With the World Series now in the rearview mirror, things could get very interesting before Major League Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement expires on Dec. 1. That’s when owners are expected to lock out the players. For now, though, organizations like the Minnesota Twins will conduct business as usual. That means making moves on both the player and personnel front.

Free agents can start signing with new teams on Nov. 2, but front offices can hire talent at any time. Former Minnesota Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey recently joined the New York Mets near the top of the organization. Now he’s bringing longtime Twins scout Deron Johnson with him.

Deron Johnson joins old MN Twins boss in New York

In late September, the Twins parted ways with Deron Johnson. He had worked in the organization for a whopping 32 years. Johnson started as an area scout in 1994 and worked his way up to scouting director. He then moved into a senior advisor role, which the Twins eliminated. It didn’t take long for him to find a new job, and the Mets give him a familiar coworker as well.

Working alongside Falvey again, Johnson will stay in a talent evaluation role. The Mets hired him as a special assignment scout. That lets them use his decades of experience in a lot of different ways.

The Mets spend at levels Johnson never saw in Minnesota. But we just watched a World Series that made it wildly apparent there are no shortcuts on the personnel side, either.

Other teams picking up Twins’ budget cuts

Neither Milwaukee nor Tampa Bay ranks in the top half of baseball in payroll. The Brewers were 19th and the Rays 28th, per Spotrac. Both get more out of their talent because of the data, evaluations and processes they use behind the scenes.

At a time when the Twins are going the opposite direction and cutting the talent evaluators, other teams are there to scoop them up. The most logical way to build a winner is to spend money on talent, then pay smart people to get the most out of it. It’s tough to win doing just one of those things, and it’s nearly impossible doing neither.

Johnson will look to build another long run in New York. His expertise should help the Mets get more out of their league-leading $346.8 million payroll than they did in 2026, when they finished 74-88.