Twins

Twins Announce Minor-League Coaching Staffs, Parker Signing & Curtiss DFA

Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

On Monday the Minnesota Twins announced their full slate of minor-league coaching staffs, some of which had already been released.

Here are the staffs:

Triple-A Rochester

  • Manager – Joel Skinner (second season coaching in organization)
  • Pitching Coach – Stu Cliburn (28th season in org.)
  • Hitting Coach – Javier Valentin (fifth season in org.)
  • Bullpen Coach – Mike McCarthy (second season in org.)
  • Trainer – Chris Johnson (second season with club, 14th in org.)
  • Strength and Conditioning – Jacob Dean

Skinner has managed in the big leagues with the Cleveland Indians and in the White Sox organization with Triple-A Charlotte and Single-A Winston-Salem. Valentin was the team’s Double-A hitting coach at Chattanooga the past two seasons.

Double-A Pensacola

  • Manager – Ramon Borrego
  • Pitching Coach – Cibney Bello and Justin Willard
  • Hitting Coach – Steve Singleton (fourth season in org.)
  • Trainer – Davey LaCroix (fourth season in org.)
  • Strength and Conditioning – Travis Koon

Borrego managed last season at Single-A Fort Myers. Bello and Willard were dual pitching coaches at Low-A Cedar Rapids in 2018. LaCroix was the trainer for High-A Fort Myers in 2018.

High-A Fort Myers

  • Manager – Toby Gardenhire
  • Pitching Coach – Luis Ramirez
  • Hitting Coach – Matt Borgschulte
  • Coach – Frank Jagoda
  • Trainer – Ben Myers
  • Strength and Conditioning – Chuck Bradway

Gardenhire managed Low-A Cedar Rapids in 2018. Borgschulte was the hitting coach for the GCL Twins last year. Ramirez is up to High-A after spending the last four seasons with the Elizabethton Twins. Jagoda was the Twins minor-league rehab pitching coach last season.

Low-A Cedar Rapids

  • Manager – Brian Dinkelman
  • Pitching Coach – Virgil Vasquez (fifth season in org.)
  • Hitting Coach – Ryan Smith
  • Coach – Luis Rodriguez (third season in org.)
  • Trainer – Tyler Blair
  • Strength and Conditioning – Kyle Kelly

Dinkelman was the hitting coach for the Kernels in 2018. Smith joins the Kernels from the College of Central Florida. Rodriguez was an infielder with the Twins in the big leagues from 2005-07. Kelly is joining the Kernels from Notre Dame.

Rookie Level Elizabethton

  • Manager – Ray Smith
  • Pitching Coach – Richard Salazar
  • Hitting Coach – Jeff Reed
  • Coach – Takashi Miyoshi
  • Trainer – Matt Kalies
  • Strength and Conditioning – Connor Derrickson

Smith has been with Elizabethton for 33 seasons — including the upcoming one — and this will be his 26th as manager. Salazar split last season between the GCL Twins and Chattanooga. Reed is in his 18th season as hitting coach.

Gulf Coast League Twins

  • Manager – Robbie Robinson
  • Pitching Coach – Zach Bove and Carlos Hernandez
  • Hitting Coach – Micheal Thomas, Nate Rasmussen and Caleb Abney
  • Trainer – Asja Morello
  • Strength and Conditioning – Cesar Castillo

Robinson managed the DSL Twins in 2018. Bove is coming from the College of Central Florida, while Hernandez was with the DSL Twins last season. Thomas was in Fort Myers, Rasmussen was at Norther Colorado and Abney was at Austin Peay State.

Dominican Summer League Twins

  • Manager – Seth Feldman
  • Pitching Coach – Kevin Rodriguez and Dan Urbina
  • Hitting Coach – Leury Bonilla and Jairo Rodriguez
  • Coach – Jimmy Alvarez
  • Trainer – Carlos Frias and Wladimir Morales
  • Strength and Conditioning – Juan Carlos Pinto and Miguel Cabrera

Feldman was an assistant coach at Wisconsin-La Crosse.

Various Organizational Roles

  • Minor League Field Coordinator – Edgar Varela
  • Pitching Coordinator – Pete Maki
  • Assistant Pitching Coordinator – J.P. Martinez
  • Outfield Coordinator – Mike Quade
  • Minor League Infield and Baserunning Coordinator – Billy Boyer
  • Hitting Coordinator – Peter Fatse
  • Catching Coordinator – Tanner Swanson
  • Senior Advisors to Player Development – Bob McClure and Sam Perlozzo
  • Minor League Medical Coordinator – Chad Jackson
  • Minor League Strength and Conditioning Coordinator – David Rak
  • Latin American Medical Coordinator – Axel Lopez
  • Rehab Pitching Coach – Peter Larson
  • Latin American Operations Coordinator – Jose Marzan
  • Minor League Video Coordinator – Tyler Schmitz
  • Senior Manager of Minor League Operations – Brian Maloney
  • Assistant Director of Minor League Operations – Alex Hassan
  • Minor League Equipment Manager – Matt Cheesman
  • Assistants, Florida Operations – Rafael Yanez, Brad McKenney
  • Florida Operations Manager – Victor Gonzalez
  • Hitting Coach, Community Relations – Tony Oliva

On Monday, the Twins also formalized their deal with Blake Parker about a week after it was first rumored among national reporters.

Parker signed for $1.8 million guaranteed, with a potential for $3.2 million total — the initially reported amount of the deal — based on days on the active roster, per Jon Heyman of Fancred.

We broke down the Parker signing in detail here, but the general gist is that he gives them some more depth toward the back of games. It’s unclear if he’s viewed as the team’s closer heading into this season, but that seems unlikely since he’s coming off a tough season.

To make room on the 40-man roster, the Twins designated reliever John Curtiss for assignment. The Twins now have 10 days to trade or release Curtiss, or place him on waivers for the purpose of outrighting him to the minors. If he clears waivers, he will be sent to the minors, because this is his first outright and he doesn’t have enough service time to refuse the assignment.

Curtiss has shown good velocity (94.7 mph average fastball) and some feel for a pretty good slider (18.7 percent whiff rate), but has otherwise not stood out so far in his 15 big-league innings (7.20 ERA, 4.03 FIP, 10.2 K/9, 3.6 BB/9, 18.6 percent GB rate).


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