As the Kansas City Royals look to turn the page on 2025 and get ready for a return to the playoffs next season, one of their longtime assistant coaches is earning some managerial buzz.
Vance Wilson, the Royals’ third-base coach, has spent the last 15 seasons in the organization in a coaching capacity after retiring as a minor-leaguer in the Kansas City system. He was also an eight-year major league veteran as a catcher with the New York Mets and Detroit Tigers.
Now 52 years old, Wilson is reportedly drawing interest for the managerial vacancy with one of the Royals’ division rivals.
According to a Monday report from La Velle E. Neal III of the Minnesota Star Tribune, Wilson is now a candidate to become the next manager of the Minnesota Twins. Minnesota fired Rocco Baldelli, who led them to a playoff berth in 2023, following their disastrous season that included a trade deadline fire sale.
“Add Vance Wilson and Scott Servais to the list of managerial candidates as the Twins continue to search for a replacement for Rocco Baldelli, who was fired three weeks ago,” Neal wrote.
Neal also reported that Wilson has interviewed for the San Francisco Giants’ managerial position. In addition to Servais, the former Seattle Mariners skipper, the Twins are known to have interest in at least four other candidates: James Rowson, Ramón Vázquez, Derek Shelton, and Nick Punto.
Wilson has been the third-base coach in Kansas City since 2020, and previously served as the bullpen coach (2018-19), Double-A Northwest Arkansas manager (2013-2017), High-A Wilmington manager (2012), and Low-A Kane County manager (2011).
The American League Central power struggle is always an important one to monitor, because although it’s typically considered one of the weakest divisions in the sport, someone earns a playoff spot every year. In fact, multiple teams have made the playoffs from this division in each of the last two years.
Though the Twins are at the outset of what could be an ugly rebuild, poaching one of Kansas City’s most trusted lieutenants would undoubtedly cause some strife. The Royals would be happy for Wilson if he secured any managerial opening in this cycle, but at the same time, they’d surely prefer he went anywhere else with a vacancy.
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