All He Does Is Win: Brian Dinkelman, 5th Most Victories In Minor League Baseball Since 2019, Takes Over Reins With Saints, Joined By Two New Coaches, Schlechter and Hernandez Return

ST. PAUL, MN (January 14, 2026) - For the first time since the St. Paul Saints became the Minnesota Twins Triple-A affiliate in 2021, Toby Gardenhire will no longer be the manager of the club. During the offseason he was promoted to Major League Field Coordinator of the Twins under new manager Derek Shelton’s staff. The Twins found their guy to take over the Saints managerial role just one level below. The Saints, in conjunction with the Twins, announced that former Wichita Wind Surge manager Brian Dinkelman will be the new manager of the Saints. He will be joined by a mixture of new and familiar faces to Saints fans. The Saints will once again carry two pitching coaches as Carlos Hernandez returns for his second season and is joined by Ryan Ricci, who spent last season with the Wind Surge. The Saints will also have two hitting coaches as Shawn Schlecter returns for his third season with the Saints and will be paired up with Hitting & Development Coach CJ Baker, who spent 2025 at High-A Cedar Rapids. The staff is rounded out with Strength & Conditioning Coach Stephen Hopkins, third season with the Saints, Lead Athletic Trainer Chase Thompson (1^st season), Assistant Athletic Trainer Ben Myers (5^th season), Clubhouse Manager Matt Tramp (6^th season), Coordinator, Baseball Technology Alek Hughes (5^th season), and Fellow, Baseball Technology Jared Kahn (1^st season).

Brian Dinkelman – Manager

The 42-year-old Dinkelman becomes the second manager in St. Paul Saints Triple-A franchise history, following Toby Gardenhire’s promotion to the Twins. He is no stranger to the organization and has a winning record as a manager in each of his seven seasons. His lowest winning percentage in a season was .515 in 2024.

Since 2019, Dinkelman has racked up an incredible 443-348 record, an impressive .560 winning percentage. His 443 victories are the fifth most among all Minor League managers in that span and his .560 winning percentage is also fifth best among managers with at least 500 games in that time frame. Former Saints manager Toby Gardenhire is one spot behind Dinkelman with 431 wins. After spending the first six seasons in Cedar Rapids, and 2025 at Double-A Wichita, the 2026 season is Dinkelman’s first year managing at Triple-A.

When he took over the helm at Single-A Cedar Rapids in 2019, his first ever as a manager, he came out of the gates strong with a 78-62 record, winning the second half title and earning his first playoff appearance. He guided the club to a first round victory, two-games-to-one, over the Quad Cities River Bandits (Houston Astros) before losing in the semifinals to the Clinton LumberKings (Miami Marlins) two-games-to-one. His success was a sign of things to come. He had two more impressive seasons in 2021 and 2022, the latter where his team finished 78-58 and the former where his team fell in the fifth and deciding game in the High-A Central Championship series to the Quad Cities River Bandits (Kansas City Royals).

The big breakout came in 2023 when his Kernels finished with the best record in the Minor Leagues, 82-50 (.621). His team finished the job claiming the Midwest League title, the club’s first since 1994. He took home another trophy, earning Baseball America Minor League Manager of the year honors.

This is Dinkelman’s 12^th season as a coach or manager in the Twins system. Prior to his time as manager, Dinkelman got his start as in the Twins system in 2015 as a coach with the GCL Twins. From there he spent three years, 2016-18, as the hitting coach with the Kernels. In each of those seasons his teams were in the upper half of the 16-team Midwest League in hitting.

Dinkelman was an eighth-round pick by the Minnesota Twins out of McKendree (IL) University in 2006. He played eight seasons in the organization from 2006-13 and was a four-time All-Star: Mid-Season Midwest League All-Star with Beloit in 2007, Mid-Season Florida State League All-Star with Fort Myers in 2008, and both a Mid-Season and Post-Season Eastern League All-Star with New Britain in 2009.

In 2011, Dinkelman made his Major League debut with the Twins playing 23 games and hitting .301 (22-73) with a double and four RBI.

At NAIA McKendree (IL) University, Dinkelman was a three-time American Midwest Conference Player of the Year and left as the all-time leader in career hits (373), doubles (96), runs scored (303), and total bases (670).

