MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Twins will promote Derek Falvey to president of baseball and business operations and Jeremy Zoll to general manager as part of a front office succession plan initiated by current club president Dave St. Peter’s move into a strategic adviser role.
The Twins announced their executive leadership changes on Tuesday. The transition will take place in the first quarter of 2025, as approved by owners Jim Pohlad and Joe Pohlad. The Pohlad family announced last month that it is exploring a sale of the franchise that Carl Pohlad, the father of Jim Pohlad and grandfather of Joe Pohlad, purchased in 1984.
St. Peter, who joined the organization as an intern in 1990, was appointed the club’s fourth president after the 2002 season and added the CEO title in 2016. St. Peter had a big role in helping the Twins secure public funding for Target Field and establish the open-air ballpark as a centerpiece of the North Loop neighborhood on the west edge of downtown since it opened in 2010. The Twins during his time as president twice won the Baseball America’s Organization of the Year award.
St. Peter also played a major role in moving Twins broadcasts from their regional sports network home to an MLB-controlled streaming platform for next year in the aftermath of Diamond Sports Group bankruptcy that has disrupted operating budgets and fan connections for several teams. In his new advisory role, the 57-year-old St. Peter will help guide the Pohlad family through the sale exploration process.
“He leads with integrity, compassion and an unmatched dedication to our organization and fans,” Joe Pohlad said in a statement distributed by the Twins. “I will always admire Dave’s commitment to do right by the Twins.”
This front office shuffle was in the works before the Pohlads decided to put the team on the market, St. Peter said. The 41-year-old Falvey has led the baseball department for the last eight seasons and added the president of baseball operations title five years ago. He’ll now be in charge of business operations as well.
“I feel truly convicted that Derek is the right successor, and I want to support him in every way and set him up for success, hopefully, over the long haul,” St. Peter told reporters. “The move is important because it signals, I’m hoping, to the broader organization and to our partners that there is stability and continuity.”
The 34-year-old Zoll has been an assistant general manager for the Twins since 2020 after beginning his tenure with the organization as director of minor league operations in 2018. In partnership with team physician Dr. Christopher Camp, Zoll has overseen all aspects of player performance from biomechanics to nutrition to mental health. He has also overseen the player development system.
Zoll, who will be the seventh general manager in Twins history, has previously worked for four major league organizations since starting his career in 2011. He was assistant director of player development for the Los Angeles Dodgers when he was hired by the Twins. Zoll fills the vacancy left by general manager Thad Levine’s departure that was announced after the season.
Regardless of the business-side changes, Falvey, Zoll and the rest of the front office were already facing a challenge of reviving a team that collapsed down the stretch with 18 losses in the last 24 games to miss the playoffs after winning the AL Central in 2023 and ending a record 18-game postseason losing streak. The Twins have won three division titles in eight years under Falvey, but they haven’t won or reached the World Series since 1991 nor have they appeared in the AL Championship Series since 2002. That season was the first of six AL Central crowns in a nine-year span, before a rough stretch that preceded Falvey’s arrival.
“Probably my biggest regret is we didn’t do more damage in the postseason, because we had some really good teams and some really good players,” St. Peter said. “I’m really proud of the fact that we were able to compete.”
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
