The Minnesota Twins have already been through a lot this season but one of the most unexpected twists was Derek Falvey’s departure. Falvey and the Twins “mutually separated” back in February and while the Twins have continued to be rudderless after Thursday’s 11-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers, Falvey is still waiting for his next opportunity.
One of those chances may have become available if the Boston Red Sox fire current president of baseball operations Craig Breslow. The Red Sox have been one of the most disappointing teams in MLB this season, sitting in last place of the American League East division with a record of 27-39, but Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy removed that possibility during an appearance on WEEI’s Greg Hill Show, saying “A change there is not even on the table,” via MassLive’s Christopher Smith.
If the Red Sox continue to ride with Breslow, it takes one potential landing spot for Falvey off his list and could have him continuing to assess the landscape until most changes are made toward the end of the season.
Derek Falvey won’t get a chance for a Red Sox mulligan
The Red Sox would have made plenty of sense for Falvey’s next job. Boston has pursued Falvey twice for their lead job in the front office, once after firing Dave Dombrowski in September 2019 and when Chaim Bloom was fired in 2023. In both instances, Falvey, who is a Massachusetts native, turned down the opportunity to interview for the job, but a lot has changed since then.
When Falvey turned down the Red Sox in 2023, he was leading a team that had just won its first playoff game since 2004 and its first series since 2002. That core was picked apart with an initial $30 million payroll slash in the following offseason and the Twins went from a virtual lock for the playoffs to sitting on their couch after losing 16 of their final 22 games.
Falvey tried running it back the following year but even tighter payroll restrictions caused a fire sale at last year’s deadline. The Pohlad family, who took the team off the market after attempting to sell it a few weeks after the trade deadline, pulled the pursestrings even tighter after Tom Pohlad took over for Joe Pohlad as the controlling owner, executive chair and chairman of the Twins last winter and the two sides eventually parted, leaving Falvey for a new job.
It’s fair to wonder if Falvey regrets turning down the Red Sox knowing how things turned out. Even if Boston owner John Henry is considered cheap, Falvey would still have more money to work with as the Red Sox have a collective bargaining tax payroll of $271.0 million, which is more than double the Twins’ $132.2 million payroll on their 40-man roster according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts.
While things can change, it doesn’t look like Falvey will get the chance for a mulligan and have to look elsewhere to get back into the major leagues.
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