Tom Brunansky to return as Twins hitting coach

When Ron Gardenhire was removed from the manager's role at the end of September, all of his coaches were left in limbo. Their manager was ousted, their contracts were up, and while no manager was in place they were left on the wire since those contracts didn't technically expire until the end of the calendar year.

One of the two coaches most commonly mentioned by fans in terms of returning was hitting coach Tom Brunansky, who will return to that role for 2015 having been in that position for the Twins the past two seasons.

Bruno’s back! #MNTwins have retained hitting coach Tom Brunansky through the 2015 season. pic.twitter.com/2o0rSKLTVz

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) November 6, 2014

The wording here is explicit. It looks like Bruno is on a one-year deal. Molitor will want to bring in his people, and Brunansky must be one of those guys, but the Twins also need to protect themselves with any carry-overs from the previous regime.

Other coaches brought in, provided they weren't on Gardenhire's staff, are likely to be given a longer term. Who Molitor chooses to add as his bench coach and pitching coach should be among the next to be hired.

Did Bruno have an effect on Minnesota's younger hitters this year? Aaron Hicks was better, but Oswaldo Arcia showed improvement and the performances of Danny Santana and Kennys Vargas were certainly encouraging. Brunansky was certainly appreciated and respected by the players under his tutelage, and while how much credit or blame is given to a coach should be tempered it certainly looks like he also has the respect of his new manager.