Seth Stohs

The Twins made a commitment a year ago to have at least one bilingual coach (English and Spanish) at each of their affiliates. That remains the case. Also, each affiliate will have two pitching coaches among their four coaches. ST. PAUL SAINTS - TRIPLE-A The Saint Paul Saints announced their first coaching staff as a Twins affiliate. Toby Gardenhire was named the manager. He managed in Cedar Rapids in 2018 and in Ft. Myers in 2019. He had been assigned to manage in Rochester in 2020. Note - The Saints held a press conference to introduce Toby Gardenhire as the Saints first AAA manager. Read Parker's story: Saints Throw a Gardy Party in 2021. Gardenhire’s hitting coach will be Matt Borgschulte. He filled that role in Ft. Myers in 2019 and in the GCL in 2018. The team will have two pitching coaches. Mike McCarthy spent 2018 and 2019 with the Red Wings. Bello has spent four seasons as a pitching coach in the Twins system, including at Pensacola in 2019. Tyler Smarslok will be the team’s infield coach. He joined the organization before the 2020 season. WICHITA WIND SURGE - DOUBLE-A The Wichita Wind Surge will be also joining the Twins affiliation in 2020 as their Double-A team. They announced today that Ramon Borrego will be their manager. He has been in the organization since he was a player in the 1990s. He managed Double-A in 2019. Ryan Smith was the Cedar Rapids hitting coach in 2019, his first year in the organization. He moves up to Double-A in 2021. Luis Ramirez is in his 16th season with the Twins, his first at Double-A. He spent 2019 in Ft. Myers. Virgil Vasquez, who pitched in the big leagues, is also a pitching coach for the Wind Surge. He has been a coach since retiring in 2015. (He even threw a no-hitter for New Britain in 2014) Finally, Joe Mangiameli is the team’s catching coach. 2020 was his first season in the organization. CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS - HIGH-A The Cedar Rapids Kernels will now be the team’s High-A affiliate. Brian Dinkelman was the Kernels hitting coach for a few years before becoming their manager in 2019. He moved to Cedar Rapids when he became a coach there and now remains manager as the team moves up a level. Bryce Berg will be the Kernels hitting coach. He spent several years as a coach at Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska, before joining the Twins last year. Mark Moriarity came to the Twins from the University of Mary in Bismarck before the 2020 season. He will be a pitching coach. So will Richard Salazar who has held that role in Elizabethton in recent years. Jairo Rodriguez joins the staff as a coach as well. This will be his 14th season in the organization as a player or coach. (Here is a Get to Know him article from 2016) Read Jeff Johnson's article on the Kernels coaching staff at The Gazette in Cedar Rapids. FT. MYERS MIGHTY MUSSELS - LOW-A The Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels now become the Twins Low-A affiliate. Aaron Sutton left Montana State-Billings last year to be the manager in Ft. Myers. Brian Meyer was hired a year ago from Butler. He is the hitting coach. Peter Larson and former big leaguer Carlos Hernandez will be the team’s pitching coaches. GCL TWINS - ROOKIE LEVEL As you know, there will not be a team in Elizabethton in 2021, so the team’s rookie team will only be the GCL Twins. Their manager in 2021 will be Takashi Miyoshi. This is his fourth season in the Twins organization. He has coached previously in Elizabethton. He was set to be the GCL manager in 2020 as well. Shawn Schlecter, a Minnesota native, will serve as the team’s hitting coach. Jared Gaynor, who was in the DSL a year ago, will now be a pitching coach in the GCL. So will former big-leaguers Calvin Maduro. Dan Urbina was a pitching coach in the DSL in 2019 as well. He will take on that role in the GCL. Yeison Perez, who caught in the Twins organization until 2018, becomes a coach in the GCL as well. DSL TWINS - ROOKIE LEVEL Seth Feldman will be the Dominican Summer League manager for the second season. Ricardo Nanita, who played 16 professional seasons through 2018, will be one hitting coach. So will Steven Rosen who joined the Twins from Notre Dame before the 2020 season.Kevin Rodriguez will again be a pitching coach. So will Joey Skracic who enters his first season as a coach. Jimmy Alvarez will also remain in a coaching position. MINOR LEAGUE FRONT OFFICE AND COORDINATORS Alex Hassan begins his second season as the Twins Director of Player Development. (Get to know him from this 2019 article) Drew MacPhail returns as his assistant director. Tommy Bergjans has been promoted to an assistant director of player development as well. Mauricio Mena will also fill that role. Kevin Morgan will be the field coordinator. He spent 25 years in the Mets organization before joining the Twins last year. Tucker Frawley will be the assistant field coordinator and coordinator of skill development after spending a dozen years at Yale. The organization’s minor league hitting coach will again be Donegal Fergus. Michael Thomas remains the catching coordinator. Billy Boyer is the infielder coordinator. Mike Quade is back as an outfield coordinator. With JP Martinez joining the Giants as their assistant pitching coach, Justin Willard is now the pitching coordinator. Zach Bove will be the assistant pitching coordinator. Nat Ballenberg will be a special projects pitching coordinator.

