Former Twins Senior Advisor Deron Johnson Hired by Mets

[Cody Christie]

Deron Johnson did not stay unemployed for very long. The former Minnesota Twins scouting director is joining the New York Mets as a special assignment scout, according to The Athletic’s Will Sammon. The move brings Johnson back together with Derek Falvey, who joined the Mets in September as a senior advisor to baseball operations.

Johnson recently parted ways with the Twins after the organization eliminated his senior advisor position. His departure ended a 32 year run with Minnesota, where he worked in nearly every area of the scouting department and helped oversee several amateur drafts. Now, Johnson will have an opportunity to continue his scouting career with another organization looking to improve its baseball operations department.

A Long History in Minnesota

Johnson originally joined the Twins in January 1994 as an area scout covering Northern California. He worked his way through the organization, eventually becoming the club’s West Coast supervisor before receiving a promotion to scouting director in September 2007.

He held that position through the 2016 season, overseeing nine amateur drafts. During that stretch, Minnesota selected several first round picks who generated significant attention within the organization.

The Twins selected Aaron Hicks with the 14th overall pick in 2008, Johnson’s first draft as scouting director. Four years later, Minnesota made Byron Buxton the second overall selection in the 2012 draft. Other notable first round picks during Johnson’s tenure included Kohl Stewart, Nick Gordon and Tyler Jay.

The results varied among those selections, but Johnson played a significant role in evaluating and acquiring amateur talent during an important period in the franchise’s history. Scouting directors must balance immediate needs with long term organizational planning, and their decisions can influence a team’s roster for years.

Following the 2016 season, the Twins moved Johnson into a senior advisor role. Although he was no longer leading the amateur scouting department, he continued evaluating players and contributing to professional, international and minor league scouting efforts.

That experience should provide a useful foundation for his next position in New York. The Mets have not publicly outlined the specific responsibilities Johnson will handle as a special assignment scout, but his decades of experience give the organization another veteran evaluator.

Reunited With Falvey

Johnson’s hiring also creates a familiar connection within the Mets organization. Falvey served as Minnesota’s top baseball operations executive for nearly a decade before the two sides mutually agreed to part ways in January 2026. The Mets hired Falvey on September 24, naming him senior advisor to baseball operations. He reports directly to president of baseball operations David Stearns, adding another experienced voice to the organization’s decision making process.

Falvey and Johnson worked together in Minnesota for years, giving the Mets an opportunity to bring in someone familiar with the former Twins executive’s approach to building a baseball organization. For Minnesota, Johnson’s departure represents another change as the club continues reshaping its baseball operations department. His position was eliminated as the organization looked toward the 2027 season, ending a tenure that began more than three decades ago.

Johnson’s time in Minnesota included multiple front office roles, nine drafts as scouting director and years of additional work behind the scenes. His next chapter will take him to New York, where he will continue evaluating talent alongside a familiar face from his long career with the Twins.

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[MeleMouth]

Could be the first of many Falvey people to follow him to New York.

Zoll is poorly-equipped to deal with the loss of Falvey people, because the bulk of his career, and thus his network, is also with Falvey people.

But, hey, he's apparently a nice guy who gets along with Tom, so a decision about replacing him probably won't be even contemplated for a few years, as opposed to the "go big" guy saying, "we need to get the best possible guy now!" Maybe the way the Twins make decisions and spend money should be termed, "A Few Hundred Days Late and Several Million Dollars Short."

[old nurse]

The drafts under Deron were not the best. GIS ascension into scouting director was under. Smith.  

It will be interesting to see how many of the Falvey people leave. 

[S Bart]

Wow...Mets will now most certainly make the WS next year. 🤣

[HarmonK03]

14 hours ago, MeleMouth said:

Could be the first of many Falvey people to follow him to New York.

Why, is Falvey in some of kind of hiring position in New York.  Typically a senior advisor is not in a real operational role, they advise.  He may recommend others to hire, but why would David Steans blow up his staff to bring in someone else's staff.  

[MeleMouth]

2 hours ago, HarmonK03 said:

Why, is Falvey in some of kind of hiring position in New York.  Typically a senior advisor is not in a real operational role, they advise.  He may recommend others to hire, but why would David Steans blow up his staff to bring in someone else's staff.  

