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Twins hitting coach James Rowson has earned a lot of praise for his work as the Twins hitting coach over the past few seasons. In particular, he led the 2019 Twins offense which set the all-time single-season home run record. The assumption as the season went on is that the Twins organization, specifically Rocco's Baldelli's coaching staff, could lose several key members during the offseson, and Rowson's name was often mentioned. Early on Thursday evening, Jeff Passan tweeted the news: He followed with a tweet to attempt to explain the role of "Offense Coordinator." https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1187508170215841793 So while the title is different, it is a role that he is quite familiar with. It certainly is a promotion for Rowson, but he was hired by the Twins in large part due to his work as a hitting coordinator with the Yankees and Cubs organizations. It is certainly a big loss for the Twins organization. He will not be easy to replace, but this front office has found lesser known names (like Rowson when he was hired) for several jobs already. One option may be assistant hitting coach Rudy Hernandez who has been in the organization nearly two decades and has a great working rapport with many of the Spanish-speaking hitters in the organization . Earlier this week, it was announced that Twins minor league hitting coordinator Peter Fatse had been named the assistant hitting coach of the Boston Red Sox. Fatse joined the Twins organization last offseason. He had replaced Rick Eckstein who became the hitting coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Please share your thoughts in the comments below. Not registered? Click here to create an account. To stay up to date, follow Twins Daily on Twitter and Facebook. Related Content: Will Minnesota Get Raided This Offseason? The Making of Max Power Let's Talk About Byron Buxton's Swing

1st Inning - Miguel Sano homers https://twitter.com/hgomez27/status/1082821369958711297 On Tuesday night, Miguel Sano played his first game in the Dominican Winter League of the year, and his first game in the DWL in over three years. He DHd and batted third. He went 1-for-3 with two walks and the three-run homer. The homer came off of right-hander Tristan Archer who spent most of 2018 in the Brewers’ AAA bullpen. He seemed to enjoy his trek around the bases as well as watching it while walking down the first base line. https://twitter.com/morsecode/status/1082823715119906816 You can’t help but love seeing the passion of the players in the Dominican leagues. 2nd Inning - Willians Astudillo homers https://twitter.com/mlb_agent/status/1082829718343143425 It’s fair to say that Astudillo admired his work on that one. The Venezuelan Winter League MVP candidate homered to give his team a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the eighth. That proved to be the final score. The homer came off of former Twins prospect Deolis Guerra. Astudillo went 2-for-4 in the game. You have to love Deadspin referring to Astudillo as the “Beefy Baseball Hero.” https://twitter.com/Deadspin/status/1082859633826504706 3rd Inning - New Minor League Hitting Coordinator On Twitter, Peter Fatse announced that he has been hired by the Twins as their new Minor League Hitter Coordinator. https://twitter.com/fatse_baseball/status/1082800739498541059 Fatse was drafted by the Brewers in the 2009 draft out of the University of Connecticut. He spent two years in their system, peaking at High-A. He played two seasons in independent leagues. He founded Advanced Performance Academy in western Massachusetts. If you’re looking for a minor league hitting coordinator, having this on your website is a good thing, “Developing Hitters that have the ability to compete at their peak potential is what I aim to do.” Fatse takes over the job vacated by Rick Eckstein earlier this offseason when he was named the hitting coach of the Pittsburgh Pirates. 4th Inning - Twins to Sign Telis? https://twitter.com/CarlosValmore/status/1082739711863635969 According to Carlos Rodriguez, the Twins may be close to signing catcher Tomas Telis. I would assume (comfortably) that it would be a minor league contract with an invitation to Twins spring training. Admittedly, he is a player I had not heard of in the past which is strange because he has spent at least part of each of the past five seasons in the big leagues. Telis was originally signed by the Texas Rangers - make your Thad Levine connection here - and played in that system from 2008 through the July 2015 trade deadline when he was traded to the Marlins. He was with Miami through the 2018 season. He has about one-and-a-half years of service time over the five years. In 122 major-league games, he has hit .230/.267/298 (.565). My assumption is that his role will be that of fourth catcher. Jason Castro and Mitch Garver will be the Twins Opening Day catchers, assuming health. Willians Astudillo should be the top catcher in Rochester, and then Telis could be the next guy. Astudillo’s ability to play several positions will help him, and it will get Telis more time behind the plate. Telis also played quite a bit of first base for the Marlins the last couple of years. 5th Inning - Caesars Palace Puts Twins at 84 Wins https://twitter.com/The_Junkyard/status/1082776429782155264 According to the above tweet, Caesars Palace placed the over-under of Twins wins at 84. In my opinion, that is a pretty good number. If guys like Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton are healthy, and Max Kepler takes the next step, 84 could be low. If not, or other things go wrong, it could be under. But with the current roster, that feels like a good number. What do you think? The 84 wins would place the Twins in second place according to Caesars. Their over-under for Cleveland is 91 ½. They have the White Sox in third place at 74 ½ wins. Kansas City’s over-under is listed at 69, and the Tigers are at 67. https://twitter.com/SethTweets/status/1082784681416892416 6th Inning - Twins to Retire Mauer’s Number 7 The Twins announced last month that they would be retiring Joe Mauer’s number 7 at a ceremony sometime in 2019. On Tuesday morning, the Twins announced that the ceremony would be on June 15th. 7th Inning - Mauer Four-Pack Bobblehead Series The Twins also announced that they will be having four Joe Mauer bobblehead games during the 2019 season. By purchasing the “Mauer Bobblehead Four-Pack” package, fans can also get a fifth Mauer bobblehead. Below are the dates of the four bobblehead games and what the bobblehead will depict. (per team press release) May 24 vs. Chicago White Sox – The first in the bobblehead series features Mauer’s signature swing, as depicted in the Cretin Derham Hall High School “Raiders” jersey in which he hit .567. July 19 vs. Oakland – The second takes us back to April 5, 2004, when a 21-year-old Mauer was the Twins’ starting catcher in his major league debut, going 2-for-3 in a 7-4, Opening Day victory over Cleveland at the Metrodome. Aug. 24 vs. Detroit – The third honors the legacy of Mauer’s sensational 2009 season, in which he captured the American League MVP, Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards for the AL Central champion Twins.​ Sept. 7 vs. Cleveland – The last in the series commemorates the final game of Mauer’s career, Sept. 30, 2018 – a day that will forever be remembered in Twins lore. Together, the base of the four gate giveaway bobbleheads form a number “7”. For more information or to order tickets, click here. 8th Inning - Nelson Cruz on MLB Network On Tuesday, new Twins DH Nelson Cruz appeared on MLB Network’s Hot Stove show with Matt Vasgersian and Harold Reynolds. Cruz called in live from the Dominican Republic and talked about his preparation, his workouts, his routine and much, much more. As interesting, he was just finished hitting, and you can see several 13-14 year old Domincan prospects working out. Maybe some guys that will sign in a couple of Julys. 9th Inning - Twins Birthdays A new Twitter page, Twins Birthdays, started on New Years Day. Through the first week of the year, it has wished a Happy Birthday to Twins players from the past, the present and the future. For those on Twitter, it appears to be a good follow for Twins fans. https://twitter.com/BirthdaysTwins/status/1082648116938108929 https://twitter.com/BirthdaysTwins/status/1082656925454647296 https://twitter.com/BirthdaysTwins/status/1082666739740094470