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We basically already knew this was going to happen, but now that the World Series is over, the Twins have made it official: Thad Levine is the Twins’ new General Manager.
Levine, who is 44 years old, has served as the Assistant GM for the Rangers for the past eleven years. Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press talked to a former colleague of Levine’s, who expressed surprise that Levine hadn’t been hired as someone’s GM much earlier. “He’s a brilliant person to begin with—he’s a people person, he’s very well spoken in front of any kind of group,” ex-Rangers GM Tommy Grieve said of Levine. “And with the experience that he’s had with the Rangers in all different roles—his latest role was running the international scouting department—he’s been groomed for this job. He’s been involved in a key role in every facet of the organization.”
That organization, of course, had the most wins in the American League last year. They also won the American League pennant twice during Levine’s tenure, losing the World Series in both 2010 and 2011.
Levine will be working under the new Twins Chief Baseball Officer, Derek Falvey, who told the media that he “couldn't envision a better partner to help return championship-caliber baseball to Minnesota.” Much like Falvey, Levine is known as an “expert” in sabermetrics and advanced analytics, but also incorporates scouting and more traditional approaches when analyzing players.
Levine released the following statement via the Twins:
"As I embark on what I hope to be the most impactful phase of my career, I would like to thank the Pohlad family, Derek Falvey, Dave St. Peter and the Minnesota Twins fans for giving me the opportunity to join the Minnesota Twins family," Levine said. "I am inspired to work for the Twins franchise, known as being one of the best organizations in all of professional sports due to the stalwart leadership of the Pohlad family, commitment of its loyal workforce, talent of its players and unflagging loyalty of its fans."
Sounds like a guy the Pohlads would love, no?
The Twins will hold a press conference at 11:00 am on Monday to introduce both Levine and Falvey, at which point we may learn a bit more about what they have planned for the Twins.