The Twins have hired former Cleveland Indians All-Star outfielder Grady Sizemore as their outfield/baserunning coach on Derek Shelton’s inaugural staff in Minnesota. He’ll also serve as their first base coach. The news was first reported by Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Sizemore, 43, was on track to possibly have a Hall of Fame playing career until injuries slowed him down. From 2005 to 2008 with Cleveland, he hit .281 with 107 home runs, 115 stolen bases, and an .868 OPS (128 OPS+) in nearly 3,000 plate appearances, while also playing strong defense in center field. Sizemore averaged over 6.1 WAR in those seasons, per Baseball Reference, made three All-Star teams, and finished in the top 12 in AL MVP voting three times.

Then injuries made him one of the more intriguing what-ifs of the 21st century. Elbow, knee, and back issues limited him to 210 total games between 2009 and 2013, including missing all of the 2012 and ’13 seasons. Sizemore returned to the big leagues in 2014 and ’15 with the Red Sox, Phillies, and Rays, but he was never the same player. That was the end of his playing career.

In some respects, Sizemore’s story as a player is similar to that of former Twins manager Rocco Baldelli. The latter didn’t reach the same heights, but he too had a promising start to his career derailed by injuries.

After stepping away from the game for a bit, Sizemore broke back in by taking a $15-an-hour internship with the Diamondbacks in 2023. He was hired to the White Sox’s coaching staff for the 2024 season, which ended up being a record-breaking year of futility for the franchise. After Pedro Grifol was fired in August, with the White Sox 28-89, Sizemore was named interim manager. They went 13-32 over the final 45 games, but they did win five of their last six.

Sizemore spent the 2025 season as the offensive coordinator for the White Sox, who improved from 41 wins to a more normal bad team level with 60. Now he remains in the AL Central with the Twins. He’s reuniting with Shelton, who was his hitting coach in Cleveland during his prime and later for one season in Tampa.

Here’s what we know about Shelton’s coaching staff so far:

  • Pitching coach: Pete Maki
  • Bullpen coach: LaTroy Hawkins
  • First base coach/outfield/baserunning: Grady Sizemore
  • Third base coach/infield: Ramon Borrego

Maki and Borrego are holdovers from Baldelli’s staff. Several assistant coaches under Baldelli won’t be back, including Jayce Tingler, Tommy Watkins, and Hank Conger.

Shelton still needs to hire a bench coach, among other moves, after Tingler left for a job with the Giants. The Twins reportedly had interest in hiring James Rowson — the runner-up to Shelton for their managerial job — in that role, but he remains under contract with the Yankees.

It also remains to be seen what will happen with Matt Borgschulte and the Twins’ other hitting coaches, who were just hired last year.

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