MINNEAPOLIS -- Derek Shelton made his public debut as Twins manager Tuesday, donning a fresh new No. 8 jersey and fielding questions about everything from his personal philosophies to the overall direction of the franchise.
Shelton wasn’t the only one who spoke, either. Twins president of baseball and business operations Derek Falvey and general manager Jeremy Zoll also took questions in a session that lasted, in total, more than an hour.
Here are some takeaways from the club’s first news conference since September.
The coaching staff is going to change, perhaps significantly
Shelton made a point to note that while he spent a year on previous manager Rocco Baldelli’s staff, most of that staff has turned over since 2019. So even if he wanted to keep some of the coaches he worked with, they’re mostly gone. No one ruled out bringing back some portion of the staff, but it is likely to turn over quite a bit.
“I think there will be members of the coaching staff that stay, and I think there will be some adjustments,” Shelton said. “Every time a new manager comes in, there’ll be adjustments. I think the one thing that people look at is, because I worked for a year for Roc, [they think] this is my group of guys. Roc hired his own staff. … So when people come in, there’s always going to be adjustments. There’s adjustments within staffs when the manager stays the same. So I think we will look to build the best staff that we have using all skill sets.”
Shelton doesn’t believe he’s coming into a rebuild
One question that came up repeatedly, in a variety of different forms, can essentially be boiled down to, “what’s the payroll going to be in 2026?” It was never quite put that directly, but after a Trade Deadline sell-off, the biggest unknown for the Twins is how financially aggressive they plan to be this winter.
And understandably, none of the principals came out and said “our payroll is N.” It doesn’t work that way. Perhaps the most direct statement on the topic came from Shelton himself. He said he spoke with Twins executive chair Joe Pohlad about a wide range of topics, that nothing was off the table, and said, “I got the answers that made me really want this job.”
Falvey, meanwhile, was asked several times about the topic. When asked directly whether he would be able to make significant additions to the roster without trading players away, this was his answer:
“I would say that as it stands right now, and much as I said a month ago, those conversations are still ongoing with ownership. Now, in past years, I've had conversations, as opportunities present, to add in certain places and have been supported at different junctures. Now there's some other people involved in the conversation, so I'm still trying to get to know that, to make sure that I present appropriately. And that's my hope. That's my goal, that would be my mission, is to try and figure out a way to discuss, ways to add around this group. And you know, we'll see how that plays out through the course of the winter.”
The limited partners are participating in conversations
You may have noted some interesting wording in that response, where Falvey referred to “some other people involved.” He was referring to the limited partners that Twins ownership announced in August it would be taking on. Those transactions are not finalized yet, and it’s not clear when they will be. However, Falvey did say that the new partners are already participating in discussions about the future of the club.
The aggressive, athletic model appears to be here to stay
The Twins ran more down the stretch than they had in years. That was partly a product of asking for more aggressiveness from the players they already had, but it also resulted from working in players like Austin Martin, James Outman and, for a little while, Alan Roden.
Both Falvey and Shelton indicated that they like that way of playing, and it seems likely to continue.
The injured players are progressing well
Falvey said that Pablo López and David Festa, both of whom missed the end of the season due to injuries, are coming along well.
“Pablo was good, obviously, by the end of the year,” he said. “He had that dive and awkwardness; we got nervous, obviously, but we went through the process and got an MRI and everything was good. He’s in full offseason mode at this point.
“And then same for David. Everything’s tracking the way we expected this offseason. I don’t think we’ve shared a specific timetable of his throwing schedule; I don’t have that for you today. But it should track well towards Spring Training.”