The White Sox would certainly seem to be the favorite right now in the American League Central Division, if the season were to start today. While bringing back free agent outfielder Adam Eaton isn't terribly concerning, they also acquired RHP Lance Lynn in a trade with Texas last month. The addition of Hendriks improves the back-end of their bullpen. Over the past few seasons in Oakland, the once top Twins pitching prospect became one of baseball's best relief pitchers. Earlier on Monday night, MLB Network revealed that he is the best reliever in the game. We could probably write an article or two chronicling why the Twins DFAd Hendriks, with options remaining, after just over a season with the team and before even trying him in the bullpen, but that can be for another day, and another writer. The White Sox went and got creative with their contract offer to Hendriks, specifically the fourth season which is a $15 million option with a $15 million buy out. Of course, if they buy out the deal, the $15 million is spread over several years. Meanwhile, the Twins have seemingly presented as a team that is quite active, looking to fill several needs this offseason. There have been plenty of rumors, though not for awhile, about their search for a shortstop. But we are still waiting to see how that will play out. We have heard that they are looking for a fourth starter to team with Jose Berrios, Kenta Maeda and Michael Pineda. Randy Dobnak warrants a shot at the fifth starter, so they need to add at least one starter, maybe more. There haven't been any real rumors associating the Twins with starters, even though some are believed to be available. And we are still waiting to see how that will play out. The Twins lost Trevor May to the Mets in free agency. They non-tendered Matt Wisler and he signed with the Giants. Sergio Romo and Tyler Clippard are free agents that they could bring back. At this time, the Twins have signed only Hansel Robles. And Twins fans are waiting to see if more will be added, or if they will trust pitching coach Wes Johnson to turn someone like Brandon Waddell, Ian Gibaut, Derek Law, Glenn Sparkman, Luke Farrell, or some minor leaguers into this year's Wisler, or this year's Alcala. And still we wait. We have seen this before as Twins fans. And, there is no reason to believe that the Twins won't make some moves. They have made moves late in the offseason each year. Lynn and Logan Morrison a couple of years ago. The Kenta Maeda trade wasn't completed until last February. Marwin Gonzalez signed late. So, there is no reason for Twins fans to panic. Cleveland is trading off pieces. Kansas City has added some pieces and has a lot of pitching coming. The Tigers have some serious pitching talent coming. But the White Sox are legit. Their offense was one of baseball's best in 2019, and they added Lynn - who has been one of the top 5 pitchers in the AL the past two seasons - and Hendriks - baseball's best relievers. It's still mid-January, so there is plenty of time. But, for Twins fans, it is OK to start feeling a bit antsy. Presumably the White Sox are done with big-time moves. They aren't likely to go after George Springer or Trevor Bauer. But they have put themselves into serious postseason contender in 2021. The Twins do not have to respond to these moves. They simply need to keep putting their 2021 roster together. They need to fill at least one rotation spot, and they need to add a couple of bullpen arms. And, clearly they would like to add a shortstop and probably a utility player. And there are a lot of options remaining, either in free agency or via trade. So, while we start to get nervous and wonder when the Twins will make their moves, just remind yourself that it is WHEN and not IF. They will make moves. And when they do, we'll see how the Twins compare to the White Sox.

Max Smith grew up in Tucson where he was a star on the baseball and football fields. He attended UNLV where he played for four years. As a senior, he hit .291/.384/.498 (.882) with 16 doubles and ten homers. The Twins made him their 31st round pick in 2019. He spent that summer in Elizabethton where he hit .286/.353/.451 (.803) with 12 doubles and seven home runs. He was set to spend much of the 2020 season in Cedar Rapids. Join us live at 5:30 tonight to watch, and participate by sending your questions. We'll cover a ton of topics from his youth ball, to getting drafted, signing, his development, his 2020 'season' and much more. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Please watch LIVE at 5:30 pm (central time) Monday night on the Twins Daily Twitter, Facebook or YouTube pages live. Also feel free to ask questions in the comments below or on those platforms during the show and we'll ask them. Subscribe to the Twins Daily podcast on Libsyn, Apple iTunes or anywhere you download podcasts. Here is the YouTube link where you can watch the show. For More on Max Smith: Follow Max on Instagram at @maxsmith950. Previous Episodes Click here to see more previous episodes of Twins Spotlight. Episode 13: Edwar Colina Episode 14: Tyler Wells Episode 15: Sawyer Gipson-Long Episode 16: Adam Bray Episode 17: Chris Vallimont Episode 18: Ben Gross Episode 19: Regi Grace Episode 20: Louie Varland Episode 21: Max Smith

