The Minnesota Twins announced today that their minor league managerial and coaching positions have been filled for the 2018 season.
Joel Skinner will manage the Twins Triple-A affiliate Rochester Red Wings, his first season in the Twins system. Skinner managed in the White Sox organization from 2012-16, with Triple-A Charlotte and Single-A Winston Salem. Skinner has more than 13 seasons of professional managerial experience, including managing the Indians on an interim basis in 2002. Stu Cliburn returns as Rochester's pitching coach, a position he held from 2006-08. 2018 will mark Cliburn's 27th season in the Twins organization. Chad Allen returns for his third consecutive season as Rochester's hitting coach after spending 2013-15 as hitting coach with Twins Double-A affiliates. Mike McCarthy will serve his first season as the Wings bullpen coach. Chris Johnson will begin his first season as the Red Wings trainer, and 13th in the Twins organization. Tyler Burks returns as the Red Wings strength and conditioning coach.
Tommy Watkins will begin his first year as a manager for Double-A Chattanooga, and second professional job as manager, after spending 2017 with Single-A Cedar Rapids. Ivan Arteaga begins his third season as pitching coach of the Lookouts, and his 18th season as a pitching coach in the Twins organization. Javier Valentin will begin his second season as hitting coach for the Lookouts and his fifth season as coach in the Twins system. Alan Rail will serve his first season as trainer for the Twins Double-A affiliate and his 14th overall as a trainer in the Twins system. Ryan Grose will serve as the Lookouts strength and conditioning coach.
Ramon Borrego will enter his first season as manager at Single-A Ft. Myers and his eighth as a manager in the Twins system. Steve Singleton will begin his second season as hitting coach at Ft. Myers and his third as a hitting coach in the Twins organization. Henry Bonilla will spend his third season as pitching coach for the Miracle after spending 2015 with Single-A Cedar Rapids, 2013-14 with Rookie Level Elizabethton and 2012 with the GCL Twins. Steve Taylor will begin his first season as the Miracle trainer after serving five seasons as a trainer for the GCL Twins (2013-14), Elizabethton (2015) and Cedar Rapids (2016-17). Jacob Dean will serve as strength and conditioning coach.
Toby Gardenhire will manage Single-A Cedar Rapids, marking his first professional managerial job. He spent 2017 as hitting coach for GCL Twins. Cibney Bello and Justin Willard will serve as the club's pitching coaches at Cedar Rapids. Bello will begin his third season in the Twins system and Willard joins from Radford University. Brian Dinkelman will begin his third season as hitting coach for Cedar Rapids. Davey LaCroix begins his first season as a trainer for the Kernels after spending the previous two seasons with Elizabethton. Phil Hartt will serve as strength and conditioning coach.
Ray Smith returns as manager for the Rookie Level Elizabethton Twins. Smith, who will be in his 32nd season on staff for Elizabethton (25th as manager), has a career managerial record of 977-648 (.601) with 13 first place finishes in 23 seasons. Luis Ramirez returns as Elizabethton's pitching coach for the fourth consecutive season after spending 2013-14 with the GCL Twins and 2006-13 with the Twins Venezuelan Baseball Academy. Jeff Reed returns to Elizabethton for his 17th season as hitting coach. Takashi Miyoshi joins the staff as a coach, his first in the Twins system. Travis Koon will serve as strength and conditioning coach.
Dan Ramsay will begin his first season in the Twins system as manager of the Rookie Level Gulf Coast League Twins. Ramsay spent the last nine seasons as head baseball coach for Whitworth University. Virgil Vasquez returns for his fourth consecutive season as GCL pitching coach. Former Twins infielder Luis Rodriguez and Matt Borgschulte will serve as hitting coaches for the GCL Twins. David Rak will serve as strength and conditioning coach.
Robbie Robinson will manage the DSL Twins, his first season in the Twins organization. Carlos Hernandez will serve as DSL Twins pitching coach. Asdrubal Estrada and Leury Bonilla will serve as hitting coaches for DSL Twins. Jimmy Alvarez and Jairo Rodriguez will serve as coaches. Carlos Frias will begin his fifth year as the DSL trainer and Wladimir Morales will begin his second as trainer for DSL after spending 2016 at the Venezuelan Academy. Juan Carlos Pinto will serve as strength and conditioning coach.
In addition, Edgar Varela will serve his first season as Twins minor league field coordinator, coming from Pittsburgh's organization, where he was the Assistant Hitting Coordinator. Pete Maki will serve his first season as pitching coordinator after three seasons as assistant coach for the University of Duke. J.P. Martinez returns for his fourth season with the Twins and first as assistant pitching coordinator. Former Rochester Manager Mike Quade returns for his fourth season in the Twins system, his first as outfield coordinator. Sam Perlozzo will return as the minor league infield and baserunning coordinator for the fifth year. Rick Eckstein will begin his second season with the club as the hitting coordinator. Tanner Swanson, who spent part of 2017 as an assistant coach for Santa Clara University, will serve as catching coordinator. Bob McClure, who pitched 19 seasons in the majors and recently served as pitching coach for the Phillies for four seasons, will been named senior advisor to player development. Joel Lepel will enter his 26th season at some capacity in the Twins system, his first as a senior advisor to player development. Chad Jackson enters his 17th season with the Twins as minor league medical coordinator. Ian Kadish has been named minor league strength and conditioning coordinator. Axel Lopez will serve his first season as Latin American medical coordinator. Kate Moran will continue her role as the club's dietician. Jose Marzan returns as Latin American Operations Coordinator. David Jeffrey will begin his fourth season as the minor league video coordinator. Brian Maloney enters his 13th season and third as Senior Manager of Minor League Operations. Dave Ringler returns for his 22nd season as minor league equipment manager. Rafael Yanez returns for his fourth season and will serve as assistant, Florida operations/Latin American scout. Victor Gonzalez will serve as Florida Operations manager, marking his second season.
Former Twins great Tony Oliva will continue in his role as hitting coach, in addition to his community relations activities with the club.