2023 Minor League Manager Of The Year: Cedar Rapids Kernels’ Brian Dinkelman

Image credit: Brian Dinkelman (Photo by Brad Krause/Four Seam Images)

Brian Dinkelman had toiled in the Twins organization for 17 years, all but six weeks of it in the minor leagues, without ever winning a championship.

And it showed.

That drought ended in 2023, when the High-A Cedar Rapids Kernels fought their way to the franchise’s first Midwest League title in nearly three decades. The ecstatic players were armed with sparkling cider in a jubilant home clubhouse, poised to drench each other in celebration—and their manager was nowhere to be found.

“Dink kept the players waiting a little bit longer than maybe they were hoping for,” Twins farm director Drew MacPhail said, laughing at the memory. 

“He was out on the field, because staff members, stadium personnel and a bunch of fans wanted their pictures taken with him on such a big night. And he obliged them all.

“It shows you what a connection he has with that community. And the players waited for him, which shows you how much respect he has in that clubhouse.”

And not just in that small-town Iowa clubhouse, his office for the past seven years, but around the game. Dinkelman has guided Cedar Rapids to winning records and a playoff berth in each of his four seasons as manager and has posted a career .574 winning percentage, including an 82-50 record (.621) in 2023 that was the best in the minor leagues. 

He also guided 14 players—and counting—on a path that took them to the majors. 

With a track record like that, the low-key Dinkelman was an easy choice as the 2023 BA Minor League Manager of the Year.

“He’s so deserving. He handles every challenge you can throw at him,” MacPhail said. “This year, he had one of the youngest rosters in the Midwest League, and probably the youngest, least-experienced coaching staff as well. And then to put up the best record in minor league ball, and finish the job with a championship, it was just awesome to watch.”

The Twins got to watch Dominican center fielder Emmanuel Rodriguez crack 16 home runs at the age of 20, righthander Cody Lewis strike out 63 hitters with a 2.32 ERA in 63 innings and right fielder Kala’i Rosario earn league MVP honors with 21 homers and an .832 OPS.

And watch Dinkelman help them develop into future major leaguers.

“He has an incredible feel for the game, but he has an incredible feel for their space, too,” MacPhail said. “He’s not their boss, if that makes sense. He’s their leader.” 

The 40-year-old former second baseman and outfielder established a supportive culture in the clubhouse, and it helped during an inconsistent start to the season. After the first month, the Kernels were still below .500 at 14-15. But they went on a 16-4 run in June, then a 20-7 tear in August.

“With such a young roster, sometimes it takes a while for guys to get comfortable,” Dinkelman said. “But you could see the talent on the team, and we finally got on a good roll.”

Part of the turnaround, MacPhail observed, was Dinkelman’s even temperament.

“They were having some baserunning problems that needed to be improved early in the year,” MacPahil said, “and Dink had such a good feel for how to deal with that. Not taking the guys out and having them run the bases for two hours, but finding teaching moments.

“He used video, and addressed it in a really positive way, then gave his coaches the space to work individually. It was just what they needed.”

It’s what he needed when he was a player, Dinkelman said. 

“Sometimes when things don’t go right, you get frustrated,” he said, “but I try not to let it show. If players see you frustrated, letting it affect you, they’re going to have a hard time trusting you.

“I’ll maybe pull guys in after the game, talk to them—not angry—but help them see what they could have done better. I remember how I wanted to be treated.”

Not bad for the Twins’ 2006 eight-rounder from then-NAIA McKendree University in southern Illinois, a player who worked his way up the ladder for five years, enjoyed a September callup in 2011, then found himself out of baseball two years later. After working in his hometown of Centralia, Ill., for a summer, the Twins called and offered him a job as a hitting coach.

Dinkelman was assigned to Cedar Rapids in 2016 under manager Jake Mauer, kept the job when Toby Gardenhire took over in 2018, then succeeded him as manager in 2019. Four years later, he guided the Kernels to tense victories against Peoria in the MWL semifinals and Great Lakes in the championship round.

“I’ll never forget it, and these players, that’s for sure,” Dinkelman said. “I’m not sure I ever expected to manage. But seeing the game from the dugout, absorbing the entire game, I thought managing might be right for me. And it’s given me so much.”