New Twins bosses Derek Falvey, Thad Levine not done tinkering

Derek Falvey indicated that a number of departments will be affected by moves in the coming weeks and months.

August 5, 2017 at 5:57AM
Minnesota Twins manager Paul Molitor watched from the dugout in the first inning. ] ANTHONY SOUFFLE ï anthony.souffle@startribune.com Game action from an MLB game between the Minnesota Twins and the Texas Rangers Friday, Aug. 4, 2017 at Target Field in Minneapolis.
The future of Twins manager Paul Molitor is one of many decisions on the plate of Derek Falvey and Thad Levine after this season. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Now that the nonwaiver trade deadline has passed, Twins Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey and General Manager Thad Levine will turn their attention back to shaping an organization they took over in November.

That means there is going to be some turnover as the Twins look to strengthen their infrastructure.

For instance, the club on Friday fired Jack Goin, their director of baseball research. Goin had been with the team since 2001 and was named director in January 2016, before Falvey and Lavine were hired. Falvey and Levine will run the department until a replacement is found, which isn't expected to take long.

It's just one of a series of staff moves that will take place in the coming weeks and months. Falvey said on Friday that baseball operations, the scouting department, minor league coaching staffs as well as player development will be affected.

"We talked all along about where the organization is and areas where we need to add," Falvey said. "We have been doing that regularly during the course of the last eight months.

"There are times during that journey that you recognize that there are places where you need to make changes. So we have had to do that at different junctures."

While Falvey and Levine must decide on the future of manager Paul Molitor after the season, they also might make changes to the major league coaching staff.

Falvey said some baseball operations hires and the scouting department will be addressed in the coming weeks. Any changes to the major and minor league coaching staffs, as well as player development, will take place after the season.

Mike Radcliff, the head of player personnel, and Rob Antony, the assistant GM, definitely will have roles with the club going forward, Falvey said.

Falvey was hired in October, with Levine joining in November. They have had roughly eight months to evaluate their staff. They have made some hires along the way. The statistical research department, strength and conditioning, medical and player development staffs have been expanded. The Twins have gotten rid of advance scouts and hired former major leaguer Jeremy Hefner to combine video and data to provide scouting reports on opponents.

But the makeover of the organization is far from complete, and folks at 1 Twins Way are bracing for a wave of new faces.

"The goal is to build out this organization and staff over time," Falvey said. "There's no one date we have set to have everything finalized. It will continue to evolve moving forward."

Santiago on radar

Lefthander Hector Santiago, who has missed a month because of upper thoracic back pain, gave up one run over 5⅔ innings Thursday during a rehabilitation outing with Class AAA Rochester. On Friday, he was back in the Twins clubhouse, ready to contribute.

Santiago, 4-8 with a 5.63 ERA, will likely be activated next week and fill a role yet to be determined. He could end up in the bullpen.

Etc.

• Miguel Sano was hit on the left hand by a Tony Barnette pitch in the sixth inning Friday and left the game for precautionary X-rays, which were negative. Sano was hit nearly in the same area as he was on July 24 against the Dodgers. The Twins listed the All-Star slugger as day-to-day because of a contusion.

• To make room for Kyle Gibson's return, the Twins sent outfielder Zack Granite back to Class AAA Rochester after Friday's game. After a slow start to his big-league career, Granite hit .250 with seven RBI and six runs in 19 games with the Twins.

• Texas third baseman Adrian Beltre singled in two runs in the first inning for his 3,003rd career hit, and his 21st career hit off Bartolo Colon. Colon is tied with Kevin Millwood for third place among pitchers who have given up hits to Beltre. Dan Haren tops the list with 24.

about the writer

about the writer

La Velle E. Neal III

Columnist

La Velle E. Neal III is a sports columnist for the Minnesota Star Tribune who previously covered the Twins for more than 20 years.

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