KANSAS CITY, Kan. – The Minnesota Twins announced on Saturday that former T-Bones manager Tim Doherty has been hired as the hitting coach for their Triple-A affiliate in Rochester.

Doherty, who managed Kansas City in 2010-11, spent last season as a coaching assistant with the Boston Red Sox.

“For me it’s a fantastic opportunity,” Doherty said by phone from his home in the Kansas City area. “Being in the game as long as I have, I’ve had the opportunity to work with the T-Bones, to then spend a year in the big leagues to now become a Triple-A hitting coach. I love working with hitters, so this is something I’m really looking forward to doing.”

“Tim is a fierce competitor on the field, in the dugout and in the clubhouse,” said T-Bones general manager Chris Browne. “He’s a detailed, hard worker at his craft. The Twins have acquired a top notch baseball instructor. I am proud of Tim.”

Doherty spent nine years, 2003-11, with the T-Bones, starting out as a bullpen coach, before going to first base coach, to bench coach, to hitting coach to, finally, manager. With the Red Sox last season, Doherty assisted hitting coach Dave Magadan, who has since taken the same job with Texas.

“This opportunity is both exciting and humbling,” Doherty said. “But it isn’t solely from last year with the Red Sox; it also came from what I did in the past with the T-Bones.”

Doherty will be taking over for Tom Brunansky, whom the Twins promoted to big-league hitting coach.