Minnesota Twins: Picollo, McLeod Front Runners for GM?
With news coming out that the Minnesota Twins have spoken with Kansas City Royals assistant GM J.J. Picollo, it seems we may be nearing a decision on the GM search.
Picollo also joins Jason McLeod, the current Chicago Cubs vice president, as two known candidates for the vacant spot within the Minnesota Twins organization.
This news also comes hot off the heels of Alex Anthopoulos declining the opportunity to interview and instead staying with the Dodgers.
With some forward momentum on the GM search, one has to wonder if either Picollo or McLeod are the front-runners.
If so, where does that leave Rob Antony?
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Does this mean the Minnesota Twins have all but ruled out Antony? It seems they may be more inclined to go with an outside name from a successful organization.
And if that’s the criteria, Picollo and McLeod may be two of the absolute top candidates.
Obviously, we have seen what Picollo has helped the Royal’s organization become. The same goes with McLeod who has helped build the Cubs into a potential World Series contender.
But what’s even more enticing is how well the two candidates have helped work with the organizations to develop some of their younger talent.
The Twins are no different in how they feature some top talent.
With players like Miguel Sano, Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco, Jose Berrios, Byron Buxton and Eddie Rosario, the Twins may be a very tempting landing spot.
It will be interesting to see if an external candidate comes in and shakes things up with the staff.
As it stands, this is all just speculation but with the Twins targeting some of these top executives from their respective organizations, Antony’s chances as GM seem slim.
And perhaps Antony was put into an impossible situation. The Twins were already a sinking ship when he inherited them but struggled even more in the second half.
While Antony made some nice trades, maximizing Eduardo Nunez’ value and trading away Ricky Nolasco, the Twins struggled mightily.
Maybe the club just ran out of steam but it became abundantly clear something needs to change.
And that starts with the front office and moves to the coaching positions.
It will be interesting to see if an external candidate comes in and shakes things up with the staff.
The Twins pitching has been awful and Neil Allen’s days may be numbered due to the staff’s struggles as well as his own issues.
The same goes for Tom Brunansky whose seat is not quite as hot due to the team’s recent hitting. Still, if the Twins struggle early on in 2017 as they did this season, Bruno could see the door as well.
But until we have an official announcement of who will take over the Twins, nothing is for certain.
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No doubt the offseason will be intriguing, though. Especially if it’s a non-Twins guy takes the job.