has a large group of Scouts, player developments guys and systems in place, especially International scouts. This is the franchise to emulate and try and copy not the Athletics which seems to be the direction the Twins are headed in, which is relying on a lot of AI or analytic  information. While that software is helpful the predictive models cannot measure baseball players will, or desire to win championships. Ai cannot predict health, having a good eye,  above average rate steals, bunting ability, or a players  mind to compete with above average outcomes. Most of what AI predictive models  would  beable to tell is health and physical attriibutes like growth in height or weight. Not able to project if a player can hit a curve or play multiple positions especially with limited data sets to view or study. 

[Andy MacPhail]

The firing of Deron Johnson does not concern me. But the reduction in the scouts & depending on analytics (especially based on bad philosophies) does.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

12 hours ago, Eris said:

The Twins have had a decade of draft and development futility since Buxton was drafted in 2012. However it looks like there is a high probability that the last 4 first round picks (Lee, Culpepper, Houston, Vahn Lackey) are all going to be contributors. is this luck or have the Twins improved their scouting over the last half decade. 
 

The international scouting department also needs improvement. 

Good question.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

11 hours ago, Woof Bronzer said:

The Pohlads already decimated the scouting staff and kept the savings, so this is in keeping with everything they do - never underestimate a Pohlad's willingness to scrounge couch cushions for sweet, sweet cash.  

Nothing says "we're investing in the team and building consistent competitive teams" like "we fired all the scouts and pocketed the savings".  

It's funny, part of the criticism of the Falvey/Zoll/Rocco/Shelton era is that it's "baseball by spreadsheet."  Many people here dismiss that as crazy. 

Well, sure looks like the Twins plan to scout by spreadsheet - or, my worst fear, scout by "AI".  

The Twins absolutely need to get better at drafting and developing.  Doesn't seem to me like cutting resources in this area, all to save the equivalent of like half of a minimum MLB salary, is an intelligent baseball decision.

Next time Tommy Pohlad says something like "we are dedicated to investing in this team" just remember that they fired basically their entire scouting department just to save like 0.01% of the overall budget.    

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Wait a minute...Where did the Twins finish this year? Last year? The year before that? ETC. The Twins recent history leads me to belief that something is definitely broken. The evaluation and development could certainly use improvement..