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Members of the front office kept an open mind as they brainstormed. They listed all the former managers and candidates from other openings around the league. They noted others with varying backgrounds that could conceivably handle the job, including college coaches. Shelton, in many respects, was a predictable hire. The Twins had history with him after he was their bench coach in 2018 and ’19. He was a finalist in their previous managerial search eight years ago, after all. “Of all the interview processes I’ve been in, this was probably the most complex,” Shelton said. “It was the most detailed, It was the most to the point.” There were eight MLB manager openings to begin the offseason, but it didn’t move as quickly as the Twins expected — when they hired Baldelli in October 2018, he had multiple job offers. This time, the Twins opted to spend their first week calling as many people as they could for background information on candidates. “You even call other people who went through the process to hire a manager the last few years, and say, ‘Hey, who was the next person in your process?’ ” Falvey said. “Usually, people are open to sharing a lot of things with you. You glean a ton that way.” The Zoom interviews, which Falvey said could last more than six hours, included several components. The Twins involved about 30 members of their front office staff to chat with candidates in various small groups, something they did in their previous managerial search. “That’s important to us for how we operate as an organization, and a good opportunity for those people to get to connect with a new person and weigh in on that,” said Twins General Manager Jeremy Zoll, who was a part of a small group as a then-farm director during the last managerial search almost a decade ago. The last time the Twins searched for a manager, their virtual meetings on Google Hangouts were awkward as people tried not to talk over each other. “Give them a bullpen card, usage and here’s what [each reliever] did last week,” Falvey said. “It was less about did we win or lose the game. It was much more about how did you think about using the bullpen.” Torii Hunter, a Twins Hall of Famer, expressed interest in the opening, but he never received a formal interview. He was a candidate for the Los Angeles Angels opening. (The Angels hired former Twins All-Star catcher Kurt Suzuki on a one-year contract.) “Having some experience coaching, managing, being in the dugout is really important,” Falvey said. “That says nothing of a number of players who have played, stepped off and ultimately want to manage. That’s not a question in my mind, some guys can do that. For us, in thinking about the challenges and growing young players, someone who has some experience with player development, being on a staff, being around it, I think it has a real benefit.” “It’s less about me asking them after the process, ‘OK, do you think this guy is going to make the right decision in the seventh inning?’ Like, that’s silly,” Falvey said. “But I want to hear their perspective on the person, how they interacted with them and set whoever comes in for success going forward.” The Twins ended up choosing Shelton over Rowson, whom they hope to bring in as a bench coach if he doesn’t stay with the Yankees. Shelton’s experience managing the Pirates was important, and he has reflected on how he can improve in his second managerial job after he was fired in May. Falvey always remembers how much Terry Francona, his mentor in Cleveland, talked about his first managerial job in Philadelphia. Francona’s Phillies teams never won more than 77 games in four seasons nor finished higher than third place in the National League East. Shelton “took over a [Pirates] team, in my opinion, that had a lot less talent on the roster than what we have right now,” Falvey said. “I don’t think that’s controversial.” “You’re doing your best to figure out the right partner with how important the relationship is between [Falvey], myself and the manager, now Shelty,” Zoll said. “We wanted to make sure we got that right.” Godofredo A. Vásquez Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz have been indicted on charges they took bribes from sports bettors to throw certain types of pitches, including tossing balls in the dirt instead of strikes, to ensure successful bets.
