Toby Gardenhire will manage Twins top affiliate, the St. Paul Saints After being named the Class AAA manager in 2020, he watched as the minor league season was canceled. January 18, 2021 11:19pm Text size Copy shortlink:
A Gardenhire will manage professional baseball in the Twin Cities once again this season.
Toby Gardenhire, whose father, Ron, managed the Twins for 13 seasons, has been hired to lead the St. Paul Saints in their first season as the Twins Class AAA affiliate, the Saints will announce Tuesday.
Toby Gardenhire, 38, played in the Twins minor league system for seven years after being drafted in 2005, and he managed Class A teams for the organization in 2018 (Cedar Rapids) and 2019 (Fort Myers). He was promoted to the helm of their Class AAA Rochester team last spring, before the 2020 minor league season was canceled by the coronavirus pandemic.
Communities lose teams as affiliated minors shrink to 120
FILE - In this May 21, 2015, file photo, the St. Paul, Minn., skyline is visible beyond CHS Field as the St. Paul Saints hold their baseball season opener against the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks at the new stadium. Major League Baseball went through with its plan to cut to 120 farm teams. As part of the reorganization, the Saints, which had been an independent team, will become the Triple-A team of the Minnesota Twins. (Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune via AP, File) Aaron Lavinsky
FILE - In this Sept. 11, 2007, file photo, members of the Frederick Keys celebrate after they defeated the Salem Avalanche in the deciding game of the Carolina League championship in Salem, Va. The Keys lost professional status, in a reorganization of minor league baseball. The team, which had been a Baltimore affiliate, will be part of the Draft League that was announced last month for prospects ahead of the amateur draft. (Stephanie Klein-Davis/The Roanok
Jackson loses team as affiliated minors shrink to 120
By RONALD BLUMDecember 10, 2020 GMT
NEW YORK (AP) Jackson, Tennessee, lost its Double-A baseball team for next season, one of 40 cities dropped as professional affiliates as Major League Baseball went through with its plan to cut to 120 farm teams.
The New York-Penn League, which started in 1939, was eliminated and the Pioneer League, founded the same year, lost its affiliated status and became an independent partner league. The Appalachian League was converted to a college summer circuit for rising freshmen and sophomores.
Each franchise’s top four affiliates will include one team apiece at Triple-A, Double-A, High-A and Low-A. Additional clubs are allowed at spring training complexes and in the Dominican Republic.
By John Gaskins
Saint Paul Saints logo.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KWSN.com) The fun-loving American Association charter team the Sioux Falls Canaries calls “the gold standard of independent baseball” is leaving the league after 28 years to become the highest-level affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.
The Saint Paul Saints and Major League Baseball made the news official on Wednesday, narrowing the Association down to 10 competing teams and moving the Twins’ Triple-A stable 1,000 miles closer to home. The Twins spent the previous 17 years making Rochester, NY, their nearest stepping stone to the big leagues.
Target Field in downtown Minneapolis and CHS Stadium in downtown St. Paul are separated by just 10.6 miles, the closest distance between any Minor League affiliate and their Major League parent club. A player on a rehab assignment or a player transitioning from Triple-A to the Majors could now make a short drive down Interstate 94 and have a consistent housing situation