Twins make first key hire in rebuild of athletic training staff: head trainer Nick Paparesta

The Twins have made their first signing of the offseason. Given how 2022 went, it's an important one.

Nick Paparesta, the Oakland A's head athletic trainer for the past 12 seasons, has been hired to run the Twins' training staff, the team announced Thursday.

Paparesta, who also served as an assistant trainer with the Rays for five seasons and as a minor league trainer in Cleveland's system for a decade before that, replaces Michael Salazar, who was fired earlier this month following a season in which nearly every player on the Twins' roster spent time on the injured list.

The Twins have not announced any other changes in their medical department, though. Presumably Paparesta will have input on any further decisions upon.

Paparesta, a 50-year-old native of Fort Myers, Fla., and his assistants with the A's were named Athletic Training Staff of the Year in 2019 by the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society. He also served as the American League's head athletic trainer in the 2017 All-Star Game.

Minnesota players missed more than 1,500 games because of injuries in 2022, second-most in the American League, and the Twins ended the season with 19 players on the injured list, 12 of them on the 60-day list.