The new guys

Derek Falvey (left) and Thad Levine during Monday's
introductory press conference.

So what did we learn from Monday's "meet the new boss(es)" presser?

Various forms of "collaborate" are among Derek Falvey's favorite buzzwords -- and he's got an impressive set of buzzwords that he sprinkled into practically every response.

Thad Levine has a knack for well-placed wisecracks, be they ad-libbed or rehearsed.

And, perhaps most significant, they're here to hire, not necessarily to fire,

Falvey intends to beef up not only the Twins relatively paultry in-house analytics department but also their strength-and-conditioning and nutrition programs. He and Levine said that one of the things that made the Twins an attractive opportunity is that the organization has some many long-term employees.

The idea, boiled down: Falvey and Levine plan an organization that collects ideas from everybody and reaches "evidence-based decisions". This will involve a greater use of analytics than under Terry Ryan.

And those who can make the change are, basically, welcome to stay. Falvey and Levine made it explicit about Rob Antony, assistant general manager under Ryan and acting GM after Ryan was bounced in July; they want him to stay as assistant GM. Presumably the same is true for Mike Radcliffe and Deron Johnson, the director of player personnel and scouting director respectively. They're interested in retaining Ryan as an advisor.

Falvey:

“What we’re going to do is introduce a vision and give everyone the opportunity to get on the bus. We’re going to build out and go that way, then see who’s aligned with that vision.”

Meanwhile, a little roster news:

The @Twins have outrighted Alex Wimmers to AAA & reinstated Glen Perkins, Phil Huhges & Danny Santana from the 60-day DL.

Roster now at 36

— Dustin Morse (@Twins_morsecode) November 7, 2016

Falvey, Levine and Antony were to fly out to Arizona Monday for the general managers meeting; during that time, the two newbies will confer with Antony about the roster and the coaching staff, with some decisions about the coaches expected before week's end.

A No. 2 is hired

With the World Series over and the prohibition on major personnel announcements lifted, the Twins on Thursday confirmed what had been reported earlier: Thad Levine of the Texas Rangers front office will be the No.2 in the reconstructed Minnesota operation.

Derek Falvey's title is "executive vice president/director of baseball operations." Levine's in "senior vice president / general manager."

Titles are one thing, responsibilities are another. Levine's title is basically a match for that of the fired Terry Ryan, but the authority Ryan carried belongs now to Falvey. 

The Twins plan an introductory press conference with Falvey and Levine on Monday. Perhaps we'll get a sense of how the responsibilities will be divided, and what other changes are in store for the front office.

And then they can get to work. 

Strictly on Merritt

The Cleveland Indians did what I didn't think they could: They beat the Toronto Blue Jays in a LCS without their second and third best starting pitchers (Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar). They beat the Jays while getting less than an inning from their No. 4 starter, Trevor Bauer.

And kudos to Terry Francona, who probably cemented his Cooperstown credentials with his bullpen mastery in this series. The Jays have a lineup stacked with power, and the Tribe shut them down even when they had to resort to a rookie lefty with one major league start on his resume. Ryan Merritt was pitching in instructional league when the Indians hurriedly added him to the roster for the LCS after learning of Bauer's injury.

If, as is speculated, Salazar will be ready to work in the World Series, Merritt probably won't be on the Series roster. He may not be anyway. Francona didn't let him work deep enough Wednesday night to get credit for the win -- 4.1 innings -- but Merritt should be a piece of Cleveland legend for years to come anyway.

I'm sure that Francona wouldn't have been nearly so quick with the hook in a regular season game. But this wasn't regular season, and he took advantage of the opportunity to close out the Jays and move on to the World Series.

With the Indians headed to the World Series, new Twins Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey's start date will be between Oct. 30-Nov. 3.

— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) October 19, 2016

Both metro papers this week carried stories on a theme I wrote soon after Derek Falvey was identified as the next baseball ops boss of the Twins, to take the position after the Indians were done with the postseason: Decisions have to be made in October, and not having Falvey on board is something of an impediment.

