Twins CEO Dave St. Peter on surviving 2020, the St. Paul Saints and the Gardenhires, father and son – TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press

Dave St. Peter has been president of the Minnesota Twins since 2002 and became the franchises chief executive officer in 2016. Dave has overseen the Twins through good times, bad times and Covid-19 times. The Pioneer Press chatted with him about the upcoming season, last season, Rocco Baldelli, Nelson Cruz, the affiliation with the St. Paul Saints and much more.

Everything about the 2020 season was strange. It was like a really bad episode of The Twilight Zone. It was different in every way. We werent able to engage with our staff and our people the way we normally did. Our day was filled with Zoom calls from early morning through the evening. When we finally were able to start the season, we did so without a single fan entering the ballpark in 2020. It was a soulless experience.

I loved watching our team play but it was maddening with piped-in noise and no energy or electricity from our crowd, from our fans. We got through it. We did what we needed to do, and I think baseball played some role in restoring at least some level of normalcy. They could follow the Twins every day and listen on the radio and watch on television, but it was a far cry from what we have come to know and expect around Twins baseball.

Im looking forward to the 2021 season because I have a significant amount of hope and even a fair amount of confidence that normalcy will return at some point in 2021. For a lot of reasons, I think we all long for normalcy. We recognize the uncertainty that confronts all walks of life going into the year. Baseball is no different. We have to continue to be patient, continue to let the science guide us. Im fairly optimistic that 21 will bring us a new level of normalcy and, ultimately, bring people back to ballparks and allow live sports and entertainment to re-ignite.

As of right now, we continue to plan for an on-time start, which would have our pitchers and catchers reporting on Feb. 18.

I dont know that we look at our club differently whether were playing in the midst of Covid or playing in normal times. At the end of the day, we think we have a really good baseball team. We think the way 2020 played out, even with a truncated season, our team played at a high level and, by most measures, was one of the best teams in the league. Unfortunately, we had a very challenging postseason experience, which has become habit for us, and we have to find a way to get over that hump.

We go into the year even right now with the roster we have and the core thats in place believing we will have a team that will be very capable of threepeating as American League Central Division champs. But more importantly, competing in the postseason, making a run and hopefully finding ourselves in the World Series. We have some work to do. Were always trying to make ourselves better. The offseason has played out rather slowly for us to this point. We feel pretty confident in our ability to improve our team going into spring training.

Were hopeful about re-signing Nelson Cruz. Nelly has earned the right to take his time. Weve been in regular conversations with Nelly and his agent. I think theres mutual interest. I think Nelly has loved his time in Minnesota, loves playing for Rocco Baldelli. I feel he takes some ownership over how our club has performed on the field and, frankly, whats in front of us in the postseason. Im hopeful. Theres still some uncertainty about whether the DH will be in place throughout the National League. I think that question might be slowing down the process a bit. We remain very hopeful to have Nelson Cruz. We know what he means on the field, but he means the world to us in our clubhouse, in our dugout, and in the community as well.

Youre never 100 percent certain when you hire somebody. Theres always some level of risk that its not going to work out. When we were interviewing Rocco, he was in demand. He was interviewing with a number of major league clubs at the same time he was interviewing with the Twins. Other clubs saw what we saw in Rocco, which is a guy whos really grounded. His experience in baseball as a player, as a coach, as a front-office executive was well documented. I think he brought a vision and ultimately brought a leadership style and mindset that was destined for success.

Hes a cool customer, and hes very chill. He has a gift. His gift is connecting with people and, in this case, the people he connects with every day his players, the coaches, the staff inside that clubhouse create an environment I think is conducive to winning. Were really lucky to have him in the role hes in with us. And I know Rocco feels very embedded in the Twins organization and the Twins community.

Derek Falvey (Twins president of baseball operations) is making every key baseball decision we need to make. Derek and I collaborate. We talk every day and we collaborate on every major decision. That doesnt mean Im giving him counsel and advice on baseball-related decisions or personnel decisions. The Pohlad philosophy since they bought the team has been to allow the baseball people to make the baseball decisions. That started with Andy MacPhail and continues today with Derek Falvey. Much like with Rocco, were very blessed to have Derek in the role hes in.

The Saints affiliation? It was a bright spot in an otherwise unfulfilling 2020. I spent a lot of time working with (Saints owner) Marv Goldklang and his group to try to make this happen. It doesnt happen without (Twins owner) Jim Pohlads unabashed support and desire to make it happen. Were thrilled. We think its a great thing for us from a baseball operations perspective and the development of our players. I think its an even better thing for the brand of baseball the Twins and Saints combining for the future of baseball in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest.

Nothing is changing in terms of the way the Saints have operated. The Twins will have a minority ownership stake but we have said from the start: We have zero desire to change the way the Saints are run. Were going to provide the players. Were going to provide the manager and coaches. But the Saints are going to be the Saints. So whatever role (Saints co-owner) Mike Veeck wants, Mike Veeck is going to have. Mike has been great. He has been very open-minded. We talked about this transaction with Mike. It was important to the Twins that Mike felt good about it. Ive admired Mike Veeck. Mike Veeck, in my mind, is a Hall of Fame executive. Hes not afraid to try new things. Hes not afraid to remind us that too often in professional sports we take things a tad too seriously.

Its going to be exciting to see some of our top prospects on the diamond for the Saints each and every year. What Im really excited about is Saints fans ultimately will develop an emotional connection to some of those players. And some of those fans will follow those players to Target Field when they make their debut for the Twins. And thats the type of thing that, over the long term, is going to serve both franchises very well.

I think both franchises can learn from each other. My gut tells me there probably will be more Saints influence on the Twins (with promotions) than Twins influence on the Saints. The pig is always welcome to make a pregame visit to Target Field. I know our fans would love to engage with the nun or maybe haircuts or maybe some of those things that have happened at CHS Field and (before that) Midway Stadium. Make no mistake, there will be collaboration, and I think there will be some surprises in store at both ballparks that pay off in this partnership.

Toby Gardenhire (former Twins manager Ron Gardenhires son) was our manager in Rochester (with the Twins AAA affiliate). We have not finalized our slate of minor-league managers and coaches for 2021. We love Toby. We think Toby has done a great job for us at the minor-league level. We know he has a bright future. Hes really well thought of by our front office. I like his chances to be somewhere in our system, and that very well could be in St. Paul.

Our reaction if Toby said hed like to have his dad as a coach? Ron Gardenhire is going to have a lot of options to get engaged in the game if he wants to. Wed certainly have that conversation. We love Gardy. He is as good a person as youre ever going to find. I know hes taking some time off. All I can say is, whether hes a third-base coach or first-base coach in the minor leagues, the Twins certainly have an interest in finding a way to ensure Ron Gardenhire always feels a part of our organization.

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Twins CEO Dave St. Peter on surviving 2020, the St. Paul Saints and the Gardenhires, father and son - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press