Report: Twins Lose James Rowson to Marlins

According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the Miami Marlins are set to hire Twins hitting coach James Rowson. According to the Passan tweet, Rowson will be named the Marlins bench coach and offensive coordinator.Twins hitting coach James Rowson has earned a lot of praise for his work as the Twins hitting coach over the past few seasons. In particular, he led the 2019 Twins offense which set the all-time single-season home run record.The assumption as the season went on is that the Twins organization, specifically Rocco's Baldelli's coaching staff, could lose several key members during the offseson, and Rowson's name was often mentioned.Early on Thursday evening, Jeff Passan tweeted the news: He followed with a tweet to attempt to explain the role of "Offense Coordinator."So while the title is different, it is a role that he is quite familiar with. It certainly is a promotion for Rowson, but he was hired by the Twins in large part due to his work as a hitting coordinator with the Yankees and Cubs organizations.It is certainly a big loss for the Twins organization. He will not be easy to replace, but this front office has found lesser known names (like Rowson when he was hired) for several jobs already.One option may be assistant hitting coach Rudy Hernandez who has been in the organization nearly two decades and has a great working rapport with many of the Spanish-speaking hitters in the organization .Related Content:Will Minnesota Get Raided This Offseason?The Making of Max PowerLet's Talk About Byron Buxton's SwingClick here to view the article

Congrats to Rowson. Helped Twins make significant progress. FO will make good adjustments.

Marlins eh? Alright...good luck.

2019 was incredibly entertaining until the Yankees series where the one dimensional approach and total lack of situational hitting was exposed. Best of luck but in my opinion anyone willing to make a lateral move from an up and coming winner to a toilet of an organization clearly doesn’t have their priorities in order and therefore is not much of a loss.

I have heard nothing but goodness about the way Rowson handled many of the young Twins batters. He was a reinforcing presence off the bench and in the batting cage. Will be interesting to see who comes in to replace him (as well as maybe the Twins own bench coach moving on). 

A Bench Coach is pretty much insulated from the wrath of fans. The manager will bare the brunt of any decision that goes wrong.

 

However, as we all know. Call for a run on 3rd and 7 and the fans will be all over the OC. 

Of what is this 3rd and 7 you speak? This is a foreign tongue of which I know very little.....

I'm cautiously optimistic that the Twins will actually benefit if indeed Rowson moves on. Hadn't had occasion to mention this before.

 

IMO batting coaches have a short half-life in terms of improving individual batters. He's brought a lot of our guys forward and deserves credit. But the Yankees series demonstrated, in my view, that there remains more to be done, to become a truly top-shelf offense. I hope the Twins locate a batting coach who has some additional situational tricks up his sleeve, as we've felt pretty one-dimensional.

Congrats to Rowson for his promotion. I don't fully understand this move to a team like the Marlins, but it obviously should increase his pay and progression to a possible manager role some day. But the Marlins? Best of luck to him.

My first thought was surprise, and then "damn, we lost a really good coach!" And then I thought about Ash's comments...and then I thought a little bit more...and I suddenly thought "huh, maybe he's right".

NOT a knock on Rowson at all, but after 3 years, even after an amazing season, maybe a different voice can offer up a little different perspective that can tweak all this talent just a little more. And this FO seems to have a really good eye for coaching talent. Sometimes surprisingly so. Call me "uncomfortable" losing Rowson, but optimistic they will make a fine addition here.

Congrats and good luck to him!

Of what is this 3rd and 7 you speak? This is a foreign tongue of which I know very little.....

A Bench Coach is pretty much insulated from the wrath of fans. The manager will bare the brunt of any decision that goes wrong. However, as we all know. Call for a run on 3rd and 7 and the fans will be all over the OC.

Mr Rowson has been great for the Twins and I’m very happy for him. Bench coach is a great step for him and I’m still not sure what an offensive coordinator does, but innovation is good.

The Twins FO has shown a keen eye for coaching talent, and I’m confident they’ll replace Rowson with another very good hitting coach.

My thoughts exactly.

Good work Mr. Rowson, you'll be missed, congrats on the promo. I am confident the FO can find a suitable replacement.

Marlins eh? Alright...good luck.

2019 was incredibly entertaining until the Yankees series where the one dimensional approach and total lack of situational hitting was exposed. Best of luck but in my opinion anyone willing to make a lateral move from an up and coming winner to a toilet of an organization clearly doesn’t have their priorities in order and therefore is not much of a loss.

Maybe the Marlins doubled his salary.

Thank you James Rowson. I wish you the best in Miami.

Schnelker!!!

Don't make me post that ****ing Jerry Burns video...

Marlins eh? Alright...good luck.

