MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Twins will promote Derek Falvey to president of baseball and business operations and Jeremy Zoll to general manager as part of a front office succession plan initiated by current club president Dave St. Peter's move into a strategic adviser role.
The Twins announced their executive leadership changes on Tuesday. The transition will take place in the first quarter of 2025, as approved by owners Jim Pohlad and Joe Pohlad. The Pohlad family announced last month that it is exploring a sale of the franchise that Carl Pohlad, the father of Jim Pohlad and grandfather of Joe Pohlad, purchased in 1984.
St. Peter, who joined the organization as an intern in 1990, was appointed the club's fourth president after the 2002 season and added the CEO title in 2016. St. Peter had a big role in helping the Twins secure public funding for Target Field and establish the open-air ballpark as a centerpiece of the North Loop neighborhood on the west edge of downtown since it opened in 2010. The Twins during his time as president twice won the Baseball America's Organization of the Year award.
St. Peter also played a major role in moving Twins broadcasts from their regional sports network home to an MLB-controlled streaming platform for next year in the aftermath of Diamond Sports Group bankruptcy that has disrupted operating budgets and fan connections for several teams. In his new advisory role, the 57-year-old St. Peter will help guide the Pohlad family through the sale exploration process.
“He leads with integrity, compassion and an unmatched dedication to our organization and fans,” Joe Pohlad said in a statement distributed by the Twins. “I will always admire Dave’s commitment to do right by the Twins.”
This front office shuffle was in the works before the Pohlads decided to put the team on the market, St. Peter said. The 41-year-old Falvey has led the baseball department for the last eight seasons and added the president of baseball operations title five years ago. He'll now be in charge of business operations as well.
“I feel truly convicted that Derek is the right successor, and I want to support him in every way and set him up for success, hopefully, over the long haul,” St. Peter told reporters. “The move is important because it signals, I’m hoping, to the broader organization and to our partners that there is stability and continuity.”
The 34-year-old Zoll has been an assistant general manager for the Twins since 2020 after beginning his tenure with the organization as director of minor league operations in 2018. In partnership with team physician Dr. Christopher Camp, Zoll has overseen all aspects of player performance from biomechanics to nutrition to mental health. He has also overseen the player development system.
Zoll, who will be the seventh general manager in Twins history, has previously worked for four major league organizations since starting his career in 2011. He was assistant director of player development for the Los Angeles Dodgers when he was hired by the Twins. Zoll fills the vacancy left by general manager Thad Levine's departure that was announced after the season.
Regardless of the business-side changes, Falvey, Zoll and the rest of the front office were already facing a challenge of reviving a team that collapsed down the stretch with 18 losses in the last 24 games to miss the playoffs after winning the AL Central in 2023 and ending a record 18-game postseason losing streak. The Twins have won three division titles in eight years under Falvey, but they haven't won or reached the World Series since 1991 nor have they appeared in the AL Championship Series since 2002. That season was the first of six AL Central crowns in a nine-year span, before a rough stretch that preceded Falvey's arrival.
“Probably my biggest regret is we didn’t do more damage in the postseason, because we had some really good teams and some really good players,” St. Peter said. “I’m really proud of the fact that we were able to compete.”
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FILE - Associated Press staff photographer Jim Mone, left, is congratulated by Minnesota Twins President and CEO Dave St. Peter after he threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Minnesota Twins play the Detroit Tigers in a baseball game, Sept. 30, 2021 in Minneapolis. (Jeff Wheeler/Star Tribune via AP, File)
FILE - Minnesota Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey speaks to fans and media during the baseball team's annual fan fest at Target Field, Jan. 28, 2023, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump is making a victor’s return to Washington.
The president-elect’s plane landed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Wednesday morning and Trump arrived near the Capitol for a meeting with House Republicans as they prepare for a potentially unified Republican government and sweep of power.
Back in Washington for the first time since his election victory, Trump told lawmakers, “It’s nice to win.”
The private meeting, ahead of Trump’s sit down with President Joe Biden at the White House as a traditional part of the peaceful handoff of power, puts in stark relief the former president’s comeback to Washington. Trump is arriving amid Republican congressional leadership elections potentially putting his imprint on the outcome.
It’s a stunning return to the U.S. seat of government for the former president, who departed nearly four years ago a diminished, politically defeated leader after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol but is preparing to come back to power with what he and his GOP allies see as a mandate for governance.
“He is the comeback king,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., before Trump’s arrival. “We owe him a great debt of gratitude.”
President Joe Biden — both Trump’s successor and predecessor — will welcome him to the Oval Office. It’s a traditional part of the peaceful handoff of power, but also a ritual that Trump himself declined to participate in four years ago.
Before his White House session, Trump was meeting privately with congressional Republicans as they focus on his Day 1 priorities and prepare for a potentially unified government with a GOP sweep of power in Washington. His visit, amid Republican congressional leadership elections, could put his imprint on the outcome.
