The Minnesota Twins have officially finalized their coaching staff. Names new and familiar to the organization will be in place to help turn the 2026 team around from a bad end to this past season. Among the new hires is world traveler Mark Hallberg, coming over from the San Francisco Giants, where he spent the last five seasons as their third base coach.
Hallberg is one of the few new members of the coaching staff that manager Derek Shelton did not know personally before hiring him. But given his tenure in San Francisco and his experience coaching at every level from high school to the big leagues, he was someone Shelton couldn’t pass up as his bench coach.
“[Hallberg] came extremely highly recommended, not only from people that I had worked with in the past, but as importantly, players that had been around him,” said Shelton. “He has a really unique background. He looks at the game in a very unique way. And I really feel in terms of talking to him that he’s going to be a really good complement to me.”
Hallberg grew up in Saudi Arabia because his parents were teachers abroad for most of his childhood. The family would still spend every summer in Barron, Wisc. However, despite spending most of the year approximately 7,000 miles away from Minneapolis, he was still raised to be a Twins fan.
“My grandfather took my dad to the 1965 World Series,” Hallberg said. “I probably wouldn’t be here today without the 1991 World Series. I think for all of us, who are Twins fans, I mean to get the opportunity to work that close to home doesn’t come up in the industry that often, so that was unique.”
Few people started their day watching the World Series in October 1991. However, Saudi Arabia is nine hours ahead of the U.S. Central time zone. Hallberg and his parents would start their day early, not missing a second of Kirby Puckett’s greatest game in Game 6, and Jack Morris’s 10-inning shutout in Game 7, making Hallberg a Twins fan for life.
“I remember Kirby Puckett robbing the homer off the glass,” Hallberg said. “I guess the rest was history. Just growing up a Twins fan at that time, just the attention to detail, the Twins Way, the style of play, the fundamentals, things that, as a fan, when you grow up, you can relate to, and it sticks with you. I’m really excited to be a part of that.”
Coming to Minneapolis for the next phase of his coaching career also brings Hallberg as close as he can be to where it all began nearly 14 years ago. The Arizona Diamondbacks chose Hallberg in the ninth round of the 2007 MLB Amateur Draft. He played five seasons in their system as a middle infielder and retired at the conclusion of the 2011 season.
Hallberg had not completed his Bachelor’s degree at Florida State, where he was teammates with Buster Posey and had a hand in convincing the future Hall of Fame catcher to stay at catcher full-time. He attended the University of Wisconsin-River Falls to complete his degree in health and human performance education. While speaking at a coaches’ clinic in Madison, Wisc., he met Ryan Bishop, the head coach at River Falls High School.
The two had met briefly when Hallberg was still playing in pro ball, but Bishop had just learned he’d retired during that conference. After catching up, Bishop offered Hallberg a job with his coaching staff. It lined up perfectly for Hallberg to stay involved with the game as he completed his Bachelor’s degree.
“Mark came straight out of professional baseball to coaching high school baseball as his first real coaching job,” said Bishop. “There’s an obvious difference in the mental and emotional part of the game when dealing with young teenagers and their parents. Although that ‘step back’ was challenging at times, Mark always maintained his cool, calm, and collected personality as both a player and a coach.”
The cool, calm, and collected Hallberg went on to coach RFHS Baseball from 2012 to 2014. His background in the minors gave him immediate credibility with the players and their parents, despite the growing pains on both sides. But in that time, Hallberg became more of a co-coach than an assistant to Bishop as he learned the ropes of what eventually brought him to the Twins and helped him incorporate the ‘Twins Way’ into his coaching career.
“I like to think we learned from each other those couple of years,” said Bishop. “Mark may be just with some of the intimate details of being a head coach, the logistical pieces of running a program off the field and behind the scenes. And I no doubt gained a deeper understanding of the game at a higher level than I had ever been around at that point in my career.
“I thought we complemented each other well and really made some great strides as a program during that time. Strides that I’m forever grateful for because I know they continue to impact our program [still] today.”
And Shelton believes that with the coaching experience Hallberg has developed from River Falls to San Francisco, he will be able to establish a similar relationship with him as Bishop did many years ago.
“Mark and I are going to do this together — is, in the day-to-day, we’re going to make sure that we’re handling the things that we need to handle,” said Shelton. “In that regard, I’m going to let the coaches coach because I think that is something that I did learn in the six years, but the awareness of what’s going on — we’ll definitely be in constant communication, especially between Mark and I.”
“The amount of passion, pride, and humility I’m going to approach each day with when I walk in – just like I would anywhere,” said Hallberg. “But when it’s that connected to your home and where you grew up and helped shape you, I mean, your effort, you’re going to give your best every day, right? You would do that anyways, but this means a lot to me. I’m going to give my best every single day.”
And if anyone can give testimony to the work ethic Hallberg has as a coach and the effort and care he will bring to the Twins clubhouse, it’s Bishop, who gives a resounding approval for what’s to come with the club next season.
“I’ve been so happy for Mark as he has moved through the coaching ranks,” said Bishop. “Whether it’s teaching a class, going fishing, or coaching baseball, no one is better prepared than Mark. The 2012 to 2013 years were life-changing years to share with Mark; for myself, our baseball program, and my young daughters, who at the time looked up to Mark like a big brother. There is no opportunity that Mark hasn’t earned, and I think Twins fans here at home will soon learn that.”