The Twins' front office decided to keep Paul Molitor (perhaps at the owners' insistence) and fire pitching coach Neil Allen.
Whatever the process, I think they got this right, or at least made two defensible moves.
I've written at length about why I thought Molitor should be re-signed. And if it took ownership prodding the front office to make that move, that's fine. Ownership knows Molitor better than Falvey and Levine.
The Allen move is intriguing. I was surprised the Twins brought him back last year, after 103 losses and a DUI.
I'm empathetic to those with addictions and I didn't necessarily want to see him punished, but last winter would have been a logical time for a new front office to make a change.
The Twins finished 19th in team ERA this season. That may speak more to the existing pitching problems throuhgout the organization than Allen's work, but with big-league coaches it's always hard to tell where the problems begin and end.
Allen seemed to do good work with Jose Berrios. Ervin Santana had his best season ever, whether Allen aided him or not. Kyle Gibson rallied late but still wound up with a 5.07 ERA on the season, and he was the key pitcher in the organization coming into the season.
Allen also helped Molitor piece together a bullpen out of spare parts and unexpected contributors.
