At least two Twins assistant coaches won't be back under Derek Shelton

Jayce Tingler and Hank Conger won't be back on Minnesota's staff in 2026.

Minnesota Twins bench coach Jayce Tingler will not return. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

We haven't yet learned of any coaches who will be on new Twins manager Derek Shelton's inaugural staff in 2026, but we do know that a couple of Rocco Baldelli's assistants won't be back. Bench coach Jayce Tingler is headed to the San Francisco Giants, and assistant bench coach Hank Conger will be looking for a new job.

Tingler, as first reported by Andrew Baggarly, is joining the staff of new Giants head coach Tony Vitello. That should come as no surprise, considering Tingler and Vitello played college baseball together at Missouri in the early 2000s and have remained friends since. Vitello comes from the NCAA ranks, where he's spent the last eight seasons as the head coach at the University of Tennessee.

Tingler, 44, had been with the Twins as their bench coach since the 2022 season. He served as acting manager in Baldelli's absence for four games in his first year with Minnesota. Tingler was previously the manager of the Padres for two seasons from 2020-21.

Conger, 37, is a former MLB catcher who had also spent the last four seasons on Baldelli's staff in Minnesota. He worked with Twins catchers throughout all four of those seasons. Conger spent the first three as Minnesota's first base coach, then moved to assistant bench coach in 2025, with infield coach Ramon Borrego taking over in the first base box. Prior to his coaching career, Conger was a first-round pick who played in parts of seven seasons with the Angels, Astros, and Rays.

The Conger news was reported by Dan Hayes.

Hank Conger confirmed he was told he won’t return to #MNTwins coaching staff even though he’s still under contract.

Same fate for bench coach Jayce Tingler, who as @extrabaggs reported, already accepted a job with #SFGiants.

— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) November 6, 2025

It'll be interesting to see what happens with the rest of the Twins' coaching staff over the course of the offseason. Will any notable members of Baldelli's staff — such as pitching coach Pete Maki, hitting coach Matt Borgschulte, third base coach Tommy Watkins, and first base coach Borrego — be retained by Shelton?

Shelton will undoubtedly bring in plenty of new faces, perhaps including coaches he worked with during his time as the Pirates' manager. At the very least, we now know he'll need a new bench coach and a new catching coach.

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