The Minnesota Twins have plenty on their plate this offseason, but one move should come first: hiring a new pitching coach.
After a rough season for Derek Shelton, the Twins are set to work with Jeremy Zoll to bring in both a new pitching coach and a new assistant pitching coach. That search needs to move quickly, because the earlier the hire is made, the more time that coach has to spend with the staff and start shaping adjustments before next season.
The change became necessary after a bad year for the pitching department in 2026, which led to Pete Maki being relieved of his duties. Maki was a good coach and someone who had risen from within the organization without previous coaching experience, but the Twins are clearly looking for a different path this time.
What should they prioritize? Experience.
The club has a rotation built mostly around veteran arms such as Dean Kremer, Joe Ryan, Taj Bradley, and Bailey Ober, so it makes sense to bring in a coach who has been through this before. That kind of background would also help younger pitchers like Zebby Matthews and Connor Prielipp, with the veterans and the coach both serving as steady examples.
The Twins also need a fresh voice from outside the organization. Familiarity has its place, but bringing in someone new could inject different ideas into a staff that has been stuck in mediocrity.
Maki was known as one of the more analytical pitching coaches in the league, and that likely fit with what the Twins wanted at the time. The next hire should still understand analytics, but not lean on them so heavily. The team needs that balance - data matters, but it can’t be treated like the only answer.
Shelton should have a major role in the decision. As manager, he is supposed to have a strong voice in these hires and in the collaborative process that shapes in-game decisions, so this one should be made with his input front and center.
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Even so, the season still came with a familiar frustration for the player development side. Both Cedar Rapids and Wichita finished with losing records, a reminder that promising individual talent does not always translate into wins at the affiliate level. The Twins can point to real progress in the system, but the uneven team results leave open the larger question of how much of that promise is already turning into sustained organizational strength. [Read more 🡒]