The Twins need a new manager after firing Rocco Baldelli at the end of the 2025 season. There has been media speculation on who could be the new Twins skipper, but official reports have been lacking until MLB's Matthew Leach reported four Twins manager candidates on Monday.
Here are the four reported Twins manager candidates
James Rowson
Rowson, 49, has been granted permission to interview for the Twins' open manager job. He has been the New York Yankees' hitting coach for the past two seasons. He started his coaching career with the Los Angeles Angels as a minor league hitting coach (2002-05) before becoming the Yankees' minor league hitting coordinator from 2005-11. Then, Rowson became the Chicago Cubs' minor league hitting coordinator in 2012 and replaced Rudy Jaramillo as the hitting coach in June of that year, taking over the position through the 2013 season.
Rowson returned to the Yankees as a minor league hitting instructor in 2014. The Twins hired him as the hitting coach in 2017, holding the position until he joined the Miami Marlins as a bench coach in 2020. He was then named the Detroit Tigers' assistant hitting coach in 2023 before rejoining the Yankees as the hitting coach in 2024.
Ramón Vázquez
Like Rowson, Vázquez has been granted permission to interview for the Twins' vacant manager job. Vázquez, 49, joined the Red Sox's coaching staff in 2018 and was promoted to bench coach three seasons ago. Before that, Vázquez spent time as a coach in the Astros' minor league system and the Padres' MLB staff. He has nine years of MLB experience. Vázquez, a native Puerto Rican, managed in the Puerto Rican winter league and one season in A-ball in the Houston system.
Kurt Suzuki
Suzuki, 42, joined the Los Angeles Angels' front office after retiring from playing following the 2022 season. During his 16-year MLB career, Suzuki spent seven seasons with the Oakland Athletics, four seasons with the Washington Nationals, three seasons with the Minnesota Twins, two seasons with the Atlanta Braves and two seasons with the Los Angeles Angels. Suzuki won a World Series with the Nationals in 2019 and made the American League All-Star Team as a member of the Twins in 2014.
While Suzuki doesn't have any management or coaching experience, it won't be entirely unexpected if the Twins hire him. The Cleveland Guardians hired former Athletics catcher Stephen Vogt to be their manager in the 2023-24 offseason after he worked just one year as the Mariners bullpen and quality control coach following his playing days. The Chicago Cubs also hired former catcher David Ross to be their manager in the 2019-20 offseason after he spent just a few years working in Chicago's front office.
Derek Shelton
Shelton was the Twins' bench coach in 2018 and 2019 before being hired as the manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Shelton remained the Pirates manager until he was fired after Pittsburgh started the 2025 campaign with a 12-26 win-loss record. Shelton had a record of 306-440 (.410) in his time leading the Pirates.
Shelton, 55, has been coaching since he joined the Cleveland Indians as a minor league hitting coordinator in 2003. He became the Indians' hitting coach in June 2005 and served in that role through 2009. Then, Shelton joined the Tampa Bay Rays as the hitting coach in 2010, staying with the organization until getting fired in 2016. The Blue Jays hired Shelton as a quality control coach in 2017 before he joined the Twins organization.