Twins part ways with pitching coaches Maki and Ramirez and trainer Kirkman ahead of 2026

What happened

The Minnesota Twins have parted ways with pitching coaches Maki and Ramirez and trainer Kirkman, MLB.com's Matthew Leach reported. The moves clear out a significant portion of the pitching infrastructure that guided the staff through a 2026 season that ended at 77-85.

The departures were reported with a confidence level that stops short of a formal organizational announcement on the specifics of each individual's exit, but the overall shape of the news is clear: the Twins are rebuilding their pitching support structure before the calendar turns to 2026 preparations in earnest.

Why it matters

Pitching coaches and athletic trainers are not the names that appear in box scores, but they are the connective tissue of a pitching staff — the people who manage workloads, refine mechanics, and keep arms healthy enough to take the mound. Losing all three at once signals something more than routine turnover.

The timing is notable. This comes days after the Twins and assistant GM Daniel Adler parted ways following a reduction in his role — itself a move that followed Derek Falvey's departure in January 2026. The front-office and coaching reshaping are now happening in parallel, which means whoever eventually leads this organization's baseball operations will be working with a largely reconstituted support staff.

It is also worth noting the context the pitching staff operated in this season. Jeff Hoffman was placed on the injured list with forearm inflammation with just two games remaining in the regular season, per earlier reporting — a forearm injury that represents a significant concern for a pitcher heading into an offseason. The staff that Maki and Ramirez oversaw was navigating real health challenges down the stretch, and the question of how those challenges were managed will presumably factor into whatever evaluation led to these departures.

The numbers

Minnesota finished 77-85 (.475), sitting third in the AL Central and 8 games back in the division. The Twins were eliminated from both the division race and the Wild Card race, finishing the season ranked seventh in the Wild Card standings, 7.0 games relative to the cut line. They did close out the year on a one-game winning streak — which, given the broader context, reads less as momentum and more as a small mercy.

A 77-85 record is the kind of number that tends to accelerate organizational self-examination. It is not a catastrophic collapse, but it is also not a season that earns anyone the benefit of the doubt heading into the offseason.

Where the club stands

The Twins close out the year at third in the AL Central, their postseason hopes long since extinguished. The front office is in a period of visible transition: the assistant GM role is vacant following Adler's departure, the pitching coaching staff has now been cleared out, and the roster itself carries significant uncertainty heading into the winter.

Catcher Ryan Jeffers plans to test free agency this offseason, though he has indicated openness to re-signing with Minnesota. Byron Buxton is rehabbing a right hip injury and targeting a healthy return in 2027 — meaning the Twins are already planning around at least one significant absence extending well into next season. Alex Jackson was outrighted to Triple-A for the third time this season after clearing waivers, a detail that captures something about the organizational depth situation behind the plate.

The staff departures announced by Matthew Leach at MLB.com are, in that sense, arriving into an organization that is already doing a great deal of offseason work before the offseason has officially begun.

What we don't know yet

The reporting does not specify the circumstances of each departure — whether these were mutual decisions, non-renewals, or something else. The confidence attached to the report leaves some room for the organizational picture to develop further.

There is also no reporting yet on who might replace Maki, Ramirez, or Kirkman. A pitching staff heading into an offseason with Jeff Hoffman's forearm health as an open question, and with Byron Buxton's 2027 timeline already set as a planning horizon, will need a pitching infrastructure in place well before spring training. The search for that infrastructure has not yet been reported on.

It is also unclear how the front-office transition — with the assistant GM role vacant and the broader structure still taking shape following Falvey's January departure — will affect the hiring process for these coaching and training positions. Typically, a new or reconstituted front office wants input on the staff it will work with. Whether that dynamic is in play here has not been reported.

What to watch

The most immediate question is who the Twins identify as candidates to fill the pitching coach roles. Given the volume of change happening simultaneously — front office, coaching staff, roster uncertainty — the pace and direction of those hires will say something about where the organization's decision-making authority currently sits.

Hoffman's health this offseason will also be worth monitoring. Forearm inflammation in a pitcher is the kind of thing that tends to generate follow-up reporting as the winter progresses, and his status will shape how the Twins think about their pitching depth heading into 2026 preparations.

And then there is the broader roster picture. Jeffers in free agency, Buxton targeting 2027, a catching depth chart that has seen significant churn — the Twins are entering what looks like a genuinely consequential offseason, and the staff departures reported by Matthew Leach at MLB.com are the first formal signal that the organization is moving, deliberately or otherwise, toward something different.

What that something different looks like is, for now, an open question.