Latest news with #DerekFalvey
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Unscripted with Dawn Mitchell: Derek Falvey
This week on Unscripted with Dawn Mitchell, Derek Falvey sits down to talk about his transition from being the Minnesota Twins President of Baseball Operations to replacing Dave St. Peter as Team President. The Twins are back from the MLB All-Star break and battling for an American League Wild Card Playoff spot with the trade deadline less than two weeks away.
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Twins Finally Admit Bailey Ober is Injured
The Minnesota Twins have been running Bailey Ober out to the mound every fifth day all season long. They have been given indications that was a bad idea for the past month. Ober himself has suggested he has been working through different physical ailments. Despite the results suggesting the plan wasn't working, the Twins tried to make mechanical tweaks between starts. Advertisement The club is now 40-45 and the pitcher has been a pin cushion for opposing offenses. Finally sensibility has won out and something is going to change. Related Headlines Bailey Ober headed to Minnesota Twins injured list Earlier this month Bailey Ober revealed he was dealing with both knee and hip discomfort. He hoped that it wouldn't result in a trip to the injured list, but the results have all but necessitated that. Now finally sent to the injured list to end his suffering, Bailey Ober owns a 5.28 ERA (5.29 FIP) for the Twins. It's the worst mark of his career and is coupled with a career-low 7.2 K/9. Advertisement Ober made five starts in June, again, despite dealing with multiple maladies. Those resulted in truly horrendous numbers. Across 30.0 innings he allowed 30 runs, 14 home runs, and posted a 24/8 K/BB. The stretches of competence were so minimal you needed to squint in order to see them. It's unfortunate for a guy that the Minnesota Twins needed to take another step forward this year. Derek Falvey banked on a top three of Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, and Ober. Even before getting blasted the last month Ober had just a 3.48 ERA and looked more like a fourth or fifth starter than a two or three. Now with Lopez, Zebby Matthews, and Ober all on the injured list Rocco Baldelli must pray for rain. Joe Ryan has been exceptional and will warrant individual award consideration. David Festa and Simeon Woods Richardson have been shaky. Chris Paddack has turned back into a pumpkin. Related: Surprise: MLB Trade Deadline Buyers Targeting MN Twins Pitchers Where the Twins turn for their next starter remains to be seen. It could be Travis Adams, but he hasn't been great since returning to Triple-A. Both Cory Lewis and Marco Raya have struggled this season, and Andrew Morris is currently on the Triple-A injured list. Advertisement Randy Dobnak could be recalled to eat innings, but he has been going through it of late too. No matter who it is, the reality is that the Minnesota Twins depth is now gone and there is no good option. Any option though, is better than continuing to expose Ober in the fashion he was over the last month. No one wanted MN Twins Jonah Bride Over the weekend the Minnesota Twins designated Jonah Bride for assignment. That move paved the way for Royce Lewis to return following his latest stint on the injured list. It's not exactly shocking no one wanted a veteran journeyman infielder with a .170/.248/.188 slash line. If anything, the most surprising part of Bride's existence with the Twins was just how long the held on. Advertisement Minnesota kept Bride on the roster for over 70 days and paid him more than $300,000 despite providing next to no value. He was more known for pitching in blowouts than any of his positional contributions. Bride passed through waivers without any other team willing to give him the major league minimum. He also is sticking in the organization, and it's likely we haven't seen the last of him on the Minnesota Twins roster. It's the result of roster failure that keeps on popping up. Related Headlines
New York Times
03-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Are the Twins headed for another inactive trade deadline as ownership uncertainty looms?
