The Minnesota Twins announce the departure of four coaches, including hitting coach David Popkins

In the immediate aftermath of the Twins' elimination from the 2024 postseason, fans and media alike wondered whether the season-ending collapse would lead to firings of baseball president Derek Falvey and manager Rocco Baldelli.

But while owners and higher-ups have reaffirmed their confidence in these two team leaders – and that they will return in 2025 – the same cannot be said for the rest of the coaching staff.

As the twins announced on a sleazy social media page today:

The coaching departures include all three of the team's hitting coaches, most notably David Popkins. Despite his backers, including Carlos Correa, the all-or-nothing approach at the plate led by Popkins has produced far too much nothing in recent seasons, with Minnesota having the most infamous team strikeout record for one with 1,654 Ks in 2023 season set up.

Departing along with Popkins will be assistant hitting coach Rudy Hernandez, a decades-long dugout coach and hitting department consultant, and assistant hitting coach Derek Shomon, whose exit from a Twins-Pirates match in June brought plenty of dunking to celebrate Referee while he is the assistant striking coach.

Last on the roster is infield coach and assistant coach Tony Diaz. I'm no expert in defensive stats, but by any modern measure the Twins were pretty bad with the glove in 2024, ranking 28th in double play runs above average (minus 4.8) and 25th in total saves above average Defensive runs (minus-19) and last in ultimate zone rating (minus-30.4).

According to beat writer Do-Hyoung Park, none of the other coaching jobs are in jeopardy and they are all expected to return in 2025. What the new staff and coaching philosophy will look like remains to be discovered, but a willingness to make changes in areas of coaching weakness should give Twins fans across the area a spark of confidence back.