Minnesota Twins: Bench Coach Options
By Nate Palmer
External Candidates
While Minnesota fans love to see one of “our own” succeed, the more exciting conversation is often what other big names could the Twins attract to fill their bench coach vacancy. Here are several coaches that fit that description.
Sandy Alomar, Jr.
Twins fans are plenty familiar with Sandy Alomar, Jr. from his time as a player with both the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox. The Twins also know him well from as a coach as he has been a member of the Indians coaching staff since 2010. He has held several roles on the Indians staff, most recently as their first base coach, but he has also been bench coach and served as interim manager following Manny Acta‘s firing.
There is an obvious link between Alomar, Jr. and Derek Falvey as they spent time together with the Indians. That paired with the respect that Alomar, Jr. has earned around the league, which has resulted in his name being in consideration for several managerial openings over the past several years, makes Alomar, Jr. a solid hire for the Twins. As long as they can lure him away from the Indians.
Chris Woodward
Chris Woodward currently serves as the third base coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He also has experience with the Seattle Mariners as their minor league infield coordinator and the major league infield coach. Woodward is a potential fit based on the Dodgers success this season, as well as Falvey and Levine’s clear fondness for plucking coaching and front office hires out of the Dodgers system.
As an up and coming coach in the majors, Woodward has also had managing experience as he lead the New Zealand national team during the World Baseball Classic. As someone who was still a player not too long ago, Woodward has matured quickly as a coach even if he doesn’t have the experience to go along with it. Based off of the reports in this article from Vice Sports, credit for that maturity can very well go to Woodward’s willingness to pull from the knowledge of those who have been in his shoes before him.