MINNEAPOLIS — In a major change to the club’s top-level operations, the Twins announced Friday that they had “mutually agreed to part ways” with Derek Falvey, the team’s president of baseball and business operations.
Falvey had been with the organization since he was hired to run baseball operations in 2016. He was promoted to run both baseball and business last March, with Jeremy Zoll moving up to serve as general manager. Zoll will continue to run the baseball side, while new principal owner Tom Pohlad “will assume interim oversight” of the business side. The Twins will begin a search for a new president of business operations.
“As I’ve stepped into my new role and both Derek and I have discussed the future of this organization, we came to an agreement that a change is what is in the best interest of both the Twins and of Derek,” Pohlad said Friday morning. “On behalf of my family and the Minnesota Twins, I want to thank Derek for the indelible mark that he made on this organization.”
Tom Pohlad took over primary operations of the Twins from his brother, Joe, in December, when the team also formalized the investment of three new limited partners into the ownership group. At that time, Pohlad made it clear that he intended to be active in the day-to-day workings of the club.
The move streamlines the Twins organization, with Zoll as a single primary voice representing baseball operations, reporting directly to ownership rather than to Falvey. The new head of business will also report to Pohlad.
“We believe that the best structure going forward is a president of business and a president of baseball,” Pohlad said. “I think what’s best for this organization right now is all the energy and focus in those two departments being 100 percent committed right now. Yes, there is an element here where I’m a different leader in how I want to engage with this organization than in the past. You wrap all those things together and I think that’s what best moving forward.”
Under Falvey’s leadership, the Twins made the postseason four times, and in 2023, they won their first postseason series in 21 years with a Wild Card Series win against Toronto. However, the past two years have ended in disappointment, capped by a major Trade Deadline selloff in 2025. Still, he presided over a great deal of success and seemed to leave the club on good terms with warm feelings.
“I think any structure can work with the right belief in it, with the right people, with the right people underneath, and the foundation,” Falvey said. “And I want to say this: I totally respect Tom’s position that he would like it to look a little different in the other way. There are few teams that have it this way, there are a lot more teams that don’t that have it spread apart. I totally respect that decision. It’s a really hard job for sure to do both. I think with the right environment, the right structure around it, you can do both, but I respect the decision he has going forward and I’m sure they’re going to have someone really good to take on this business.”
Both Falvey and Pohlad expressed total confidence in Zoll, who was installed as the team’s general manager in November of 2024. He was previously director of Minor League operations and then assistant general manager before moving into his current role. With Falvey’s departure, he will work more directly with ownership, but it had been clear for some time that his profile was increasing as Falvey moved into more of an oversight role.
“Derek has done a lot of amazing things in this organization, but probably more than anything else, he stocked this organization with talent,” Pohlad said. “I would tell you that if Jeremy Zoll won the job to be GM a year ago or whenever that was, that should tell you something about Jeremy Zoll. There was plenty of competition in this organization and outside this organization for that role. I’m 100% committed to him as being the right leader in this moment in time to assume all the responsibilities that Derek had with respect to baseball.”
