Toby Gardenhire, other Twins minor league managers will return for 2023 season

Gardenhire is in his third season with the St. Paul Saints, who had 89 players in the course of 2022.

January 19, 2023 at 4:32PM
Toby Gardenhire (33) greeted players before a game in May 2021. (Leila Navidi, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The Twins' minor league affiliates announced their managerial and coaching staffs Thursday.

All six managers are returning, including Toby Gardenhire at Class AAA St. Paul, Ramon Borrego for Class AA Wichita, Brian Dinkelman at High-A Cedar Rapids and Brian Meyer at Low-A Fort Myers.

Gardenhire's staff with the Saints includes pitching coach Cibney Bello and defensive coach Tyler Smarslok, both back for their third seasons; hitting coach Nate Spears, who comes from the Boston organization; and pitching coach Peter Larson, up from Wichita.

The son of former Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, the 40-year-old Toby Gardenhire is 141-138 in two seasons with St. Paul and had 89 different players on his roster in 2022. He managed at Cedar Rapids and Fort Myers before taking over as the Twins' AAA skipper in 2020 at Rochester, N.Y.; that season was wiped out by the pandemic.

Borrego's staff in Wichita will include hitting coach Shawn Schlechter, who moves up from Cedar Rapids; pitching coaches DJ Engle and Dan Urbina; and bench coach Takashi Miyoshi, who was promoted from Fort Myers.

At Cedar Rapids, Dinkelman will work with hitting coach Corbin Day, hitting coach Yeison Perez, and pitching coaches Carlos Hernandez and Jonas Lovin.

Meyers' coaches at Fort Myers include hitting coaches Rayden Sierra and Luis Reyes, and pitching coaches Jared Gaynor and Richard Salazar.

The rookie league Florida Complex League Twins will be managed by Seth Feldman for the second consecutive season, and the rookie-level Dominican Summer League Twins by Rafael Martinez, also in his second year.

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Tristan Gray, 29, batted .231 with three homers and nine RBI in 78 at-bats with the Rays last year.

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St. Louis Cardinals' Carlos Beltran slides safely past Boston Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia during the seventh inning of Game 3 of baseball's World Series Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013, in St. Louis. Beltran scored from second on a double by Matt Holliday. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)