Carlos Hernandez – Pitching Coach

The 45-year-old Hernandez begins his ninth year in the Twins organization and second with the Saints. He spent 2024 with the Wind Surge, Cedar Rapids in 2023 and, 2020-22 with Low-A Fort Myers. Last season the Saints pitching staff was tied for fourth in the International League in strikeouts (1315). He also helped a few pitchers make their Major League debut in Travis Adams, Cody Laweryson, and Pierson Ohl. In 2023, Cedar Rapids’ 3.90 team ERA ranked 12th among all full-season minor league teams and in 2021 Mighty Mussels pitchers ranked fourth in Low-A with a 3.96 ERA and tied for sixth with 1,228 strikeouts

Hernandez spent two years with rookie-level clubs, making his professional coaching debut as the DSL Twins pitching coach in 2018 before serving in the same role for the GCL Twins in 2019.

He was originally signed by Houston as an amateur free agent in 1997 and made 35 appearances (33 starts) for the Astros between 2001-04 and pitched in the Tampa Bay system from 2008-10.

Ryan Ricci – Pitching Coach

The 29-year-old Ricci is in his third season in the Twins organization after spending 2025 in Wichita and 2024 with the Mighty Mussels. The Wind Surge were one of the best pitching teams in the Texas League last season as Ricci helped guide his staff to the fewest walks in the league (440), third best ERA (3.95), and tied for the fourth fewest runs (603).

Prior to joining the Twins, Ricci spent three seasons as pitching coach at the Division

I level. Under his guidance in 2023, the George Mason University pitching staff led the Atlantic 10 conference in ERA and saves while setting the single-season program strikeout record. Before George Mason, he worked as pitching coach at Lafayette College for two seasons and as a graduate assistant at George Mason

Following his collegiate playing career at George Mason from 2015-18, Ricci signed a minor league free agent deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks, pitching in their system for one season and compiling a career 2.55 ERA (17.2 IP, 5 ER) with nine walks and 18 strikeouts in 15 appearances for the Arizona League Diamondbacks and the Short-A Hillsboro Hops.

Shawn Schlecter – Hitting Coach

The 35-year-old Burnsville, MN native, Schlechter, grew up a Twins fan and enters his seventh season in the organization, third with the Saints. In 2025 he helped the Saints offense show patience and power. The Saints finished fourth in the 20 team International League in walks (653), sixth in on-base percentage (.345), and tied for sixth in home runs (170). He helped players like Ryan Fitzgerald, Luke Keaschall, and Carson McCusker make their big league debuts.

Schlechter was the Hitting Coach for Double-A Wichita in 2023, High-A Cedar Rapids in 2022, FCL Twins in 2021, and was scheduled to have the same role in 2020 before the cancellation of the season.

Schlechter spent eight years at North Iowa Community College, first as a player and then as a coach. During his tenure working with NIACC hitters (2013-19), four of his players were picked in the First-Year Player Draft. During the 2020 baseball pause, he joined members of the Twins’ player development staff and Play Ball! Minnesota in a series of online Virtual Academy webinars, aimed at helping young athletes with proper fundamentals and form. The webinars were targeted at different age groups and covered a wide range of topics.

CJ Baker – Hitting & Development Coach

Baker enters his third season with the Twins organization and first with the Saints. He spent the first two seasons as a hitting coach with Cedar Rapids. The Kernels finished in the top half of the Midwest League in nearly every major offensive category in 2025 including tied for first in triples (41), second in doubles (237) and OPS (.734), third in slugging percentage (.392) and runs (640), and fourth in home runs (102).

Baker spent 2022-23 as video, technology and analytics coordinator for Stanford University’s baseball program, including working with the 2022 Cardinal team that reached the College World Series. Prior to joining Stanford, he had stints as a hitting coach at Biola (CA) University, an assistant baseball coach at Bucknell (PA) University and an assistant coach at Lock Haven (PA) University. He also served as a graduate assistant at Seattle University from 2015-16 while earning his master’s degree from the University of Washington.

Stephen Hopkins – Strength & Conditioning Coach

Hopkins begins his third season with the Twins organization, all with the Saints. He spent nearly a year-and-a-half at K27 Performance, a sports gym in Frisco Texas, as Director of Training and an Elite Performance Trainer since September 2022. He’s worked at RedLine Athletics as a Director of Performance (2021-22), owned his own business helping train athletes (2020-22), a Strength and Conditioning Coach at Elite Performance Training (2019-21), Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at Greenhill School (2017-19), and a Sports Performance Coach at Michael Johnson Performance (2017).

In 2017, Hopkins received his Strength and Conditioning graduate certificate from Georgia Southern University in May, 2017 and became a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist from the National Strength and Conditioning Association in August, 2017.