“I expect him to give a great message today, more like a locker room speech getting everybody ready for what’s coming in January,” Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., said on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends.” The new Congress will be sworn-in about two weeks before Trump takes office on Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, 2025.
In an unusual move, Trump is being accompanied on the trip by billionaire Elon Musk. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who Trump named on Tuesday to a government efficiency advisory role, isn't expected to attend the White House sit-down. But he will join Trump's meeting with House Republicans before that.
Musk has been spending much of his time at Mar-a-Lago, Trump's Florida estate, and participating in meetings as the incoming Trump administration prepares to transition from Biden's. Some close to Trump and his team now see the billionaire as the second most influential figure in Trump’s immediate orbit, after Susie Wiles, the campaign manager who is Trump's incoming chief of staff.
For Trump, it's a stunning return to the U.S. seat of government after he departed nearly four years ago a diminished, politically defeated leader after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol but is preparing to come back to power with what he and his GOP allies see as a mandate for governance.
Johnson said Republicans are “ready to deliver” on Trump’s “America First” agenda.
After his election win in 2016, Trump met with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office and called it “a great honor." But he soon was back to heaping insults on Obama, including accusing his predecessor — without evidence — of having wire-tapped him during the 2016 campaign.
Four years later, Trump disputed his 2020 election loss to Biden, and he has continued to lie about widespread voter fraud that did not occur. He didn't invite Biden, then the president-elect, to the White House and he left Washington without attending Biden's inauguration. It was the first time that had happened since Andrew Johnson skipped Ulysses S. Grant's swearing-in 155 years ago.
Biden insists that he'll do everything he can to make the transition to the next Trump administration go smoothly. That's despite having spent more than a year campaigning for reelection and decrying Trump as a threat to democracy and the nation’s core values. Biden then bowed out of the race in July and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him.
In the wake of the election, the president has abandoned his dire warnings about Trump, saying in a speech last week, “The American experiment endures. We’re going to be okay.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden is committed to “making sure that this transition is effective, efficient and he's doing that because it is the norm, yes, but also the right thing to do for the American people.”
“We want this to go well," Jean-Pierre added. "We want this to be a process that gets the job done."
Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the administration will uphold the “responsible handoff from one president to the next, which is in the best tradition of our country.”
“They will go through the top issues — both domestic and foreign policy issues — including what is happening in Europe and Asia and the Middle East,” Sullivan told CBS of Wednesday’s meeting. “And the president will have the chance to explain to President Trump how he sees things ... and talk to President Trump about how President Trump is thinking about taking on these issues when he takes office.”
Traditionally, as the outgoing and incoming presidents meet in the West Wing, the first lady hosts her successor upstairs in the residence, But her office said Melania Trump wasn't attending, saying in a statement that “her husband’s return to the Oval Office to commence the transition process is encouraging, and she wishes him great success.”
When Trump left Washington in 2021, even some top Republicans had begun to decry his role in helping incite a mob of his supporters that had staged the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol mere weeks earlier, tyring to stop the certification of Biden’s election victory.
But his win in last week's election completes a political comeback that has seen Trump once again become the unchallenged head of the GOP.
Wednesday's trip isn't the first time Trump has returned to the Capitol area since the end of his first term, though. Congressional Republicans hosted Trump over the summer, as Trump was again solidifying his dominance over the party.
His latest visit comes as Republicans, who wrested the Senate majority from Democrats in last week's elections and are on the cusp of keeping GOP control of the House, are in the midst of their own leadership elections happening behind closed doors Wednesday.
The president-elect's arrival will provide another boost to Johnson, who has pulled ever-closer to Trump as he worked to keep his majority — and his own job with the gavel.
The speaker said he expects to see Trump repeatedly throughout the week, including at an event later that evening, and at the president-elect's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida “all weekend."
It's unclear whether Trump will also visit the Senate, which is entangled in a more divisive closed-door leadership election in the three-way race to replace outgoing GOP Leader Mitch McConnell.
Trump's allies are pushing GOP senators to vote for Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who had been a longshot candidate challenging two more senior Republicans, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, for the job.
Associated Press writers Jill Colvin in New York and Darelene Superville and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks before President-elect Donald Trump arrives to meet the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks before President-elect Donald Trump arrives to meet the House GOP conference, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President-elect Donald Trump arrives at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President-elect Donald Trump arrives at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Elon Musk and others, walk off President-elect Donald Trump's airplane, as he arrives at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President-elect Donald Trump’s airplane, with Trump aboard, arrives, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President-elect Donald Trump's airplane, with Trump aboard, arrives, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President-elect Donald Trump arrives at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
A motorcade carrying President-elect Donald Trump leaves Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
A motorcade carrying President-elect Donald Trump leaves Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
FILE - Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk listens as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
This combo image shows President Joe Biden, left, and President-elect Donald Trump, right. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, left; Alex Brandon, right)
FILE - Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump smiles at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
