The Twins are looking for a new manager and are considering a current Yankee coach. According to reports from Greg Joyce, Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman of The New York Postare the Twins interested in the Yankees hitting coach James Rowson. Clubs generally do not stand in the way of their staffers seeking promotion from other clubs and the report notes that the Yanks have already given the Twins permission to talk to Rowson about the gig. The report also lists Derek Shelton and Ramon Vazquez as potential candidates. MLBTR covered Vazquez earlier today.
Rowson, 49, has no managerial experience but has a long track record as a batting coach. The Twins are certainly familiar with his coaching abilities, as he was their hitting coach from 2017 to 2019. Minnesota’s bats fared well during that time, posting a combined .260/.330/.445 line over those three campaigns. That translates to a 105 wRC+, trailing only four clubs in that span. The 2019 club was particularly successful, hitting 307 home runs. That was juiced-ball season, but the Twins still led the league in putting that ball over the fence.
Entering 2020, he jumped to the Marlins with the titles of bench coach and offensive coordinator. Miami didn’t have a particularly strong offense during his time there, but the club didn’t try particularly hard to win despite making a playoff appearance in the shortened 2020 season. Rowson then spent 2023 with the Tigers as an assistant hitting coach before landing his current gig as the Yankees hitting coach.
It’s always difficult to separate the players’ contributions from those of a coach, but the Yanks have performed well under Rowson. The Yanks had a .248/.333/.429 line last year, which translated into a league-leading 118 wRC+. This year it was a .251/.332/.455 slash, again topping the league with a 119 wRC+.
Obviously you have a slugger Aaron Judge on the roster helps, but Rowson appears to be respected throughout the game based on his continued employment. Whether his experience with hitters can translate to the expanded role of manager is something the Twins will have to debate as they search for various candidates to replace Rocco Baldelliwho was fired last month. For the Yankees, they will have to find a new hitting coach if Rowson ultimately gets the job in Minnesota.
Shelton brings more management experience, but without much success in the role. He managed the Pirates from 2020 to 2025 and was fired in May of this year. He produced a 306-440 record while at the helm of the Pirates. That’s obviously a bad number, but Pittsburgh has been building all this time, so the question is how much of that record should be attributed to Shelton’s management skills.
Photo courtesy of John Meore, Imagn Images
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