Twins Add Two Former Players To GCL Staff
As Spring Training continues to loom closer, the continued development of the young talent filling the Minnesota Twins organization remains a top priority. With the Gulf Coast League Twins being one of drafted players first stops, the coaching staff remains of vital importance. The organization announced two new hires today.
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Former Twins players Brian Dinkelman and Javier Valentin were both named as coaches of the GCL Twins. Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press shared the news through his Twitter account.
#MNTwins announce recent additions of Javier Valentin and Brian Dinkelman to their GCL coaching staff. Virgil Vasquez is PC.
— Mike BerardinoNDI (@MikeBerardino) January 20, 2015
Valentin played with the Twins from 1997-2002. He was a third round pick by the Twins in the 1993 MLB Draft, and he went on to spend parts of 10 years in the major leagues. Valentin retired in 2008 after playing 94 games with the Cincinnati Reds.
Dinkelman was an 8th round selection of the Twins in the 2006 MLB draft and spent most of his time in the Twins minor league system. In 2011, Dinkelman debuted for his only major league season and split time between second base and the outfield. He batted .301 across 23 games for the Twins that season.
Both new coaches will be down in Fort Myers working with the Twins staff in preparation for the upcoming season.
Also of note, Carl Willis, the runner-up to Twins pitching coach Neil Allen, has been named the Triple-A pitching coach for the Cleveland Indians today.
Runner-up to Neil Allen w/#MNTwins RT @CLBClippers: Carl Willis replaces Tony Arnold as pitching coach.
— Mike BerardinoNDI (@MikeBerardino) January 20, 2015
With just a few weeks separating the club from Fort Myers and Spring Training, the Twins appear to be making their final organizational tweaks.
Next: Spring Training: Twins To Keep An Eye On