St. Paul – For the first time since becoming a Triple-A affiliate, the St. Paul Saints have a new manager at the helm. Brian Dinkelman has been a coach in the Minnesota Twins’ farm system since 2015. Now, he will lead the Saints in the 2026 season after the Twins promoted Toby Gardenhire, his longtime friend, to their coaching staff.
“Me and him have been around forever, we’ve been doing it one level apart,” said Gardenhire. “So it was cool to see him move up there to St. Paul, which is a place I love, so he’s going to too.”
“I know he’s been here the last five years,” Dinkelman said. “We’ve talked about how things have been here for him, expectations, and how things run a little bit different compared to the rest of the minor-league level. We’ve had good conversations, excited for him to get the opportunity to go to the big leagues, and looking forward to being here.”
It’s the second year in a row Dinkelman is moving up the minor league affiliate ladder. He spent 2025 managing Double-A Wichita, after the Twins hired Ramon Borrego to their coaching staff. He’d been at High-A Cedar Rapids as the manager since 2019, which means he’s seen almost every Twins prospect they have drafted since 2017.
The Saints roster includes 15 players the Twins drafted and developed, which helps younger prospects who don’t need to become familiar with a new manager or level.
“I feel like it’s a good thing,” said Saints shortstop Kaelen Culpepper. “I feel really comfortable with him as a manager. We have a good connection, a good relationship. I know him, he knows me pretty well, so I feel like that goes a long way.”
“I’ve had Dink for two seasons,” Saints catcher Noah Cardenas said, “He’s a great manager, and kind of like Toby, he’s going to do an amazing job. I think a lot of the guys in the clubhouse are going to be really familiar with him and his style, so I think it’s going to be a really cool opportunity for us to grow as a unit.”
The biggest change in Dinkelman’s job description from all other minor league managerial roles is perhaps one of the most important in a player’s journey to the big leagues. He will now be the person to let a prospect know the Twins are calling them up to the majors for the first time.
Managers approach the player about the news in multiple ways. Some are humorous, while others see it as a serious, somber moment among coaches and teammates. With so many top prospects on the Saints roster to start 2026, Dinkelman’s first opportunity to break the news to a player could come early in the year.
“It’ll be a special moment for the player and myself to tell somebody because I’ve always done it before,” he said, “but it’s just going up to the next level and not to the major league level. So it’ll be exciting for whoever it might be.”
When it comes to preparation for the moment on Dinkelman’s end, he’ll think back to when that day came for him back on June 2, 2011. The Rochester Red Wings played a day game at home against the Toledo Mud Hens, crushing them 8-0. Dinkelman was 1-for-4 with a double. However, Gardenhire outdid him, going 2-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI behind six shutout innings from Eric Hacker.
Dinkelman and Gardy were already back at their apartment when a call came in from their manager, Tommy Nieto.
“We were back at our apartment after the game, got a call later that afternoon/evening, saying I was going to the big leagues,” Dinkelman said. “At first, we thought it was a joke at the time, but it was the real thing, so it was exciting to get that phone call finally.”
“We were just hanging out, we got a call, and [Dink] was up in the kitchen, and we got a call. He said, ‘Who is it? I said, ‘It’s the chief,’ and that was our manager at the time,” said Gardenhire, “and he said some expletives at me, and I said, ‘No, I’m serious, it’s the chief.’ And then he came over, and his face turned sheet white, and he got called to be big leagues.”
The Saints are already off to a 3-0 start to begin 2026, sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates' Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis. They escaped a hot start from MLB’s top prospect, Konnor Griffin, who went 5-for-10.
They’ll kick off the 2026 season at home at CHS Field on Tuesday night. Brian Dinkelman will keep the young prospects' bats hot so he can get the opportunity to mess with a player during their MLB call-up, just like Tommy Nieto did to him 15 years ago.
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