The new GM wants to get a feel and an appreciation of the community.
By CRAIG POTTER
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Thad Levine was named the Minnesota Twins Senior Vice President/General Manager in October 2016.
Career-wise, Levine joined the Los Angeles Dodgers in business development. He moved to the Colorado Rockies in 1999, and worked there as an assistant director, director, and senior director. Levine was appointed to the position of the Texas Rangers’ assistant general manager in October 2005.
Levine was making his first trip to Rochester Tuesday since taking over the Twins job. He met with members of the Rochester media late in the afternoon at Frontier Field.
“It’s my first trip so it’s more of memory lane,” Levine said. “Two, it’s a chance to build relationships with Dan (Mason, GM), Naomi (Silver, CEO & COO), and Gary (Larder, Chairman of the Board). They’ve been tremendous partners for us over the last decade. And third, it’s a chance to talk to our players, to our coaches and need to develop those relationships and build a game plan and try to get some of those guys back to the big leagues.”
Q: What is the Twins position on keeping the Red Wings?Rochester’s affiliation history includes the St. Louis Cardinals from 1929-1960, the Baltimore Orioles from 1961-2002, and now the Twins.
A: We are all in on keeping the Red Wings…I think they know how strongly we feel about them. The community has been such a great supporter of the Minnesota Twins. The front office has done such a tremendous job in supporting our players and their development at this level…This is a relationship we hope to have for years to come.
Q: How realistic is winning at all levels in today’s game?
A: We have a lot of interest in winning at the major league level. I think it varies at level to level. At the lower level you’re really balancing developing as opposed to winning. Quite frankly, we’re really focused momre on development than winning at the lower levels. The closer you get to the big leagues, you want the guys to win and develop a thirst for winning. You want them with expectations of winning when they come to the ballpark that day…The closer you are to the big leagues, the more focus is shifted towards winning, and that certainly is here in Rochester.
Levine on player development:
Previous regimes in Minnesota rushed Carlos Gomez and Aaron Hicks to Minneapolis, and it stunted the development of both outfielders. It could be argued that they also rushed Byron Buxton.
However, the Twins were patient with super pitching prospect Jose Berrios.
“I think best-laid plans allow for you to try to ‘finish off’ a player at the minor-league level (but) I think best-laid plans are so rarely brought to fruition,” Levine said. “I think you’re forced to bring a guy up more often than you’re allowed to bring them up when they’re really matriculated to the big leagues.”
Starting pitcher Fernando Romero is a prime example right now. Because of injuries, the Twins needed a starter. Before last season, Romero had never pitched above Class A. But after appearing in his first 4 career Triple-A games in April with the Red Wings, Romero was starting for the Twins against the Toronto Blue Jays on May 2. He pitched 5.2 shutout innings.
In 3 major league starts, Romero is 2-0 with a 0.54 ERA, 20 strikeouts, 11 hits, and 9 walks in 16.2 innings.
“Could he have stayed in the minor leagues longer? Absolutely,” Levine said. “Has he given us a huge shot in the arm as a team since he’s come up? He certainly has. In the short-term he has acquitted himself extremely well.”
On Berrios and Buxton:
“They really, by and large, didn’t face a lot of adversity in the minor leagues. They come to the big leagues and they kind of get punched in the mouth and you have to see how they’re going to respond up there. Ideally you’d like to see that level of failure, adversity, growth, development and accountability from those adverse moments in the minor leagues.”