Louie Varland was the Twins 15th round draft pick in 2019 out of Concordia University in St. Paul. He was a multi-sport athlete at North St. Paul High School and then chose to become a Golden Bear, joining his brother Gus (who was drafted by the A's a year earlier). He made a couple of appearances at Elizabethton in that summer of 2019. And then came this crazy 2020 year and season. Join us live at 6:00 tonight to watch and participate by sending your questions. We'll cover a ton of topics from his youth ball, to getting drafted, signing, his development and much more. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Please watch LIVE at 6pm (central time) Thursday night on the Twins Daily Twitter, Facebook or YouTube pages live. Also feel free to ask questions in the comments below or on those platforms during the show and we'll ask them. Subscribe to the Twins Daily podcast on Libsyn, Apple iTunes or anywhere you download podcasts. Here is the YouTube link where you can watch the show. For More on Louie Varland: A Golden Bear Changes Cities: Q&A with Louie Varland (June 2019) Follow Regi on Twitter at @LouieVarland. Follow Regi on Instagram at @louievarland. Previous Episodes Click here to see more previous episodes of Twins Spotlight. Episode 13: Edwar Colina Episode 14: Tyler Wells Episode 15: Sawyer Gipson-Long Episode 16: Adam Bray Episode 17: Chris Vallimont Episode 18: Ben Gross Episode 19: Regi Grace Episode 20: Louie Varland

We are back for another episode of Twins Jeopardy on Wednesday night at 5:30 central time. Find out if you can keep up with our contestants. Our previous winners will compete against each other and another competitor. Categories could cover anything Twins related over their 60 seasons in Minnesota. See how much trivia you know about the Twins history, present and prospects. Join us live, or watch later, and let us know how many questions you knew the answers to. See if you can top our contestants. Of course, categories won't be announced until the show begins. David Youngs - Twins Daily writer. He appeared on several Postgame Pints and Offseason Lives. He's also helped interview some Minnesota players on Twins Spotlight for his #MinnesotaMade series. Won Episode 2 Nash Walker - Twins Daily writer who has been a frequent participant on Postgame Pints and other Offseason Live shows. Won Episode 1 and Twins Offseason Jeopardy. Contestant #3 To Be Named Later - This contestant will get to see if he or she can dethrone one of our previous winners. Follow Twins Daily on social media to catch the live shows (they're broadcast via Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube) and subscribe to our podcast to receive the audio versions of any episodes you miss. Here is the link to be able to watch tonight's show on YouTube. Here are the links to watch the previous Twins Jeopardy on YouTube. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email

Regi Grace became a multi-sport prep star in Mississippi. He had a commitment to Mississippi State University, but when the Twins made him their tenth round pick in 2018, he signed and began his professional career. Grace began his career by pitching two seasons in the GCL. He has struck out 32 batters over 31 2/3 innings of work. He was looking forward to a big 2020 when spring training and later the season was cancelled. Join us live at 6:00 to watch and participate by sending your questions. We'll cover a ton of topics from his youth ball, to getting drafted, signing, his development and much more. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Please watch LIVE at 6pm (central time) Tuesday night on the Twins Daily Twitter, Facebook or YouTube pages live. Also feel free to ask questions in the comments below or on those platforms during the show and we'll ask them. Subscribe to the Twins Daily podcast on Libsyn, Apple iTunes or anywhere you download podcasts. Here is the YouTube link where you can watch the show. More on Regi Grace: Get to Know Twins RHP prospect Regi Grace (August 2018) Follow Regi on Twitter at @rjgrace1. Follow Regi on Instagram at @r.e.g.i.n.o.l.d. Previous Episodes Click here to see more previous episodes of Twins Spotlight. Episode 13: Edwar Colina Episode 14: Tyler Wells Episode 15: Sawyer Gipson-Long Episode 16: Adam Bray Episode 17: Chris Vallimont Episode 18: Ben Gross Episode 19: Regi Grace

Ben Gross was the Twins 10th round pick in 2019 out of Duke. He had pitched at, and graduated from, After his junior season, he was drafted by the Astros but chose to go to Duke as a graduate student. Following that 2019 season, the Twins drafted him and he spent the summer at Elizabethton. Despite a lost 2020 regular minor league season, Gross was invited to Twins instructional camp. Several reports from there had him pitching really well and showing increased velocity. We'll talk to Ben Gross tonight about all of that and get to know another quality Twins prospect. Join us live at 6:00 to watch and participate by sending your questions. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Please watch LIVE at 6pm (central time) Monday night on the Twins Daily Twitter, Facebook or YouTube pages live. Also feel free to ask questions in the comments below or on those platforms during the show and we'll ask them. Subscribe to the Twins Daily podcast on Libsyn, Apple iTunes or anywhere you download podcasts. Here is the YouTube link where you can watch the show. More on Ben Gross: Follow Ben on Instagram at @ben.gross. Previous Episodes Click here to see more previous episodes of Twins Spotlight. Episode 13: Edwar Colina Episode 14: Tyler Wells Episode 15: Sawyer Gipson-Long Episode 16: Adam Bray Episode 17: Chris Vallimont Episode 18: Ben Gross