Twins, Mighty Mussels Announce 2026 Coaching Staff

Fort Myers, Fla. (January 14, 2026) – In conjunction with the Minnesota Twins, the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels are excited to announce the team’s 2026 coaching staff.

Jordan Smith has been tabbed as the team’s manager. Smith will be the club’s third lead voice in as many seasons.

Smith spent the past 14 seasons in the Cleveland Guardians’ organization. For the past three seasons, Smith was the manager of the High-A Lynchburg Hillcats. That tenure culminated in a Carolina League Championship, with Smith being named the league’s Manager of the Year after guiding the Hillcats to a 70-59 record in 2025.

“Cleveland does a really good job of putting good people in roles they can succeed in, and we just worked hard as a staff and made it about our players,” Smith said. “We wanted to invest in them as young men first, and as baseball players second. We cared about the preparation, we cared about the people, and we dove in as a group and as a coaching staff.”

The team went 204-185 (.524) and never had a losing season over Smith’s time as manager.

Smith replaces Seth Feldman as the Mussels’ manager. Feldman will remain in the organization in a coordinator role at the complex level.

Smith grew up in Willmar, Minnesota and said being a Twins fan was part of the culture in his town.

“As I went through interviews with other organizations, the Twins felt like home and the place where we wanted to be,” Smith added. “It just brings me back to my younger self. It’s a full circle feeling and an opportunity with the family that we are really excited about.”

The 35-year-old was an All-American at St. Cloud State University in 2010 and 2011 and was inducted into the university’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2023. He was the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Freshman of the Year in 2010 and the Player of the Year in 2011.

“Coming out of high school, you want to go somewhere where it is a good fit, and you have an opportunity to get better and grow, and a coach that believes in you,” Smith said. “Pat Dolan was that for me at St. Cloud. We had success as a team, and I had success as an individual as well.”

In 112 collegiate games, Smith slashed .420/.480/.722 with 74 extra-base hits and 135 RBI. That led to him being selected in the ninth round of the 2011 MLB Amateur Draft. Smith went on to play professionally for eight seasons, seven of which were in the minors with Cleveland.

Smith reached the Triple-A ranks, spending parts of the 2016 and 2017 seasons with the Columbus Clippers. The former outfielder was a career .271 hitter with 778 hits across 778 minor league games.

He spent his final season as a player in the independent leagues and played part of the 2018 season for the Saint Paul Saints in the American Association. The Saints became the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate in 2021. Smith said the decision to play in St. Paul was based around the birth of his son Talon and wanting him to experience part of his life with his dad still playing.

He hadn’t considered coaching until a conversation during his time with the Clippers.

“I was in Triple-A and my career was winding down, and I still had a burning desire to make it to the big leagues and make that a reality,” Smith said. “One of my coaches there told me I would make a good coach. I didn’t know I wanted to be a coach until someone else saw it in me.”

Smith is excited about the change of scenery and facing the challenges that come with a new city and organization. He plans to start the groundwork by learning the organization, making connections with the people, and then using his knowledge to help his players grow through their journey in baseball.

“I just know the impact that managers had on my career, and I just want to be able to give that back and encourage these guys along their road to the show,” Smith added.

Joining Jordan in Fort Myers are his wife Ashley, and their children Talon (8) and Laney (5).

“I am really thankful for my wife and kids in the way that they have supported me in my career,” Smith said. “We are definitely excited to move to the Fort Myers area and enjoy all that it has to offer.”

Smith expects his club to put a quality product on the field, with the foundation of the team being built around playing the game the right way, with character and intent.

The on-field staff working under Smith features four returners and three newcomers. All the new faces in the Fort Myers dugout come from within the Twins’ organization.

Pitching coach Richard Salazar returns for his 9th season with the Twins and his fourth with the Mussels. He spent the 2021 and 2022 seasons with High-A Cedar Rapids. In 2023, Richard guided Mussels’ pitchers to the best opponents’ batting average (.234) in the Florida State League. In 2025, Fort Myers’ pitchers issued the second fewest walks (486) in the FSL.

Born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, Salazar came to the United States to pitch for Miami Dade College before getting selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 13th round of the 2001 amateur draft. Salazar played for 17 years in the minors and internationally.

Salazar will work alongside Dylan Hawley, who joins the staff as the team’s second pitching coach. Hawley enters his third year with the Twins after spending the past two seasons as a pitching coach in the Dominican Summer League. Hawley is a Minnesota native and worked at Driveline Baseball before joining the Twins in 2024.

Hitting coach Carlos Lara also joins Fort Myers after a two-year stint in the DSL, alongside Hawley. In 2024, the DSL Twins ranked fifth out of 50 teams with a .260 team average and 31 home runs. Lara is entering his fourth season with the Twins. He originally joined the organization as a baseball technology associate in the Florida Complex League in 2023.

Matt Anti returns for his fourth year as the club’s strength and conditioning coach. He joined the Twins in 2022 after six years at the collegiate level. Anti worked at four DI institutions: the University of Pittsburgh, Mississippi State, West Virginia, and Air Force. He earned his B.S. in Exercise and Sport Science from Western Colorado University in 2016.

Charysse Berkowski returns for her second year as the team’s lead athletic trainer. Prior to joining the Twins in 2025, Berkowski spent three seasons in the Boston Red Sox system. She also spent 2021 as an athletic training intern with the Chicago Cubs.

Tyler Blair is joining Berkowski on the athletic training staff. Blair enters his 9th season in the organization and his first with Fort Myers. He has worked as an athletic trainer in Double-A Wichita, High-A Cedar Rapids, and the FCL.

Jeremy Miranda returns for his second season with the Mussels as the club’s baseball technology coordinator. Miranda previously worked with Cedar Rapids and the FCL. He earned his bachelor’s in statistics from Iowa State University in 2020, while also working with the Cyclones’ softball team.

Andrew Pagliughi returns for his sixth season as the team’s clubhouse manager. Pagliughi was named the 2023 FSL Clubhouse Manager of the Year and graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University in 2020.

The Mussels open their season on Thursday, April 2 when they host the Clearwater Threshers at the Lee Health Sports Complex. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.

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