Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the Minnesota Twins let go of their entire four-person scouting department. The Twins retained one member of its five-member staff.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins eliminated four of the five members of their pro scouting staff, multiple league sources confirmed on Tuesday night, a move that one league source described as part of cost-cutting measures by team ownership.
Though the terminations were telegraphed by a significant reduction in the scouts’ travel budget in previous years, the four staff members learned early Tuesday their positions would not be renewed.
Longtime pro scout Ken Compton, who was in his 39th season as a scout and 15th with the club, along with fellow pro scout John Manuel, formerly the editor in chief of Baseball America, were among those informed their positions had been eliminated.
Fellow pro scouts Keith Stohr and Jose Marzan, a former Twins farmhand who’d spent 30-plus years in the organization in a variety of coaching and scouting roles, also were let go.
Pro scout Wesley Wright is still employed by the club
A Twins official declined comment on the dismissals.
The moves come about a month after the Pohlad family announced it ended its exploration of a sale and was instead taking on two limited partnership groups, a process which won’t be finalized until Major League Baseball’s owners approve the new part-owners.
Sources confirmed that those limited partnerships are purchasing at least 20 percent of the club, moves that should help the team reduce accrued debt in excess of $430 million.
With the new business arrangement in place, the Twins are looking to restructure a front office that grew exponentially in terms of resources and positions in the past five years, a team source said.
The Twins had leaned less on their pro scouting department in recent years, heavily cutting travel to road games and requiring them to mainly do video-based scouting. Wright and the team’s pro personnel department, which was already scouting via video, will handle the club’s pro scouting duties moving forward, a source confirmed.
The limiting or elimination of pro scouting departments is becoming a trend across baseball as teams have been relying on video scouting more and more in recent years. Ten months ago, the Chicago Cubs drastically reduced their pro scouting department.
The Twins dealt 10 players ahead of the July 31 trade deadline, dramatically reducing the club’s payroll now and in the future. They were eliminated from postseason play on Sunday, missing the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons. With six home games left entering Wednesday, the Twins are on pace to draw a Target Field record-low 1.76 million fans.
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