2019 was incredibly entertaining until the Yankees series where the one dimensional approach and total lack of situational hitting was exposed. Best of luck but in my opinion anyone willing to make a lateral move from an up and coming winner to a toilet of an organization clearly doesn’t have their priorities in order and therefore is not much of a loss.

$$$$$$

If the money is better, that's the deciding factor I'm sure. Why does everyone think anyone associated with baseball or sports in general always goes to a winning place, city they want, etc. They have a few years to make money, they are going where cash is king. 

much like Manager, there are only 30 bench coach jobs in MLB. What if Rowson doesn’t accept the Marlins job and Shelton doesn’t leave? Someday never comes.

Rowson took an elite job with a clear step up in responsibility in-line with potential for future manager opportunities. He absolutely made a good career move, no matter what happens with Shelton.

Edit to add: no job opportunity comes without risk. The marlins have a difficult road in front of them, but that is why the job came open, and inherent in these types of job openings.

I generally agree. But Teddy Bridgewater doesn't (sticking with the Miami theme).

$$$$$$

 

If the money is better, that's the deciding factor I'm sure. Why does everyone think anyone associated with baseball or sports in general always goes to a winning place, city they want, etc. They have a few years to make money, they are going where cash is king.

I get all that...Even with a salary increase and more responsibilities I just can’t fathom how it would be a good career move to willfully leave a contending team with a very well respected front office and coaching staff to go work for basically a AAA team. Is a bench coach or “offensive coordinator” really that much of a promotion? Seems to me that he could have probably jumped straight to a manager position after another year with the Twins. If I were a hiring POBO looking for my next manager I’d be much more interested in a candidate that worked for a progressive winner with a good culture than a losing team that may have a lot of ambition but is a long ways away from winning.

Overall though I’m just bitter that the first sign of success with this team could lead to the coaching staff and front office that got the team in this position getting raided. Already lost the MLB hitting coach and MILB hitting coordinator with the bench coach probably all but gone.

I wish Mr. Rowson luck though and have full confidence that Falvey and Levine will surprise everyone with some unconventional but very intriguing hires to replace anyone that does leave.

I'm cautiously optimistic that the Twins will actually benefit if indeed Rowson moves on. Hadn't had occasion to mention this before.

 

IMO batting coaches have a short half-life in terms of improving individual batters. He's brought a lot of our guys forward and deserves credit. But the Yankees series demonstrated, in my view, that there remains more to be done, to become a truly top-shelf offense. I hope the Twins locate a batting coach who has some additional situational tricks up his sleeve, as we've felt pretty one-dimensional.

With continuity among the playing staff, it might be a decent idea to switch hitting/pitching coaches every few years. The hitters have probably learned what Rowson can teach them and maybe a new voice would bring something useful to add to that.

I wouldn't say the same about minor-league coaches, where new groups of players cycle through every year, or if the big-league squad was turning over a lot year to year, but this bunch of Twins hitters looks to be stable for the next 2-3 years at least. Let's see if we can hire someone who can build on what Rowson taught them.

Competent MLB batting Coach. Did a nice job during his time with the Twins (vs the disastrous Brunansky).

I assume his contract had expired with the Twins? If so, it's telling that FalVine did not fight to keep him?

In any event, Good luck, Mr Rowson!

Of what is this 3rd and 7 you speak? This is a foreign tongue of which I know very little.....

It's playoff-speak for playing against the Yankees.

3rd inning, down by 7.

It's a song by Chicago. 

No, Chicago actually sung about that odd double play that happened that Saturday in the Park, "25 or 6 to 4". 

It's a song by Chicago. 

25 or 6 to 4 ???

Congrats to Rowson for his promotion. I don't fully understand this move to a team like the Marlins, but it obviously should increase his pay and progression to a possible manager role some day. But the Marlins? Best of luck to him. My first thought was surprise, and then "damn, we lost a really good coach!" And then I thought about Ash's comments...and then I thought a little bit more...and I suddenly thought "huh, maybe he's right". NOT a knock on Rowson at all, but after 3 years, even after an amazing season, maybe a different voice can offer up a little different perspective that can tweak all this talent just a little more. And this FO seems to have a really good eye for coaching talent. Sometimes surprisingly so. Call me "uncomfortable" losing Rowson, but optimistic they will make a fine addition here.

I'm not sure that hiring Rowson will put the Marlins in the playoffs .... BUT don't knock that team too much. They have a good young core of position players and pitchers and I think they could surprise some people in 2020, at least capable of playing .500 ball. As for Rowson, I liked having him with the Twins, but also agree with the philosophy of changing hitting coaches every few years,

I'm cautiously optimistic that the Twins will actually benefit if indeed Rowson moves on. Hadn't had occasion to mention this before.

 

IMO batting coaches have a short half-life in terms of improving individual batters. He's brought a lot of our guys forward and deserves credit. But the Yankees series demonstrated, in my view, that there remains more to be done, to become a truly top-shelf offense. I hope the Twins locate a batting coach who has some additional situational tricks up his sleeve, as we've felt pretty one-dimensional.

I wanted Cruz to get that job when he retired.....don't think none of that will happen....