Twins Announce Promotions in Scouting Department

[Seth Stohs]

From Dustin Morse:

 

 

Here is the full press release (BOLD is done by me to highlight their roles and responsibilities):

 

MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL, MN – The Minnesota Twins announced today that Deron Johnson has been promoted to Senior Advisor of the Scouting department and Sean Johnson has been promoted to Director of Scouting.

“These promotions reflect the evolution of our scouting department and shape our scouting philosophies moving forward,” said Twins Senior Vice President/General Manager Thad Levine. “Deron and Sean are exceptional people, and we have the utmost confidence that both Deron and Sean will establish the right vision through experience, leadership and their commitment to the Minnesota Twins.”

Deron Johnson, 50, has been a member of the Twins organization since January of 1994. While working as the Northern California Area Scout, Johnson was promoted to West Coast Supervisor in October of 1998 and September 13, 2007 he was promoted to Director of Scouting for the Twins. In his new position, Deron will scout the best talent in the domestic and international, amateur markets. In addition, he will assist the Professional Scouting Department by undertaking targeted Minor and Major League scouting assignments.

Deron was born and raised in Vallejo, CA, and graduated from St. Mary’s College in Moraga, CA, with a BA in Liberal Arts in 1991. Prior to joining the Twins, Johnson played three minor league seasons as an outfielder in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization from 1988-1990. He served as the assistant baseball coach and recruiting coordinator for the University of San Francisco from 1992-1993. Deron and his wife, Alecia, have four children, Ashley, Alexis, Deron Jr. and Dominique, and reside in Sacramento, CA.

Sean Johnson, 41, joined the Twins as an area scout in 2002, originally scouting Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and Colorado. In 2008, Sean was promoted to West Coast Supervisor, overseeing the amateur scouts on the west coast for the June First-Year Player Draft. In his new role, Sean will establish the Minnesota Twins Amateur Scouting philosophies. Sean will be responsible for the strategic preparation of the Amateur Draft, and he will be charged with developing the 27-man amateur scouting staff.

           A catcher at Wichita State from 1996-98, Sean began his professional career as the Shockers director of baseball operations. He was hired by the Marlins as the Midwest area scout in 2001 before joining the Twins in 2002.

[Pardon My Dinger]

I thought this was going to be about a Corey Koskie bobble-head taking Ron Gardenhire's Special Assistant spot. 

[gunnarthor]

Maybe I'm reading too much into this but it seems like they might have 'promoted' Deron Johnson back into his strength - scouting - and out of draft planning.  Not sure that's an actual promotion for him.  

[HitInAPinch]

 

Maybe I'm reading too much into this but it seems like they might have 'promoted' Deron Johnson back into his strength - scouting - and out of draft planning.  Not sure that's an actual promotion for him.  

I was thinking the same thing.  Working in the big corporate world, the next press release would say: 

Strategic Re-Organization.  

[Jeremy Nygaard]

I talked to Sean a few years back and this was the result. It's my favorite thing I've ever done on this website and it really opened my eyes to a whole new part of baseball. Sean's an awesome person and he'll be great in this role. He's been a finalist for this job in other organizations at least once.

 

I also found the wording of DJ's "promotion" to read more like a reshuffling. 

 

Either way, this is another step in the right direction for the organization.

[Mr. Brooks]

When I first heard the news break I was bummed. Not a big fan of Johnson's drafts.

But to echo a couple posters, this appears to be a "promotion" out of that responsibility. That is a good thing, IMO.

[Seth Stohs]

Definitely a well-earned promotion for Sean Johnson, but I echo the thought that it isn't really a promotion for Deron Johnson, though he'll still be involved, and scouting some of the top talent around. He's certainly a good talent evaluator.... 

[Seth Stohs]

More from the Twins Scouting Department... Congratulations Larry Corrigan! 

 

 

 

[nicksaviking]

 

Maybe I'm reading too much into this but it seems like they might have 'promoted' Deron Johnson back into his strength - scouting - and out of draft planning.  Not sure that's an actual promotion for him.  

 

And there surely will be folks not thrilled that Johnson (and Johnson?) were retained, but frankly I think scouting and the ensuing draft is probably really about gathering data and if the Twins are as short staffed in the scouting department as they are everywhere else in the organization, I'm wondering if we'll see different results simply if more people are hired here to provide more data.