Twins bullpen coach Bob McClure and MLB coach Bill Evers will be sidelined for the 2020 season due to health and safety issues surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, reports La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. It’s the team’s decision and came after physical exams that took into account both age and pre-existing conditions, according to Neal. Both the 68-year-old McClure and the 66-year-old Evers will continue to be paid. Since then, the Twins have confirmed the omission of the pair from the coaching staff. McClure and Evers could contribute in other ways, taking on advisory roles in the main office, according to Neal.
This would have been the first season for McClure with the Twins. Minnesota lost bullpen coach Jeremy Hefner to the Mets over the winter and named McClure, a former pitching coach with the Phillies, Red Sox, Royals and Marlins, as his successor. McClure had previously worked as a senior advisor with the Twins, focusing on pitch development, so it looks like he could instead play a role more similar to the one he played in the past two years.
Neal wrote this morning that minor league pitching coordinator Pete Maki was “online” to replace McClure as the bullpen coach for the 2020 season, and has now been announced in that role. Minnesota hired Maki ahead of the 2018 season after spending a decade in the college training ranks, including pitting coach stops at Columbia and Duke.
Evers was returning to the Twins’ staff for a second season. Not surprisingly, he joined the ranks alongside manager Rocco Baldelli, as the pair have a long history in organizing the Rays. Evers was Baldelli’s bench coach in 2006-07, and spent nine years as the Rays’ minor league field coordinator while Baldelli rose through the coaching ranks at Tampa Bay. There is no direct replacement for Evers on the list, though the Twins’ coaching staff now lists the 21-year-old MLB veteran. LaTroy Hawkins As Special Instructor Previously he had been working as a principal office advisor under President of Baseball Operations Derek Falvey and General Manager Thad Levine.
