The Nationals' new minor-league coaching staffs feature some familiar names, some guys promoted from lower levels and some guys who are rejoining the organization after having spent the last few years elsewhere.
Randy Knorr takes over as manager at Class AAA Syracuse, getting a bump up from Class AA Harrisburg, where he spent last season. Tony Beasley, the Nationals' third base coach in 2006 who held that job with the Pirates the last three years, returns to the organization and will manage at Harrisburg.
One-time Nats catcher Matt LeCroy (whose performance behind the plate famously reduced Frank Robinson to tears) has been promoted from the manager at low-Class A Hagerstown to high-Class A Potomac. He's replaced in Hagerstown by former Red Sox first baseman/DH Brian Daubach.
Gary Cathcart, who managed last year at Potomac, will now be at Auburn (the Nats' new short-season Class A affiliate in the New York-Penn League). Bobby Williams returns to the organization as manager in the rookie Gulf Coast League.
Here's the complete rundown of minor-league staffs for 2011...
CLASS AAA SYRACUSE
Manager: Randy Knorr
Pitching Coach: Greg Booker
Hitting Coach: Jerry Browne
CLASS AA HARRISBURG
Manager: Tony Beasley
Pitching Coach: Randy Tomlin
Hitting Coach: Troy Gingrich
HIGH-CLASS A POTOMAC
Manager: Matt LeCroy
Pitching Coach: Paul Menhart
Hitting Coach: Mark Harris
LOW-CLASS A HAGERSTOWN
Manager: Brian Daubach
Pitching Coach: Chris Michalak
Hitting Coach: Marlon Anderson
SHORT-SEASON CLASS A AUBURN
Manager: Gary Cathcart
Pitching Coach: Franklin Bravo
Hitting Coach: Luis Ordaz
ROOKIE GULF COAST LEAGUE
Manager: Bobby Williams
Pitching Coach: Michael Tejera
Hitting Coach: Sergio Mendez
Coach: John Poppert
ROOKIE DOMINICAN SUMMER LEAGUE
Academy Administrator: Fausto Severino
Manager: Sandy Martinez
Pitching Coach: Pablo Frias
Hitting Coach: Amaury Garcia
Coach: Eddy de los Antos
MINOR-LEAGUE COORDINATORS
Senior Assistant, Player Development: Pat Corrales
Field Coordinator: Bobby Henley
Hitting Coordinator: Rick Schu
Pitching Coordinator: Spin Williams
Infield Coordinator: Jeff Garber
Outfield/Baserunning Coordinator: Tony Tarasco
Rehab Pitching Coordinator: Mark Grater
Medical/Rehab Coordinator: Steve Gober
Strength and Conditioning Coordinator: Landon Brandes
Minor-League Equipment and Clubhouse Manager: John Mullin
For those who know, is it common in the minors to have managers "move up" with their cohort of prospects, as the Nats appear to do? Is this an FO philosophy, or just a reality because of the turnover in the minors on an annual basis?
ReplyDeleteAlso, welcome to the fray, Auburn, but I miss the Lake Monsters.
ReplyDeleteLake Monsters is a classic. Auburn Doubledays just doesn't have the same appeal, somehow.
ReplyDeleteBut then, I still miss the Sand Gnats.
And on the (P-Nats) opposition front: Wart hogs was an awesome name, and the logo was great, imho. Dash, not so much.
ReplyDeleteSee what I mean? (hmmm, it's one word, eh?)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.baseball-reference.com/bpv/images/b/b0/WinstonSalemWarthogs.jpg
http://raypublishing.org/images/Winston-Salem-Dash.gif
ReplyDeleteI'm yawning.
http://www.sportslogos.net/images/logos/42/2730/full/9mpl751t0g7oo5xlia7lfr8vf.gif
I'm yawning some more. And...zzz
Wait, you're telling me they went from this
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/2bm4zlt
to being named for a punctuation mark?
Anyone know where Trent Jewett (last year's Chiefs manager) is going?
ReplyDeleteSome of these Minor League managers will be able to tell their grandkids one day how they managed Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper and helped them on their paths of success.
ReplyDeleteHow amazing is that!
check out Rizzo rave on SI.com MLB
ReplyDeleteExactly. And they don't even have mascot named Dot. What the?
