Longest Tenured Twins Coach Leaving Organization

It has been an offseason of change for the Minnesota Twins. Rocco Baldelli played fall guy for a 70-92 season and two-straight missed postseasons, even though those that fired him pulled $30 million from player payroll during that time.

Baldelli was replaced with his buddy and former bench coach, Derek Shelton, who will start the second managing opportunity of his career when the MN Twins meet for Spring Training in February. In the week since Shelton was announced as manager, we’ve seen a few moves within his coaching staff.

But on Monday, we found out that the hiring of LaTroy Hawkins and departure of Hank Conger, Derek Shomon and others were only the start of this staff reconstruction project, as it expanded to the longest tenured employee remaining in the organization, among others.

Tommy Watkins heading to Atlanta Braves

The Minnesota Twins drafted Tommy Watkins in the 38th round of the 1998 Major League Baseball amateur draft. He spent the next decade in the minor leagues, before making his big league debut in 2007.

After retiring as a player following the 2009 baseball season, Watkins started making his way through the coaching ranks of the organization, where he made it all the way to MLB third base coach, before he and the Twins parted ways today. Now, the 45-year-old will get a fresh start with the Atlanta Braves.

Multiple sources said Tommy Watkins is landing a coaching job with the Atlanta Braves. #MNTwins let him interview as they continue to overhaul their coaching staff.

— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) November 10, 2025

For those counting, that’s 26 years as a Minnesota Twin. Watkins will join Walt Weiss’ Braves’ staff, after he replaced recently retired Brian Snitker. What role Watkins will play on Walt Weiss’ coaching staff remains to be seen.

Minnesota Twins keeping Pete Maki

Ramon Borrego was the first base coach last season under Baldelli. He remains employed for now. One coach we know will be returning is pitching coach, Pete Maki, who took over for Wes Johnson mid-season in 2022. He will keep his position on the reshuffled staff.

Pete Maki also is returning as the #MNTwins pitching coach according to multiple sources. But several other coaches are out and others remain in limbo.

— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) November 11, 2025

Apparently, Maki is not being held responsible for a pitching staff that has underperformed. Afterall, that’s what Baldelli fell for, right? Since Maki took over, the Twins have ranked 18th of 30 teams in ERA. They were 25th last year, and 21st the year before.

Falvey’s calling card in Cleveland was the ability to develop a pitching pipeline. The problem here is that the good ones are put eventually placed into a pipeline out of town. Still, Maki & Co have struggled to consistently help young arms at a rate necessary to float a cheap organization like the Minnesota Twins.

This offseason, especially in the bullpen, is critical for the Minnesota Twins to retool their roster. The team begins Spring Training action on February 20, 2026. It has been suggested that the team would like managerial runner-up, James Rowson, to be the bench coach. The jury remains out on whether they can actually lure him here.