The Minnesota Twins are looking in multiple directions as they look for a revamped baseball operations staff, according to multiple reports.
The Twins fired ex-General Manager Terry Ryan in July and have been looking to expand into analytics in the future, a department in which the team has noted struggles. They appear to be looking for a president of baseball operations first, who in turn will hire his or her own general manager.
According to MLB.com's Jon Morosi, the Twins are "looking closely" at members of the Cubs' front office for this position, including Senior Vice President of Player Development and Amateur Scouting Jason McLeod and Assistant GM Shiraz Rehman.
Minnesota is also reportedly interested in former Blue Jays General Manager Alex Anthopoulos, who served there from 2009 to 2015. After a surprising turn of events, Anthopoulos left the Blue Jays, even though he took the team to the playoffs for the first time since 1993. Since, he's worked for the Dodgers as a Vice President.
The Twins' President of Baseball Operations job could be an appealing one for a few reasons.
First, though the team is struggling this season to the league's worst record at 51-88, they do have some promising prospects close to the Majors such as Byron Buxton and Jose Berrios, who could fuel a winning core sooner rather than later.
Perhaps the best example of this came in 2015, when the Twins turned heads, going 83-79 and competing for a Wild Card spot. It's not hard to imagine Minnesota being able to contend for a playoff spot sooner rather than later.
Secondly, as President of Baseball Operations, whomever the Twins hire would have free reign. The person under this title finalizes all baseball decisions, one of the reasons why Anthopoulos left the Blue Jays in the first place. (He was stripped of this power after the team hired Mark Shapiro.)
It's not hard to think there will not be a lot of interest in this position, and early indications are that the team will be doing a vast and extensive search as they look to 2017 and beyond.
--Devan Fink
The Twins fired ex-General Manager Terry Ryan in July and have been looking to expand into analytics in the future, a department in which the team has noted struggles. They appear to be looking for a president of baseball operations first, who in turn will hire his or her own general manager.
According to MLB.com's Jon Morosi, the Twins are "looking closely" at members of the Cubs' front office for this position, including Senior Vice President of Player Development and Amateur Scouting Jason McLeod and Assistant GM Shiraz Rehman.
Minnesota is also reportedly interested in former Blue Jays General Manager Alex Anthopoulos, who served there from 2009 to 2015. After a surprising turn of events, Anthopoulos left the Blue Jays, even though he took the team to the playoffs for the first time since 1993. Since, he's worked for the Dodgers as a Vice President.
The Twins' President of Baseball Operations job could be an appealing one for a few reasons.
First, though the team is struggling this season to the league's worst record at 51-88, they do have some promising prospects close to the Majors such as Byron Buxton and Jose Berrios, who could fuel a winning core sooner rather than later.
Perhaps the best example of this came in 2015, when the Twins turned heads, going 83-79 and competing for a Wild Card spot. It's not hard to imagine Minnesota being able to contend for a playoff spot sooner rather than later.
Secondly, as President of Baseball Operations, whomever the Twins hire would have free reign. The person under this title finalizes all baseball decisions, one of the reasons why Anthopoulos left the Blue Jays in the first place. (He was stripped of this power after the team hired Mark Shapiro.)
It's not hard to think there will not be a lot of interest in this position, and early indications are that the team will be doing a vast and extensive search as they look to 2017 and beyond.
--Devan Fink
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