Minnesota Twins pitching coach Rick Anderson steps down

The Minnesota Twins finished the 2014 season with a disappointing 70-92 record, good for last place in the American League Central. With that tough season came overhauling changes to a coaching staff that had enjoyed relative stability over the last number of years.

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In a somewhat surprising move this week, Twins’ general manager Terry Ryan announced that the team had fired manager Ron Gardenhire. That marked the first change at that spot since 2002. With that change will come a new pitching coach in Minnesota, also for the first time since 2002.

Longtime pitching coach Rick Anderson notified the team on Thursday that he will be stepping down from his position.

Source: Rick Anderson will not return as #Twins pitching coach. Told GM Terry Ryan he would not be back after team parted with Gardenhire.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) October 2, 2014

The Twins boasted a talented and effective pitching staff for much of Anderson’s tenure, though it has been less so in the last few seasons. In many ways the 2014 was rock bottom in that regard, as the Twins finished ahead of only the Colorado Rockies in team ERA for the 2014 season with a 4.57 mark as a team.

For a franchise that has valued stability on their coaching staff for the better part of the last decade, this is just another sign of the fact that the Twins are finally shaking things up and will have a different look next season.

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