Think of Stearns and Falvey sitting in front of a whiteboard or in front of computers. The two most common conversations they have will be about (1) players and (2) management staff. In their conversations about management staff, two common topics will be Stearns asking Falvey what he thinks of various people in the Mets organization and if he knows anyone that would be a good addition. Who does Falvey know best? People in the Twins organization.

Also, regardless of what people on twinsdaily might think about Falvey, it is likely that many people in the Twins organization remember Falvey fondly and keep in touch with him. In their conversations, it is likely that they discuss whether the current Twins person would be interested in seeing if Falvey could help him take a step up in his careers with the Mets. 

[HarmonK03]

49 minutes ago, MeleMouth said:

Think of Stearns and Falvey sitting in front of a whiteboard or in front of computers. The two most common conversations they have will be about (1) players and (2) management staff. In their conversations about management staff, two common topics will be Stearns asking Falvey what he thinks of various people in the Mets organization and if he knows anyone that would be a good addition. Who does Falvey know best? People in the Twins organization.

Also, regardless of what people on twinsdaily might think about Falvey, it is likely that many people in the Twins organization remember Falvey fondly and keep in touch with him. In their conversations, it is likely that they discuss whether the current Twins person would be interested in seeing if Falvey could help him take a step up in his careers with the Mets. 

Typically these roles are strategic in nature, not personnel driven.  They are not peers, Stearns is like anyone else in that role, it is his responsibility and he wants his people in place, people that he knows he can trust.

[MeleMouth]

34 minutes ago, HarmonK03 said:

Typically these roles are strategic in nature, not personnel driven.  They are not peers, Stearns is like anyone else in that role, it is his responsibility and he wants his people in place, people that he knows he can trust.

So this is a thread about how long-time Twins exec Deron Johnson just joined the Mets, shortly after Falvey did, and you're arguing that Falvey and Stearns won't discuss people in the Twins organization and Stearns is going to stay with "people that he knows he can trust"? Do you think Johnson's hiring was a total coincidence and Falvey wasn't involved?

[HarmonK03]

28 minutes ago, MeleMouth said:

So this is a thread about how long-time Twins exec Deron Johnson just joined the Mets, shortly after Falvey did, and you're arguing that Falvey and Stearns won't discuss people in the Twins organization and Stearns is going to stay with "people that he knows he can trust"? Do you think Johnson's hiring was a total coincidence and Falvey wasn't involved?

It's one person, we don't know if they had a spot in the organization they wanted to fill and asked Falvey for a recommendation or did Falvey ask to find a spot for him. 

The first post I responded to was that this could be the first of many that follows Falvey to New York, and then there was a follow up post that stated that they sit together and discuss staff.  Those are the points I am disagreeing with.  Stearns is going to bring his people in, Falvey may make a recommendation but I doubt there are regular conversations as has been implied.

[MeleMouth]

4 minutes ago, HarmonK03 said:

The first post I responded to was that this could be the first of many that follows Falvey to New York, and then there was a follow up post that stated that they sit together and discuss staff.  Those are the points I am disagreeing with.  

If you think Stearns isn't asking Falvey to use his network to improve the Mets, then you've never worked with an executive. An executive like David Stearns, if he's typical, never stops adding to "his people." He's going to try to connect with the network of other senior executives, particularly ones who now work for him. Maybe you worked for a company that never wanted employees to recommend potential new hires, because the CEO had preexisting relationships with everyone he or she wanted to work there and wasn't constantly trying to meet new people to see if he or she could find anyone good to add to the team, but that would be very atypical. Apparently, even Stearns wanted someone who wasn't in "his people," or he wouldn't have hired Johnson.

[nicksaviking]

1 hour ago, HarmonK03 said:

Typically these roles are strategic in nature, not personnel driven.  They are not peers, Stearns is like anyone else in that role, it is his responsibility and he wants his people in place, people that he knows he can trust.

The strategic nature could be that the Mets want to expand their scouting department while the Twins want to shrink theirs. If that's the case, Stearns is going to need to expand beyond the people that he knows to fill the newly created positions.

Also, while common with the Twins largely during the Terry Ryan era, incesuous hiring practices aren't a universal tradition among all sports franchises. Plenty DO look to hire outside voices because they know keeping it all within the same small circle sets the team up to become stale and outdated.