The (continued) return of (a) Gardenhire

The Twins have hired Toby Gardenhire for a as-yet undefined job in their player-development system.

The son of the team's former big-league manager has had a seasonal role as a coach with the Gulf Coast Twins. Now he'll be full time with the Twins organization. I expect he'll be assigned to one of the full-season affiliates as a coach; there are at least two openings at present with the elevation of Tommy Watkins to a manager's job and the retirement of Jim Dwyer.

There's a part of me that want to shout "nepotism," but the elder Gardenhire no longer works for the Twins, and there's no need for the new regime to curry his favor. The younger Gardenhire's resume includes seven seasons as a player at every level of the Twins farm system and every position except center field and five years as a college head coach (Wisconsin-Stout).

Maybe his last name got him some of that experience, but he's got it.