Wes Johnson Leaving Twins for LSU

It was a pretty good Sunday for the Minnesota Twins. They took the final game of their series vs the Colorado Rockies, which won them the 3-game inter-league bout held over the weekend at Target Field.

Meanwhile, the Cleveland Guardians lost their 4th-straight game, dropping them two games back of the Twins for the AL Central lead. This, on the eve of an important 5-game series between Cleveland and Minnesota that starts Monday.

But Sunday evening, reports are breaking — first via D1Baseball.com and now confirmed by others — that Minnesota Twins pitching coach, Wes Johnson, has accepted a job offer from LSU, as the Tigers new pitching coach. Remember, Johnson was a highly-touted, forward-thinking college coach when hired by the Twins in 2018.

BREAKING: @LSUbaseball is hiring @Twins pitching coach Wes Johnson as its new pitching coach, sources tell @d1baseball. Johnson has spent the last four seasons with the #Twins and marks a blockbuster hire for Jay Johnson. #LSU https://t.co/iXDPdKS6pm pic.twitter.com/OVkWIrQgXS

— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogers) June 26, 2022

LSU hires Twins pitching coach Wes Johnson. Johnson coached at Miss State & Arkansas before leaving for the Twins.

Southern Miss’ Christian Ostrander & UNC-Charlotte’s Rob Woodard were also candidates for the job. #LSU

— Leah Vann (@LVann_Sports) June 26, 2022

Johnson to Jump Ship (Almost) Immediately

According to D1 Baseball, Johnson will leave the Twins immediately, even though the college baseball season is over and the MLB season hasn’t even reached the All-Star break. Wow, this is big news. And the timing couldn’t be worse…

What’s remarkable about Johnson landing Wes Johnson is that the @Twins currently lead the AL Central with a 41-33 record. Now, he’s heading back to college baseball midseason. Big pull for @LSUbaseball – Kendall Rogers – D1 Baseball

Aaron Gleeman (The Athletic) is now reporting that, per a source, the upcoming series in Cleveland is expected to be Wes Johnson’s last with the Minnesota Twins. Why is Johnson leaving? Because, apparently, he will make a lot more money as a big time college pitching coach than he does in the MLB. You learn new things every day…

Crazy move, but for those wondering how a college team can acquire a big league coach, it probably will come as a shock for fans to realize that coach pay at a top-tier power 5 NCAA baseball program is so, so much better than professional baseball.

It's not remotely close. https://t.co/o6yFmxje7k

— Kyle Boddy (@drivelinebases) June 26, 2022

Per this article [0], Wes was making $350k/year w/ the Twins. Sources tell me he's making double that at LSU.

But if you want concrete numbers, Rob Walton (Ok. State PC) was making $400k/year. In 2017.

[0]: https://t.co/LUnRPkYfQG

[1]: https://t.co/XkYafb1XIU https://t.co/5OONnFEIsl

— Kyle Boddy (@drivelinebases) June 27, 2022

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan