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<\/p>\nMINNEAPOLIS \u2014 Sean Johnson wasn\u2019t even supposed to be in this position.<\/p>\n
Yet when the Minnesota Twins pick third in Major League Baseball\u2019s amateur draft Saturday, their highest selection in nearly a decade, they\u2019ll rely upon a sound decision from their steady amateur scouting director\/assistant general manager, who is in his 25th season with the organization.<\/p>\n
The interesting part is Johnson, 50, first joined the Twins as the result of a fluke.<\/p>\n
Back in 2002, Johnson was fired after only two months of area scouting when the Florida Marlins axed their player development and scouting departments, collateral damage when the team was sold to Jeffrey Loria. The purchase had a domino effect, however, and created a Twins\u2019 area-scouting vacancy. Johnson was recommended and flew to meet with then-West Coast supervisor Deron Johnson.<\/p>\n
A week later, Sean Johnson packed his belongings to move to Phoenix.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rest is history,\u201d said Deron Johnson, now the Twins\u2019 senior scouting advisor.<\/p>\n
Sean Johnson, a student of legendary scout Mike Radcliff, has spent the past decade helping the Twins modernize their draft process. The era of eight to 10 old-school huddled in a room and offering opinions has ended; now, the game is played on an information super highway, complete with 50 different opinions about which player best fits the organization\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n
Peers believe he\u2019s more than capable of becoming a GM or president of baseball operations someday. They say Johnson expertly steers a draft room full of wide-ranging opinions through lively discourse by valuing every voice, being prepared and staying open-minded.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re looking for somebody that\u2019s willing to stick their neck out and make a decision,\u201d former Twins GM Terry Ryan said. \u201cSean never had that problem. \u2026 He didn\u2019t have arrogance, but he has confidence. He carries himself well. When he\u2019s around, people know who the boss is. But he doesn\u2019t act like a boss.\u201d<\/p>\n
As GM Jeremy Zoll navigates overseeing his first draft room after the January departure of Twins president Derek Falvey, he takes comfort in knowing how Sean Johnson operates.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach and every year he goes back to the drawing board and figures out what we can do better,\u201d Zoll said. \u201cSean does a phenomenal job leading that group.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson\u2019s career began in 2000 in the baseball operations department at his alma mater, Wichita State. A seldom-used catcher over three seasons, including Wichita\u2019s last College World Series team (1996), Johnson thought his future was in player development.<\/p>\n
Then Marlins scouting director David Chadd convinced Johnson to become a Midwest-based area scout late in the 2001 season.<\/p>\n
Only five months later, Johnson was displaced, as Loria brought his own baseball operations group to Miami, resulting in mass layoffs.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone in (player development), everyone in scouting was gone,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
In his short time with the Marlins, Johnson had already attended scout school and made a handful of in-home visits with players.<\/p>\n
Though he\u2019d be paid for the year, Johnson had nothing to look forward to.<\/p>\n
Then the Twins had an opening. Montreal had hired away the Twins\u2019 Four Corners area scout, Lee MacPhail IV, in February 2002 to be their scouting director. Suddenly, the Twins were without coverage for Arizona, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico, right in the middle of the pre-draft scouting season.<\/p>\n
Twins area scout Gregg Miller knew Johnson from Wichita State and recommended him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know him,\u201d Deron Johnson said. \u201cI needed a guy really quick. I flew him out to San Francisco and we drove around the city and talked a little bit. I thought he\u2019d be a good fit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now that he\u2019s held supervisory roles since 2007, Sean Johnson understands the pinch his predecessor was in.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to hire a scout in the middle of spring,\u201d Sean Johnson said. \u201cWe talked about players I saw and what I thought just to make sure I had some feel for what I was doing. \u2026 A week later, I\u2019m suddenly leaving a town I never thought I\u2019d leave. Left my whole family behind. Moved to Phoenix.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Falvey asked him who should run the new draft model, Tim O\u2019Neil instantly recommended Sean Johnson. What makes O\u2019Neil\u2019s reaction stand out nearly a decade later is Falvey was gauging his interest in taking over as scouting director.<\/p>\n
Falvey wanted to follow an industry trend and modernize his amateur scouting department by incorporating a new model in the Twins\u2019 draft process. O\u2019Neil and Sean Johnson were the top candidates to replace then-director Deron Johnson in late 2016.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Neil, the team\u2019s current assistant scouting director, remains adamant Sean Johnson was the only choice.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I owned the team, I would hire him over me,\u201d O\u2019Neil said. \u201cSean\u2019s the only guy that could blend our traditional scouting department with the model factoring in player development, research and development.\u201d<\/p>\n
And he did, growing the team from less than a dozen to as many as 50.<\/p>\n
\u201cOriginally we were so \u2018Old school, scout-em-up, line-em-up,\u2019\u201d said Texas-based area scout Trevor Brown. \u201cWhen the model came in, it was like, \u2018What\u2019s this?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The model was designed to improve the flow of information. Every day, hundreds of pieces of information are gathered on players across the nation and input.<\/p>\n
The Twins\u2019 system was archaic. When he first started in 2002, Johnson mailed in carbon copies of his scouting reports. The club evolved and reports were next phoned into an answering machine. Eventually, reports were emailed.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you couldn\u2019t change the report again,\u201d Sean Johnson said. \u201cIt just went to the office and that was it. \u2026 Now, I can change my mind tonight on a player if I want. I just need to have a good reason.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bringing the draft room together would be a challenge. Scouts think the analysts live in a paper world. Analysts think the way scouts operate is antiquated. Someone had to bridge the gap.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis superpower is he understands the process and knows where to push and pull,\u201d Falvey said.<\/p>\n
Johnson\u2019s experience gave him credibility with older scouts to ask them to adjust. He also understood analytics and wouldn\u2019t let non-scouting departments forget the value of information being supplied by those on the ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only did he support it, he was hungry for it,\u201d Falvey said. \u201cIf he was in the seat and we integrated the information, there was going to be a blend.\u201d<\/p>\n
That stands to this day. Young or old, scout or analyst \u2014 on Sean Johnson\u2019s squad, every opinion matters.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe really challenged me a lot, especially early on, which I thought was really daring and bold,\u201d said Twins Midwest scouting coordinator Mike Ruth. \u201cWe\u2019d known each other for 20 years. He could have said I don\u2019t want to have that conversation. \u2026 Looking back on it now, he\u2019s improved my life a great deal and improved me as a scout.\u201d<\/p>\n
The give and take took time. But Johnson found ways to incorporate everyone.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n The Twins haven\u2019t picked this high in the draft since they took Royce Lewis with the No. 1 selection in 2017. (Hannah Foslien \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Ezra Wise, who rebuilt the team\u2019s model from scratch when he started with the Twins in 2019, did some in-person and video scouting when he previously worked for Philadelphia and Baltimore.<\/p>\n
Johnson began inviting him to showcase events to sit with veteran Twins scouts, something all members now do. Wise thinks the crossover is improving relationships.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of back and forth,\u201d Wise said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of folks on the scouting side being very interested in what they can learn. \u2026 When this was all brand new, there was a lot more head-butting and disagreements. Obviously, there still lots of constructive disagreements, but that\u2019s what we want to cultivate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson could see advantages to the model, including fewer nights on the road for scouts, a reduction in recency bias and no more single poor performances informing teams\u2019 opinions.<\/p>\n
But unlike other model-based teams, he wanted to emphasize the importance of scouts\u2019 input, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried to remove the wall that was there,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cAnd say, \u2018Hey, we\u2019re all in the same boat here. If we work together, we can do some really great things. There\u2019s pros to each side. Let\u2019s figure out what those things are and let\u2019s use it to make us better.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t take long for Johnson to recognize his good fortune in landing with the Twins. In his first week with the club, Johnson attended a high school game at Cherry Field in Tucson, Ariz.<\/p>\n
\u201cI met a scout who said (of Radcliff), \u2018You need to realize, you\u2019re working for the best scouting director in the game,\u2019\u201d Johnson said. \u201c\u2018They\u2019re gonna treat you well.\u2019 \u2026 I never forgot that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson previously spoke to Radcliff on the phone, but they had yet to meet. Even though he wouldn\u2019t be inducted into the Scouting Hall of Fame until 2014, Radcliff, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2023, was a legend in the scouting world.<\/p>\n
Johnson was young, motivated, sharp and unafraid to share his opinion.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was calm, diligent and cooperative,\u201d Ryan said. \u201cHe wanted players \u2014 all that kind of good stuff that you\u2019re looking for in an area guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Radcliff quickly discovered his new gem. He could see the work ethic and people skills and spent considerable time mentoring Johnson.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Radcliff) was Sean\u2019s role model,\u201d Brown said. \u201cSean embodies a lot of Cliffy\u2019s traits and a lot of things Cliffy did with people, the ability to listen and really take in what somebody has to say.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson credits an army of Twins scouts for molding him, including Radcliff, Deron Johnson, Ruth, Vern Followell, John Wilson, Mark Quimuyog, John Leavitt and Earl Frishman, among others.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was addicted to scouting right when I started,\u201d Sean Johnson said. \u201cThere\u2019s a chance when I go to the ballpark I can change the future of the franchise.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson\u2019s peers say his treatment of co-workers is a key component to changing the department\u2019s culture.<\/p>\n
\u201cElite consistency,\u201d O\u2019Neil said. \u201cHis character is just incredible and his care level is second to none.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the immediate future, Johnson\u2019s only concerned with the upcoming draft. He was promoted to Twins assistant GM in January 2025 and now participates in pro personnel as well as his amateur duties.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get to give my opinion and my angle of things,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
But Johnson also recognizes he\u2019s addicted enough to the amateur scouting side to not overthink his title. Johnson learned long ago being preoccupied with getting a promotion could hurt him. Staying focused on his task has served him and his team better.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know there\u2019s plenty of growth that comes with those jobs,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI love to learn and to be challenged to do new things and to try to make things and processes better. But being a part of a team, whatever that looks like, I don\u2019t care as much about the title.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both Falvey and Ryan believe Johnson can handle a bigger assignment. The key is exposure to the pro side, which he\u2019s gotten of late. Falvey and Zoll were already bringing Johnson into the fold prior to Falvey\u2019s shocking departure in January. Falvey believes his former co-worker has the skill set needed to handle roster rules, long-range planning and more.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe brought him into a lot more of those discussions because he does have exceptionally high (emotional quotient),\u201d Falvey said. \u201cHe\u2019s a tremendous people leader. \u2026 The EQ side and people leadership side, and the instilling belief in the people around you, that\u2019s a gift, and Sean has that gift. He could absolutely be (a GM) if he so desires to.\u201d<\/p>\n
For now, Johnson simply wants to impact the franchise, same as he does every year, regardless of which way their picks fall in the draft order. He\u2019s focused on making sure the team is prepared for all possibilities. Last month, the Twins interviewed 50 players during the draft combine that took place over four days.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pressure is always there to try to deliver good players,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
Headed into the draft weekend, Twins have been linked to UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky, Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey, UC Santa Barbara pitcher Jackson Flora and Texas high school shortstop Grady Emerson.<\/p>\n
With the third pick, the Twins will have options. As long as they\u2019re prepared, Johnson said handling the chaos of the day won\u2019t be an issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing open-minded until we can\u2019t be anymore is really the goal, and that\u2019s the day of the draft,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cThe people in our room go above and beyond to make sure that we\u2019re buttoned up on everything we need to be. We are ready for the scenarios that are going to unfold in front of us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 Sean Johnson wasn\u2019t even supposed to be in this position. Yet when the Minnesota Twins pick…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":941455,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[7,6686,6,15],"class_list":["post-941454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl-draft","tag-football","tag-minnesota-twins","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-draft"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116893699813700172","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=941454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/941455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=941454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=941454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=941454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}