Twins president Dave St. Peter steps down, Derek Falvey promoted as part of major front office shakeup

It’s been an offseason of stunning developments so far for the Minnesota Twins, and the plot continued the thicken this week. After 35 years with the team, President Dave St. Peter announced that he’d be stepping down from his role in the organization.

Derek Falvey is expected to take on a larger role with St. Peter transitioning to an advisory role. To be clear, this isn’t a retirement announcement, rather the latest reshuffling the Twins have done as the team prepares to enter a new era. 

St. Peter released a statement after the announcement, noting that this was a decision that he’s been thinking about for the last two years.

There’s a lot to unpack here, not the least of which is that Falvey is preparing to take over team president duties with St. Peter stepping down. That’s a massive move, and seems to suggest that he’ll be a major part of the future and whoever ends up in control of the team in the coming years.

Not only that, but the Twins are making a move to fill the GM vacancy that Thad Levine created when he left back in October. Jeremy Zoll is being named the Twins’ new general manager with Falvey replacing St. Peter and will have a hand in reshaping the team this winter.

All of this is happening against the backdrop of the elephant in the room, which is the fact that the Pohlads are trying to sell the team.

That’s the cloud that hands over everything, but it’s not as gloomy as it otherwise could be. While some fans are nervous that new ownership could mean a continuation of old problems, all signs point toward whoever buys the team wanting to be serious owners rather than bean counters.

We won’t know for sure until new ownership takes over, but the infrastructure is being put in place to help the Twins transition into a new era. St. Peter is responsible for bringing on Falvey, who fundamentally changed the team after he took over. During his tenure he’s hired two guys who have gone on to win Manager of the Year, produced a team that won 100 games in 2019 and helped finally end the miserable playoff losing streak.

Zoll is someone that Falvey brought on, which should give everyone confidence that he’ll help not only keep what Falvey started going but help usher in a new era that hopefully results in the team making meaningful moves.

Either way, the Twins seem to be at a crossroads this winter and so far every internal move that has been made is one that sets up a bright future.

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