ReplyDelete---
Wait, you're telling me they went from this
http://tinyurl.com/2bm4zlt
to being named for a punctuation mark?
Any idea where Devon White went?
ReplyDelete@Natinbeantown - No and Yes. Orgs tend to hire their newest managers at the lowest levels and then move them around as needed, which is often because some managers want to manage at a certain level and will job-hop to make it happen.
ReplyDelete1a1 (& others): Lately, it's all about marketing for the minor-league teams - Even though they have a Major-League 'host', they can seemingly change their team logo whenever they switch their 'host' association, change owners, or just need a revenue boost.
ReplyDeleteI personally liked the logos for the Warthogs (Winston-Salem NC), Sea Dogs (Portland OR), Biscuits (Montgomery AL), BlueCrabs (Lakewood FL), AquaSox (Everett WA). As far as team names go, the Sand Gnats (Savannah GA), LugNuts (Lansing MI), Hooks (Corpus Christi TX), & Bees (Salt Lake City UT) are/were great as well.
1a1 (and others): To continue, FWIW, team logos/names I dislike include 'Chief Wahoo' (logo-Cleveland OH), 51's (name-Las Vegas NV), Dash (name-Winston-Salem NC), Doubledays (name-Auburn, NY) & the 'old-school' Oriole (logo-Baltimore MD).
ReplyDeleteLong time Red Sox and now also Nats fan. The Sea Dogs are the Red Sox AA affiliate in Portland, Maine.
ReplyDeleteSea Dog is a brewery in Portland Maine! It's my favorite American League AA affiliated brewery in the upper northwest.
ReplyDeleteAnother great MiLB name; Allentown IronPigs.
And coincidentally, they play in the worst named stadium; Coca Cola Stadium.
How did Portland, Maine end up in the Northwest?
ReplyDeleteJust asking.
Portland OR for the Sea Dogs - my bad; Portland Maine is correct.
ReplyDeleteBinM and Sunderland, those are some good ones. I especially like Iron Pigs. Sacramento River Cats isn't too shabby, either, imo. For some reason, I find Toledo Mudhens amusing. Also Albuquerque Isotopes. Wasn't that also the name of the Springfield (??) team on the Simpsons?
ReplyDeleteam I the only one that keeps reading this headline and '2011 Minor League Stiffs'....
ReplyDeleteNot sure where else to post this:
ReplyDelete1. I'm wondering if the odd structure of Werth's deal is any indication of the type of money that the team is looking to spend for the next few years as well. If so - where? Is LaRoche's salary sitting there in the first few years?
2. Officially I am 100% sure that Lee is not coming to DC. At the same time, I keep checking the web with the tiniest hope that I'm wrong. Am I the only insane one with this feeling? When I see reports that a third team is still in the mix, some part of me is still hopeful that Rizzo is somehow going to pull this off. In no way do I expect him to come here, but still...I'm sure I'm going to check MLB Trade Rumors one more time tonight just to see... Is there anyone else out there feeling the same way?
@David: by no means. Must be a well established meme around here.
ReplyDelete@Ernie: by no means. Must be a well established meme around here.
ReplyDelete"Officially I am 100% sure that Lee is not coming to DC. At the same time, I keep checking the web with the tiniest hope that I'm wrong."
ReplyDeleteI'm with you! I've been checking a couple of times a day (at least!) just to see what's happening on that front. Who knows...no one predicted the Werth signing until right when it happened, so anything's possible. Like you, deep down, I know it won't happen, but some part of me thinks otherwise!
Six minutes after my previous post, Ladson confirmed that the Nats are out of the Lee sweepstakes. While I would have loved to see him here, seven years would be a ridiculous deal. Let the AL teams outbid each other for his services (and see how bad they regret it in 2017-2018). I know the Lerner-bashers will probably be out this week, but I give the Lerners and Rizzo credit for putting an offer out there and sticking to their guns.
ReplyDeleteWhat is this new feeling? Is this what some people call "hope"? Such a strange feeling for a Nats fan. I don't remember feeling this since 2005. It's kind of fun, even if nothing comes of it.
ReplyDeleteNow I know where the Fire Jim Riggleman crowd goes in the offseason. If you check out the Caps blogs, the crowds are calling for Boudreau's head. It's one losing streak - trust us, as Nats fans, we know the feeling all too well...
ReplyDelete