As I watched Merritt carve up the Toronto lineup with a mediocre fastball, I wondered: How much credit does Falvey deserve for the effectiveness of the Indians pitching? A major part of his duties as assistant general manager in Cleveland is reportedly pitching preparation. Merritt had to make the pitches, and somebody, probably catcher Roberto Perez, called the individual pitches, but Falvey is apparently key in drawing up the plan.

Then the followup question: Even if he does a brilliant job at that, how does that translate into moving into the big job? What he does now, no matter how well, is not what he's going to be doing in Minnesota. I'm not saying he can't succeed as the boss. I do raise the possibility of the Peter Principle (people rise to the level of their incompetence) coming into play.

In Cleveland, Falvey did certain jobs, and presumably did them very well, In Minnesota, he has to find and hire people to do those jobs. There's a difference,

Meet the new boss. Not so fast

The Twins on Monday morning issued a press release naming Derek Falvey "executive vice president, chief baseball officer." This is not quite the title we had been led to expect ("president of baseball operations"), but it is an impressive amount of verbiage.

The title is of less importance than the authority, and it may be some time before Falvey gets to wield any authority over the Twins operation. He will remain with the Cleveland Indians until their season is finished, and that may last long into the month.

One cannot blame the Indians for insisting on retaining Falvey for the postseason run. By their description, he has been a crucial component of what may be the trickiest part of analytics -- relying the information to the manager, coaches and players in a way that is accessible and persuasive. Disrupting that arrangement now would hurt the Tribe's chances.

But the clock is ticking, and the Twins are left for now with Rob Antony in what must be an awkward interim position. It was reported over the weekend that Antony is out of the running for the No. 2 job under Falvey, but if the Twins hold to their usual timeline of holding organizational meetings in October, it may well be Antony running the show and making the initial decisions on the 40-man roster, arbitration offers and trade targets. Antony reportedly told Paul Molitor's coaches that their status awaits Falvey's arrival. (Lead owner Jim Pohlad has insisted all along that Molitor will be back as the manager in 2017.)

Falvey should be at the helm well before the deadlines for roster assignments and arbitration offers, but it's not optimum for him to step in well into the process.

Puffs of white smoke

Word on the interwebs Monday was that the Twins had settled on Derek Falvey, 32-year-old assistant general manager of the Cleveland Indians, as their new president of baseball operations.

The Twins haven't announced such a hire; they haven't even scheduled an announcement. One genuine possibility for delay is that Falvey's current team was in a pennant race. (The Tribe clinched the AL Central title last night.) Another may be that the Twins intend to announce other changes -- such as the new general manager -- at the same time.

Here's Cleveland.com, the online arm of the Plain Dealer, on Falvey's many-faceted role with the Indians. The importance of connecting the work of the analytics people with that of the manager, coaches and players was a major theme of "Big Data Baseball," the 2015 book on the Pittsburgh Pirates, and seems to be a major part of Falvey's duties with the Tribe.

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Derek Falvey's first meeting as new #Twins boss (I hope): "Ok, which one of you thought it would be a good idea to put Miguel Sano in RF?"

— Cory Hepola (@CoryHepola) September 26, 2016

Well, there's an interesting thing about the rise of the Cleveland Indians. In 2014, by the defensive metrics to be found on Baseball Reference, they were an awful defensive team. In 2015 they moved more or less to the middle of the pack, and this year they are at or near the top.

There are a lot of factors involved in that; the arrival of Francisco Lindor at shortstop certainly didn't hurt. But one of them was moving a third baseman, Lonnie Chisenhall, to right field. Another was undoing their own version of the Sano fiasco. in which they attempted to install Carlos Santana at third base. That 2014 experiment lasted about as long as Sano lasted in right field this year.

I won't pretend to know what Falvey's role was in any of those decisions. He probably wasn't an innocent bystander. But the notion that a front office exec coming out of the Cleveland Indians culture is going to be fervently anti-experimentation is simply silly. There may be no operation in the game more willing to try something different than Cleveland.