Twins announce 2021 minor league staff; Toby Gardenhire to manage St. Paul Saints

Tuesday, the Minnesota Twins announced minor league coaching assignments for the 2021 season.

Toby Gardenhire, the son of former Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, will manage the St. Paul Saints in the team’s first year as the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate. It will be Gardenhire’s Triple-A managerial debut after guiding the organization’s two Single-A affiliates to a combined 151-121 record since 2018-19.

Also on Gardenhire’s staff are Matt Borgschulte (hitting coach), Mike McCarthy and Cibney Bello (pitching coaches), Tyler Smarslok (infield coach), Jason Kirkman (trainer) and Jacob Dean (strength and conditioning).

Minnesota’s new Double-A affiliate — the Wichita Wind Surge — will be managed by Ramon Borrego, who led the Pensacola Blue Wahoos to a 76-63 record and a Southern League semifinals appearance in 2019. Also on Borrego’s staff are Ryan Smith (hitting coach), Luis Ramirez and Virgil Vasquez (pitching coaches), Joe Mangiameli (catching coach), Chris McNeely (trainer) and Travis Koon (strength and conditioning).

The Single-A Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels will be managed by Aaron Sutton, who spent four years as the head coach at Montana State University Billings before joining the organization in 2020. Also on the staff are Brian Meyer (hitting coach), Peter Larson and Carlos Hernandez (pitching coaches), Ben Myers (trainer) and Chuck Bradway (strength and conditioning).

The rookie-level Gulf Coast League Twins will be managed by Takashi Miyoshi, who will serve his first season as manager after being a coach for Elizabethton for two years previously. He became the first Japanese-born manager in U.S. professional baseball without previous MLB or NPB experience during a three-year stint for the Pacific Association’s Sonoma Stompers from 2015-17. Also on his staff are Shawn Schlechter (hitting coach), Jared Gaynor, Calvin Maduro and Dan Urbina (pitching coaches), Yeison Perez and Brad McKenney (unspecified coaching role), Anders Dzurak (rehab pitching coach), Asja Morello and Matt Smith (trainers), Christian Hintz (physical therapist) and Mitchell Ho (strength and conditioning).

Seth Feldman will return for his second season as manager of the Dominican Summer League Twins. He’s joined by Ricardo Nanita and Steven Rosen (hitting coaches), Kevin Rodriguez and Joey Skracic (pitching coaches), Jimmy Alvarez (unspecified coaching role), Mario Rivera, Carlos Frias and Wladimir Morales (trainers), and Juan Carlos Pinto and Miguel Cabrera (strength and conditioning).

The organization also announced Alex Hassan will remain as director of player development for the second consecutive season, Drew MacPhail returns as assistant director of player development, Tommy Bergjans has been promoted from coordinator of player development to assistant director of player development, and Mauricio Mena will be assistant of player development.

Kevin Morgan will continue as field coordinator while Tucker Frawley returns as assistant field coordinator and coordinator of skill development. Donegal Fergus returns to the Twins as hitting coordinator while Micheal Thomas returns as catching coordinator. Billy Boyer will be in his third year as infield coordinator and former Rochester manager Mike Quade will be outfield coordinator. Justin Willard moves up to pitching coordinator after two years as assistant pitching coordinator. Zach Bove moves from special projects coordinator to assistant pitching coordinator. Nat Ballenberg moves from Double-A pitching coach to special projects pitching coordinator while Tyler Schmitz, Byron Oliver and Harry Welsh will all serve as minor league video coordinators.

Chad Jackson returns for his 20th season as the organization’s minor league medical coordinator. David Rak will continue as strength and conditiong coordinator. Connor Derrickson will be the rehab strength and conditiong coach and Jenn Reiner-Marcello will serve as reconditioning specialist. Axel Lopez will be the Latin American medical coordinator for his fourth season.

Brian Maloney starts his fifth season as senior manager of minor league operations. Matt Cheesman continues as minor league equipment manager. Matt Tramp is the Triple-A clubhouse manager, Victor Gonzalez is the Florida operations manager, Jason Davila is the Florida operations assistant, while Linda Merlo is the supervisor of language and cultural development and Kara Lynch is the minor league dietician.