The 2016 Minnesota Twins were a tough nut to crack in terms of how to move forward after Total System Failure (TM). Clearly something needed to be done, yet the club also looked pretty well-set with a talented young core. So, instead of shaking up the on-field product all that much, the Pohlad ownership group turned their attention to the business-suit class.
Precipitated by the in-season dismissal of Terry Ryan 2.0, two new front office figures were brought in:
- Derek Falvey (Executive Vice President): Elevated from Assistant General Manager in Cleveland
- Thad Levine (General Manager): Elevated from Assistant GM in Texas
The hope: that Falvey could bring with
him Cleveland’s vaunted pitching pipeline with the more experienced Levine around to make sure the operation ran smoothly.
There were, of course, still some notable roster refinements.
Departures
- C Kurt Suzuki (FA)
- C Juan Centeno (FA)
- 3B Trevor Plou(uuuuuu)fe (FA)
Arrivals
- C Jason Castro: New starting catcher
- C Chris Giminez: Backup backstop
- RP Matt Belisle: Workmanlike reliever
- RP Craig Breslow: His second tour of Twins duty
- IF/OF Ehire Adrianza: Swiss Army knife-type
For all intents and purposes, that was the extent of the 2016-2017 offseason. At the time, I distinctly remember The Falvine (as the Derek/Thad pairing would come to be known) professing a desire to learn the ins and outs of the organization before making drastic alterations.
As such, it would be a more-uneventful-than-anticipated break coming off a franchise-worst 103-loss season.
