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In 2016 Cleveland made it to the World Series and made several draft picks that set them up for years of future success. In the 2016 amateur draft, they plucked up Aaron Civale, Zack Plesac and 2020 Cy Young winner Shane Bieber. While not superstar prospects at the time, Cleveland put them through their system of analytic development and moulded them into the Twins killers they are today. Cleveland was living large in 2016, but what if I told you they lost the individual that identified this future juggernaut pitching rotation? Someone who was certainly also familiar with their system in place that developed such high end talent?
After 2016, the Twins stole Derek Falvey away. As co-head of baseball operations, Falvey played a heavy role in the draft process that landed Cleveland much of the redeeming players on their current roster. He was now making draft picks for the division rival and trying to recreate the system that Cleveland had.
Pitchers drafted by Falvey and showing a lot of promise for the future include Blayne Elnow and Bailey Ober in 2017, Cole Sands and Josh Winder in 2018, and Matt Canterino in 2019. Many of these arms have put up dominant seasons in the minors and may not be incredibly far off from the Major Leagues despite a lost 2020.
In addition to the picks Falvey has made over the years, the organizational overhaul has likely benefited pitchers already in the organization. Jordan Balazovic seems to have developed into the ceiling that seemed so far away when he was drafted in 2016. Jhoan Duran was particularly targeted by Falvey via trade and has put up some of the best numbers of his career since joining the Twins. Look at what the Twins have done to develop Randy Dobnak who went from an Independent Ball pitcher to a meaningful piece of the Twins rotation in a matter of years.
The moral of the story is “Rome wasn’t built in a day” as they say, and neither was Cleveland’s rotation. One of the engineers of it however is at the head of the Minnesota Twins organization. What he’s done in Minnesota thus far has been fantastic in general, but especially so when it comes to pitching. The impacts made at the Major League level are just the tip of the iceberg. Much of this organization’s success when it comes to pitching still likely remains in the Minor Leagues, slowly rising to the top of the professional ladder.
The timeline of Falvey’s tenure in Minnesota hasn’t been enough to judge the Twins' development of a pitching rotation yet. It’s truly one of the most difficult processes to succeed in and takes a good bit of time. Cleveland’s highly touted 2016 class took 4 years to come to fruition. That being said, The Twins have one of the most exciting groups of upcoming starting pitchers in years, and much of it is a testament to the work of Derek Falvey. If you’re ready to make a judgement on the Twins starting pitching development already, you may be kicking yourself in a year or two.
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