Monday, the Twins introduced a couple of fresh faces to the organization: Derek Falvey and Thad Levine. Falvey, fresh off the near-victory in the World Series as a member of the Cleveland Indians front office (he started there as an intern), is the executive vice president and chief baseball officer. Levine, coming to Minnesota after a long stint with the Texas Rangers (hope he likes snow), is the senior vice president and general manager.
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| From left: Jim Pohlad, Derek Falvey, Thad Levine, Dave St. Peter |
Job titles aside, I think these two will pretty much work together to make all kinds of great baseball decisions for the team. Falvey is technically the one in the higher position, but him being the boss is not the impression they gave at the news conference.
A whole new chapter
It's a fresh start for the Twins, after a very tough season that also saw the resignation of long-time general manager Terry Ryan around the All-Star Break. Fresh starts are good, and that's how the vibes felt Monday. Good.
Dave St. Peter, president of the Twins, offered up some of his excitement, too.
"I think it represents the dawn of a new era for our franchise," St. Peter said. "We couldn't be more pleased with where things landed. We believe Derek and Thad will form a very special partnership. They both have made significant contributions to successful franchises."
Besides Falvey's success this season, Levine and the Rangers won the pennant in 2010 and 2011. Funny thing is, which they acknowledged with a laugh at the presser, the Twins actually played some of their best baseball against Cleveland and Texas this season.
'We (will be) the champions, my friends'?
Anyway, a recurring theme throughout the news conference was championship-caliber baseball. What a ring to it, right? Falvey said he looks forward to bringing championship baseball back here. I don't remember 1987 or 1991 (I was around!), so this is the hope.
"This is one of the most proud, resilient franchises in baseball," Falvey said.
He added that the goal is "straight forward and measurable... to build a sustainable, championship-caliber team." Now, many people like to talk about the "Twins Way." No, not referring to the address. Actually, some people have turned it into a mocking tool. But when Falvey brought up the Way, he said it will be to thrive together, because the people in the Twins organization care about it on a very deep level. They'll focus on growth, he said.
Both men were very well spoken without talking just to talk. Levine made his mark early as a witty fellow, mentioning the favorable weather recently and adding Mother Nature to his list of thank-yous. He drew laughs from the full-house media core more than once, including when he answered the legendary Sid Hartman's question.
Levine, 44, said he'd like this to be the last stop in his career. Again, I hope he and his family don't mind the snow. He called this job a "dream come true."
"I'm quite confident the best chapter is yet to come, and it starts today," Levine said.
They've got their pulse on analytics in the game, for one thing. So, using that to build teams could shake things up a bit. It's a meaningful piece of the puzzle, Levine said. Falvey also said that there are building blocks here with some good players but that he also doesn't like to put time tables on teams. Patience will probably be key.
No time wasted
They didn't waste any time getting to work. Remember, they had to wait until Falvey's season was finished with Cleveland before he could start with the Twins. Thanks to a seven-game World Series, it was about as long as possible. Falvey and Levine flew out to Arizona for the general manager meetings that night. By Tuesday evening (in the middle of the election night drama), the team announced coaching changes. Hitting coach Tom Brunansky and first-base coach Butch Davis will not return.
I'm excited to see the moves this young duo makes. One key thing that I think people are excited about: They're from outside the organization. Whether that's a huge benefit remains to be seen, but it's not something that's typical of an organization that has had just a few managers over the years and hires many coaches from within.
Nothing will happen overnight. With so many losses last season, one would think there's nowhere to go but up for this team though. I'll be interesting to see how Falvey and Levine leave their mark to being that championship-caliber baseball back to Minnesota.
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