Rick Stelmaszek Fired as Twins Bullpen Coach

Rick Stelmaszek has been with the Twins for 32 years, has two World Series rings, and generally has served as the keeper of the club's institutional memory, going back even past Tom Kelly.

Apparently, that wasn't enough to let him escape this offseason's planned Target Field purge, as La Velle E. Neal III of the Star Tribun reports that he's been fired by the team:

Bullpen coach Rick Stelmaszek, who just completed his 32nd season and was the longest-tenured member of the club, has been let go.

Stelmaszek, 64, met with Twins general manager Terry Ryan at 9 a.m. this morning when he was informed that, after consecutive last-place finishes, that the club is making changes.

"It still hasn't sunk in," Stelmaszek said.

I'm not sure that this particular move helps anything, but it does point to more changes coming. If the Twins are willing to fire someone as long-tenured as Stelmaszek, then pitching coach Rick Anderson, hitting coach Joe Vavra, and the rest of the Twins' coaching staff - all of whom have contracts that expire this year - should probably be concerned for their jobs.