Twins Hire Brunansky, Steinbach, Cuellar as new coaches, retain Vavra and Ullger on major-league staff

The Twins have set their big-league coaching staff for 2013 with a mix of new faces and old, as reported by Joe Christensen of the Star Tribune.

The big surprise in the announcement was the appointment of former Twin and New Ulm native Terry Steinbach as the team's bench coach and catching instructor. Steinbach, a three-time All-Star, will try to help shore up a catching crew that threw out just 18% of base-stealers in 2012, reasonably pathetic number.

As expected, Rochester hitting coach and former Twins outfielder Tom Brunansky was named as the team's new hitting coach, while Red Wings pitching coach Bobby Cuellar was named as the new bullpen coach. The two had widely been seen as the top candidates for promotion in the organization.

Scott Ullger and Joe Vavra, both of whom had been "reassigned" as instructors, will serve as the base coaches. Vavra will take over at third, and Ullger will coach at first, where presumably he will not be able to get Jason Kubel thrown out at home by forty feet, like the good ol' days.

Rochester manager Gene Glynn will remain with the Triple-A club, though he had been expected to be promoted along with Brunansky and Cuellar. Given the team's sometimes fraught relationship with the Red Wings over the past few years, this was perhaps a move to keep Rochester as competitive as possible.