By CRAIG POTTER
The Minnesota Twins Executive Vice President and Chief Baseball Officer makes his first trip to Rochester.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Minnesota Twins Executive Vice President and Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey was in town for the series against the Buffalo Bisons. He was making his first trip to the Flower City, since taking over the job, and spoke with the Rochester media Saturday afternoon.
With the entire Twins organization is vying for playoff spots in their respective leagues, Falvey was very proud of that fact.
The Twins are battling for an American League wild card berth while the Rochester Red Wings currenlty hold the International League’s wild card position. The Wings have a 2-game lead over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs as both teams had 10 games remaining, entering Saturday’s action.
The Twins organization shows its depth, in pitching particularly, as Double-A Chattanooga is winning the second half North Division of the Southern League with a better record (42-18) than their first half title (40-28), despite all the hurlers the Lookouts have sent to Rochester this season.
We asked Falvey about the organization’s success this year.
“I appreciate a baseball-related question,” Falvey said with a smile, after fielding nearly four minutes of endless questions about the lease agreement between the Red Wings and Monroe County. “That is something I love to talk about.
“We’ve really been fortunate. It’s been a really nice year all the way down and through. Each team right now is in a position either be in or compete for a playoff spot. That’s critical. You want to teach your players at the youngest levels that battling down the stretch and playing meaningful games into the last month of the season, whether that’s August for the minor league season or September for the big league. It’s critical for the success of the franchise. It’s been exciting across the board.”
Falvey was hired as EVP/CBO in October of 2016 after spending 9 seasons as a member of the Cleveland Indians organization. He was appointed as Indians Assistant General Manager on October 6, 2015 after spending the previous 4 seasons as Director of Baseball Operations. He was named to that position in December of 2011.
As the EVP/CBO, Falvey is responsible for establishing the vision and related strategies for the club’s baseball operation. Specifically, overseeing all aspects of the department including: major league team, coaches, and support staff, contract negotiations, player development, scouting, research and development, medical and communications.
Falvey is the sixth head of the Twins baseball operations department, joining Calvin Griffith (1961-84), Howard Fox (1985-86), Andy MacPhail (1986-94), Bill Smith (2007-11), and Terry Ryan (1994-2007, 2011-16).
Monitoring progress
In answering all those questions about the lease negotiations, Falvey said the Twins are monitoring the progress, but have not taken an active role in them.
“We’re paying attention to it, obviously,” he said. “It’s my first trip to Rochester and I’ve gotten to know the group here…and it’s been nothing but great to us. We’re hopefully that everything works out moving forward, but we’re very sensitive to the situation.
“We have every expectation of being a partner here in Rochester for a very long time. I know the ownership group, for the way they work with our staff and our players, is second to none. One of the best in the game and we’re happy to have them here.”
Falvey continued, “The Twins as an organization are very much steeped in tradition and history and passion. Our ownership group goes back generations so we certainly recognize as an organization how important it is to have that ability and loyalty moving forward, and that’s something we want to be a part of. Rochester baseball has been around for a really long time and we want to be partners with them moving forward.”
Links
Rochester Red Wings – www.redwingsbaseball.com
Videos
Derek Falvey interview – https://youtu.be/19iKjIggCAw