Trade deadline month is here, but any discussion about what the Minnesota Twins will do between now and July 31 should start with what they've done — or more accurately, haven't done — at the previous two deadlines. Last season, the Twins were 58-47 on deadline day, good for the American League's fourth-best record and in prime position for a playoff spot with 57 games remaining. FanGraphs calculated the Twins' chances of reaching the playoffs at 78.6 percent, also fourth-best in the league. Advertisement Coming off their first playoff success in two decades, the Twins were again winning games, giving fans reason to believe another exciting October was possible, and they seemingly had an obvious need for veteran rotation help, among other potential weak areas on the roster to address. So what did the Twins do? Nothing. Well, that's not quite true. They made a last-minute deal for journeyman middle reliever Trevor Richards, acquiring the 31-year-old right-hander with a career 4.51 ERA from the Toronto Blue Jays for marginal High-A infield prospect Jay Harry. Writing about the Richards pickup the next morning, I called it 'the least consequential trade the Twins could have made' and 'far closer to making an inexpensive, low-stakes trade simply to be able to say you made a trade than an actual meaningful upgrade.' President of baseball operations Derek Falvey defended the Twins' lack of deadline activity by suggesting they pursued starting pitchers only to find selling teams were asking more from them than from other suitors. He also downplayed the impact payroll constraints had on their deadline plans. Richards didn't even make it to September with the Twins, who sent him to the minors after a disastrous four-week stretch in which he totaled 11 walks and seven wild pitches in 13 innings. And the rotation predictably struggled as the Twins collapsed down the stretch, missing the playoffs. Had to grab this and sync it with the video — CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) August 24, 2024 Two years ago, at the 2023 deadline, the Twins were just 54-53, but that was enough to lead the historically inept AL Central by one game and carry 71.7 percent playoff odds, per FanGraphs. Despite the team being in first place following back-to-back losing seasons, the Twins did next to nothing. Six days before the deadline, they traded Jorge López to the Miami Marlins for Dylan Floro in a swap of underperforming relievers. And then they sat out the deadline entirely, choosing not to make any additional moves. Floro didn't even make the playoff roster after posting a 5.29 ERA in 17 innings. Advertisement Leading up to the 2023 deadline, Falvey said the Twins 'want to find ways to upgrade' and would target 'complementary pieces.' After doing nothing, he rationalized it by saying some presumed sellers changed plans late, and the Twins didn't want to bump players off their roster for non-upgrades. To the Twins' credit, they went 33-22 after the trade deadline in 2023 to win the division with ease over four losing teams. And then they won a playoff series for the first time since 2002, defeating the Blue Jays in back-to-back games at Target Field before falling to the Houston Astros in the ALDS. Would it have made a difference in October if the Twins had addressed their most obvious pre-deadline needs by trading for a reliever they actually felt comfortable using or adding a right-handed hitter to the outfield mix? We'll never know, because the front office sat on its hands at the deadline. I mean… what do you expect when you cover the Walls in targets? — Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) September 12, 2023 Every season is different, and every trade deadline has its own set of unique circumstances. But if the front office wasn't willing/able to bring in help for a 58-47 team with 78.6 percent playoff odds in 2024, or for a first-place team with 71.7 percent playoff odds in 2023, why would the Twins be buyers now? With four weeks until this season's deadline, the Twins have the AL's fifth-worst record at 41-45, including 15-25 since their 13-game winning streak in May. They trail the Detroit Tigers by double-digit games in the division and sit eighth in a race for three wild-card spots, with 20.6 percent playoff odds. '(Selling) is not my focus right now by any means,' Falvey said last week. 'If we have to cross that bridge, we'll cross that bridge later. But that's not at all our focus right now. It's to figure out how to get this team right back to where it needs to be.' Advertisement Beyond the disappointing on-field results, the ownership situation isn't any different nine months after the Pohlad family put the team up for sale. And if anything, owners who failed to spend for the past two offseasons and past two deadlines seem especially unlikely to do so on their way out the door. For a front office that hasn't made any substantial moves for going on three years, it's only natural to assume this season's trade deadline approach will involve standing pat or tinkering on the roster's margins. And if the Twins do decide to get aggressive, selling makes more logical sense than buying. However, selling is also complicated by the uncertain ownership situation. New owners often bring in their own front-office group, and the Falvey-led front office missing the playoffs four times in five seasons wouldn't provide much results-based motivation to retain the Pohlads' people. If the front office is worried about job security, it could be motivated to fight for a playoff spot despite poor odds and wouldn't be inclined to trade veterans. And if the front office may not be sticking around, why empower it to make big trades — buying or selling — with future ramifications? This uncertainty is tricky, and a prime example of how a team's ownership situation being up in the air can have a wide-ranging, negative effect on the front office's decision-making process and big-picture approach that is well beyond simply setting payroll limitations. (Photo of Derek Falvey: Abbie Parr / Associated Press, File)