Hopkins is a graduate of the University of Michigan where he played three seasons at running back/fullback for the Wolverines. He was a part of the 2012 Sugar Bowl winning team, a 23-20 victory over Virginia Tech. Hopkins was a three-star recruit coming out of Marcus (TX) HS where he rushed for 5,010 yards and 61 touchdowns and rated as the 50^th best running back in the nation.

Chase Thompson – Lead Athletic Trainer

This will be the fifth season for Thompson in the Twins organization and first with the Saints. He began as the Head Athletic Trainer with the Mighty Mussels from 2022-23. He was promoted to Wichita in 2024 where he was the co-head Athletic Trainer with former Saints Athletic Trainer Katie Lortie. In 2025, with Lortie in St. Paul, Thompson took the reins himself in Wichita.

Thompson received his Bachelor’s degree in Health and Exercise Science from the University of Oklahoma (2015-2019) and a Master’s degree in athletic training from the University of Central Oklahoma (2019-2021). He was an intern athletic trainer with the Kansas City Royals’ Double-A affiliate, Northwest Arkansas Naturals, in 2021 after graduating with his Master’s. He worked as a game day medical assistant for the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2021 while still in school prior to the Naturals internship. While in school at OU, he was a student medical aid for the Men's and Women’s track team.

Ben Myers – Assistant Athletic Trainer

The 35-year-old Myers begins his eighth season in the Twins organization and fifth with the Saints. He began his time in 2018 as the Athletic Trainer at Low-A Cedar Rapids. From there he moved to High-A Fort Myers in 2019. His responsibilities shifted in 2020 due to the pandemic. He was sent to Target Field handling Covid cases and his experience doing that put him in the role of Infectious Control Prevention Coordinator in 2021 through the All-Star break. Following that, he became a roving Athletic Trainer, working with all the Twins affiliates.

Myers began his college career at the University of Kentucky for two semesters. He then transferred to Eastern Kentucky University from 2009-13 and got his degree in Athletic Training, becoming certified in 2013. Myers did an internship with the GCL Astros in 2012. He earned his master’s at the University of South Carolina in Athletic Training and worked with the University of South Carolina Softball team from 2013-14. After working at a local high school in 2015, Myers was hired by the Astros and worked for their GCL team from 2015-16 and with the Rookie level Greenville Astros in 2017.

Matt Tramp – Clubhouse Manager

The 36-year-old Tramp is the only member of the staff that has been with the Saints since the first year of the affiliation in 2021 as he begins his sixth season as the Clubhouse Manager. The Sioux Falls, South Dakota native began his clubhouse duties with the American Association’s Sioux Falls Canaries, the same league the Saints were in prior to becoming the Twins Triple-A affiliate, from 2009-10, 12-13. He spent one season with the New York-Penn League’s Auburn Doubledays, the Low-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, in 2011. Following his time with the Canaries in 2013, Tramp was the Visiting Clubhouse Manager for the Corpus Christi Hooks, the Double-A affiliate of the Houston Astros in 2014. He went on to work as the Clubhouse Manager for the Biloxi Shuckers, the Double-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers, in 2015. He joined the Twins organization in 2018 and was the Fort Myers Miracle Clubhouse Manager for two seasons. Tramp and his wife Amanda spent the winter living in Minnesota.

Alek Hughes – Coordinator, Baseball Technology

Hughes, 35, begins his fifth season with the Saints and fourth in a full-time role. In 2022 he was an intern in the Twins organization in the baseball technology department, primarily with the Saints. Hughes was a US Military Academy at West Point graduate in 2014 and was a Field Artillery Officer in the US Army from 2014-22. He received his Master of Business Administration from Webster University in 2021. His first job in the sports world was with the Philadelphia Eagles, in 2022, working on data insights and research.

Jared Kahn – Fellow, Baseball Technology

Kahn enters his second season with the Twins organization and first with the Saints. In 2025 he was a Fellow, Baseball Technology with the FCL Twins. His first foray into baseball was in 2024 as an Assistant Clubhouse Manager with the High-A Eugene Emeralds (San Francisco Giants). He received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Management concentrating on Sports Business at the University of Oregon in 2024. Kahn was a video intern for the Ducks football team from 2023-24.

The Saints open up the 2026 season on the road against the Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh Pirates) on Friday, March 27 at 5:35 p.m. The home opener is on Tuesday, March 31 against the Worcester Red Sox (Boston Red Sox) at 6:37 p.m. Season and group tickets are on sale. For more information, contact the Saints office Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. or visit saintsbaseball.com.