How Long Will the Twins Be Able to Keep Thad Levine?

When a team is successful, it’s only natural for other organizations to want to try and steal some of that success. That can come from hiring away other team’s front office personnel and coaches. The Twins have seen multiple coaches be snagged by other teams over the last handful of years, but the Derek Falvey and Thad Levine combo have stayed together at the top of the organization. However, they may not stay together forever.

After just 21 games, the Colorado Rockies are looking for a new person to take over their general manager role. This is the first time since 2014 that Colorado is looking for a new general manager. Jeff Bridich resigned earlier in the week and it sounds like the club will wait until this winter to hire a permanent replacement.

According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, Levine is “the leading candidate to become only the fourth Rockies’ GM in history.” Levine has ties to the Rockies organization as he served in a variety of roles with the club from 1999-2005 including senior director of baseball operations. He left for Texas after that and joined the Twins back in 2016.

Colorado isn’t exactly an easy place to be a general manager. Just this winter, the former GM was forced to trade All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado in a deal that included the Rockies paying $51 million of his remaining $199 million salary. Trevor Story, now the team’s best player, will be a free agent at season’s end. They also have one of the worst ranked farm systems in baseball, so there isn’t a lot of reason for optimism moving forward.

Next season will be Colorado’s 30th and the team has never won a division title. Things aren’t looking that great for 2021 either as the team currently sits at 8-14, the lowest winning percentage in the National League. The Twins were coming off some rough seasons when Levine joined the organization, but they weren’t nearly as big of a mess as the current state of the Rockies.

Other organizations have shown interest in Levine over the last three years. Back in 2018, the Mets were interested in interviewing Levine for their GM spot. This past offseason he was one of the top contenders for the President of Baseball Operations position in Philadelphia. He took his name out of the running for that job, because he was committed to his role with the Twins. In fact, he is signed with Minnesota through 2024.

It seems likely for Levine to have a chance to take over his own front office at some point in the future. His name is going to continue to be floated out there for nearly every opening. There are clearly some connections to his time in Colorado, but the Rockies are a mess of a franchise. It doesn’t seem like the right opportunity, but that doesn’t mean Levine will be a Twin for life.

Do you think Levine will seriously consider the Rockies job? Leave a COMMENT and join the discussion.

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