New York Times
24-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Twins' Rocco Baldelli has team option picked up for 2026 season: Sources
MINNEAPOLIS — Not only is Rocco Baldelli's job not in immediate danger, but the Minnesota Twins manager is under contract for next season, too. Though the timing of the Twins' decision is unclear, multiple sources confirmed the club picked up its team option for 2026 on Baldelli, who's currently in his seventh season as manager. Advertisement With the Twins in a nosedive, club president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said the opinion of the front office is Baldelli and his coaching staff are doing everything they need to help turn around a club that entered Monday losing 13 of its last 17 games. As he's done for the past few years, Falvey declined to comment on Baldelli's status with the club, saying the team doesn't openly discuss contracts for personnel. But Falvey did endorse Baldelli when asked if the manager, who earlier this season was on the hot seat after a 7-15 start, is back under the microscope. 'It's just making sure no one runs away from the work that is right in front of him, and Rocco is not running away from any of the work,' Falvey said. 'My focus has been on how do I support him with that, because I do believe he's got the players' best interests at heart, and he's trying to figure out how to solve a challenging equation that we're all trying to navigate through. He's not alone in that. We're all side by side with him, as is the staff and as our core players. We're trying to figure it out together.' There's been a steady increase in the public calls for Baldelli to lose his during the club's 4-13 stretch, one rife with horrible pitching, ugly defense and huge, early deficits. In the aftermath of injuries to starting pitchers Pablo López and Zebby Matthews, Minnesota's pitching staff is struggling. Over their previous 17 games, Twins pitchers carried a 7.22 ERA, allowing 128 runs (118 earned) in 147 innings. Position player Jonah Bride has appeared in four games during the run, and Twins pitchers have yielded nine runs seven times. It's the second time this season the Twins have melted down following a 12-27 collapse at the end of the 2024 season, one also driven by injuries to key players. Despite their struggles, Baldelli is determined to make this work, suggesting the Twins could use the opener strategy more often as they try to get their starting rotation back on track. Advertisement 'You've got to continue to prepare and you've got to wear it sometimes when it isn't going the way you want,' Baldelli said. 'But there is always a game tomorrow to focus on and think about. Probably a few nights where I'm not sleeping quite the way I want, but I get to play with my kids. I can't think about baseball when I'm home playing with my kids. 'That's probably the easiest way for me to get over whatever goes on at the field. I look forward to getting on a hot streak and living the life at that point because that's what it feels like. It feels unbelievable when you're walking around with your chest out, but you still have to walk around with your chest out and head up even when things aren't going good.' In response to missing the playoffs in 2024, Baldelli's staff revamped the way it runs spring training this year, a plan which included more exhibition game action for anyone who was slated to make the roster. Even so, the Twins stumbled out of the gate and calls for Baldelli's job were frequent in a period in which Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Colorado all made managerial changes. Both during the offseason, and again early in the 2025 campaign, the Twins were decidedly vague when it came to Baldelli's status, which led to more speculation he could be fired. Even earlier in the season, it was believed Baldelli was operating as a lame duck with the team mulling whether or not to pick up his option. But when Falvey was asked about Baldelli on Monday, he quickly ruled out the possibility. While there's no telling what he may have to do if the Twins dropped well out of contention, Falvey thinks the club will find a solution and Baldelli is the person to lead them. Instead, the focus remains on how to improve a starting staff with three of five members struggling to tread water. Advertisement 'I'm around them a lot, I see them every day and we spend time talking on the phone when we're not together,' Falvey said. 'It's what are you doing every day to show up to try to put this team in the best position to be successful win or lose the night before. You can't do anything about yesterday or the week before. You have to try to figure out ways.'
