The Twins have sought permission from the Red Sox to interview bench coach Ramon Vazquez as part of their managerial search, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported. It’s standard practice for clubs to allow coaches or front office personnel to interview for potential promotions, so it would be shocking if the Red Sox didn’t grant the request.
Vazquez, 49, will be the first known candidate to interview for the Minnesota job. A native of Puerto Rico, he played nine Major League Baseball (MLB) seasons as a utility infielder with six clubs in the 2000s. Since ending his playing career, he has spent more than a decade in the coaching ranks. Vazquez served as a minor league coach in the Houston system and spent one season on the Padres’ MLB staff before joining Alex Cora in Boston for the 2018 season. The Red Sox promoted him to bench coach three years ago.
Aside from a game Cora played at her daughter’s graduation, Vazquez had no Major League Baseball managerial experience. He coached in the Puerto Rico Winter League and moved up to the A-ball in the Houston system for one season. This will be his first publicly reported interview for a MLB managerial position.
The Twins are one of eight teams with a vacancy after firing Rocco Baldelli at the end of the season. The team never really recovered from its late-season collapse in 2024, when they squandered a playoff spot despite reaching a peak of 17 games above .500 in mid-August. They won 13 straight early last season but were well below average in other areas.
After their starting rotation was decimated by injuries in June, they embarked on a massive deadline sell-off that resulted in Carlos Correa Returned to Houston for a pay cut. The deadline also leaves Baldelli and his staff with a bullpen that consists primarily of pickups and journeymen off waivers. The Twins went 19-35 over the final two months and finished as the second-worst team in the American League with a 70-92 record. Only the White Sox, losing more than 100 games for the third straight year, kept Minnesota from finishing last in the AL.
It seems likely that the incoming head coach will enter a rebuilding phase. The Pollard family considered selling the team, but changed their minds in August and instead brought in minority investors to pay off the massive debt the team had reportedly accumulated. Their end-of-season salaries dropped for several seasons after their local broadcast contracts expired (under the Cot’s baseball contract). They have some question marks at the bottom of the lineup and arguably the worst bullpen in MLB.
It won’t all be solved in one offseason, which means they should be active sellers at the deadline this winter and next summer. Ryan Jeffers Entering his final season of arbitration control. Joe Ryan shortened to two arbitration years, and Pablo Lopez Renewed for two more seasons at $21.75 per year. They can listen to role players, e.g. Trevor Lanark and Matt Wallner as well as. Minnesota added high-level starting pitchers such as Mick Abell, Taj Bradley) in a couple of trades last summer, so maybe there’s a chance to get back into contention in 2027, but they’ll face a tough competition next year.
