September 29, 2024

Former Minnesota Twins executive hired by Chicago Bears

Black Leaders: Meka White Morris, Minnesota Twins - Minneapolis / St. Paul  Business Journal

Even the NFL is looking to raid the Twins organization.

One of the themes of this offseason in baseball has been how little movement there’s been on the hot stove.

We should have known something was up when the Winter Meetings were unusually quiet, and things didn’t pick up much after that. The MInnesota Twins didn’t make their first move until after Christmas, although they’ve since pulled off a pair of trades and a slew of low-key signings.

It’s not just the Twins who cautiously approached the offseason. NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell is still a free agent, and Cody Bellinger went all the way around the offseason sun only to return to the Cubs on what amounts to a one-year deal.

Behind the scenes things have been much busier, and the Twins have found themselves bidding farewell to more than a few folks within the organization.

Chicago Bears hire former Minnesota Twins executive

According to Chicago Tribune reporter Coleen Kane, the Chicago Bears are hiring former Twins executive Mekea White Morris as the team’s new executive vice president of revenue and chief business officer.

It sounds like a linear move, albeit to a different sport, as Morris served in the same role while she was with the Twins.

Morris’ arrival continues a revamping of the Bears executive staff under President and CEO Kevin Warren, whose one-year anniversary with the team is in April,” Kane wrote. “Morris’ duties in overseeing the Bears’ business operations will include managing corporate partnerships, optimizing revenue streams, leading strategic planning initiatives to further grow the Bears financial health, driving innovation and implementing best practices across units.”

Sounds fancy, and it’s another feather in the cap of the organization when it comes to how well run things are from the top down. We tend to focus a lot of attention on things like the front office and on-field action — rightfully so — but we forget just how massive the operation is.

Morris isn’t the only behind-the-scenes employee to have been poached by another team this offseason. The Boston Red Sox hired Justin Willard to be the team’s new Director of Pitching. It’s a big step up for Willard, who was a minor-league pitching coordinator for Minnesota but a big part of the way the team has been able to develop guys like Bailey Ober, Louie Varland, Griffin Jax and others.

It’s not just folks like Morris and Willard that teams were interested in, as the Red Sox also tried to poach Thad Levine this winter to help run the front office. That ultimately went nowhere but it’s notable that so many teams were pursuing the Twins’ org chart while trying to fill job openings of their own.

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