Who and why is Thad Levine?

Similar to how Derek Falvey was basically confirmed as President of Baseball Ops a week before he was actually confirmed as President of Baseball Ops, Thad Levine is basically (probably, maybe) the Twins new GM.

Okay cool, what does Thad Levine even mean?

Thad is currently assistant general manager over in Texas for the Rangers, and is a long time exec, serving the Rangers since 2005, and the Rockies before that starting way back in 1999. He was in LA working for the Dodgers even further back, but it doesn’t look like that was in any real front office capacity.

Okay cool, but does he not suck?

Apparently! He’s helped the Rangers (Who have been mostly good in recent times) in just about every facet of the game, including analytics and player development and negotiation. Similar to his probably new boss, Derek Falvey, Levine seems to be further proof that the Twins are focusing on not screwing up prospects and also modernizing the way the front office analyses the game. These are good things if you like teams that win. If you are still a Twins fan maybe that isn’t up your alley, I don’t know. Most of you probably like it though.

Alright, sweet, but what is the GM going to even do anymore?

With Falvey running the show in his new fancy position, Levine won’t have quite the impact on decisions as Terry Ryan did, but he’ll likely still contribute to the decision making brain-trust. Unless of course Falvey just wants a figurehead to make appearances and take the fall when things inevitably go horribly wrong at some point. It is really only speculation at this point.

Also his name is Thad.

In related news: According to Mike Bernadino from the Pioneer Press, the Twins are also offering people the Assistant GM role, so apparently Rob Antony is being given the boot. Poor guy.