The Timing of Derek Falvey's Twins Departure is Rather Bizarre

Twins pitchers and catchers will report to spring training in Fort Myers, FL, on February 12. The team's first full-squad workout is the following Monday. It's right around the corner. And yet, on Friday, January 30, the organization announced that they have "mutually parted ways" with president of baseball and business operations Derek Falvey.

The news was quickly overshadowed in Minnesota by the firing of a different leading executive of a local sports franchise. In both cases, it's not exactly surprising that the moves occurred. What makes both situations shocking and bizarre is the timing with which they happened.

In parting ways with Falvey, whether truly mutual or not, the Twins have taken another step to move past two highly disappointing seasons. Manager Rocco Baldelli is gone, with Derek Shelton hired to replace him. Joe Pohlad is no longer the franchise's executive chair; his brother Tom Pohlad is now overseeing the franchise. And now both Falvey and Thad Levine are no longer around. GM Jeremy Zoll will run the Twins' baseball ops, and they're going to hire a new president on the business side.

In nine years under Falvey, the Twins had a record just above .500 and won one playoff series. Their personnel moves were a very mixed bag. In that context, deciding to go in a different direction makes sense. But again, the timing is odd. Why wait this long into the offseason? Falvey, just last week, was the lead speaker at the Twins' annual media luncheon. He made several other public appearances as a representative of the team this offseason. He also notably led the Twins' fire sale at last year's trade deadline — and now won't be around to see how that plays out.

The story, in statements from both Falvey and Tom Pohlad, is that the two had discussions in recent weeks and came to this decision jointly. They had a "shared understanding" and "both agreed" that this was the right time for a change.

Mark us down as skeptical that it was that simple. Really, it feels like there has to be more to this story. But for now, all we can do is speculate and listen to the rumors or theories from insiders.

Broadly speaking, it's hard to believe that this was actually a mutual decision. It seems reasonable to assume that one of the two parties drove this. Either Pohlad essentially forced Falvey out or Falvey decided he no longer wanted to work for this ownership group.

There could also be some sort of middle ground where Pohlad told Falvey he would return to running baseball operations and not both baseball and business, and Falvey refused to accept what he considered a demotion. To be clear, this is all purely speculation.

If Falvey was effectively fired for not delivering better results, it would be easy to feel a bit sympathetic for the situation he's had to deal with. After the Twins' breakthrough in the 2023 playoffs, ownership decided to slash payroll significantly. Since then, Falvey's had to work with his hands tied due to ownership-imposed financial restrictions. It's hard to build a competitive roster on a limited budget. That doesn't entirely excuse Falvey from some poor decisions (whether in free agency or trades or the draft), but it is important context to consider.

Likewise, if this was more of Falvey's decision to leave, it would be hard to blame him. The Twins' payroll shrunk in 2024 and shrunk again at last year's trade deadline. They're going into the 2026 season with their lowest payroll in multiple decades, not in pure dollar figures but relative to league spending averages. That would probably be frustrating for any president of baseball operations.

"Derek Falvey, from what I gathered, was frustrated," national insider Ken Rosenthal said on Friday. "Frustrated because at the deadline, he was asked by ownership to go even further than he might've gone if just left to his own devices.

"He is the one who fought to keep this team together over the winter, not trade Joe Ryan, not trade Byron Buxton. Obviously ownership agreed with that and that's the way they're going forward. But I don't know how (Falvey) sees the future, and maybe he doesn't see the future quite the same way that ownership does. That would be my strong guess here."

Perhaps we'll find out more in the days and weeks to come.

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