The Pittsburgh Pirates announced their 2014 minor league managers and coaches today. Here is the breakdown.
The Managers
Indianapolis: Dean Treanor will return for his fourth season in Indianapolis.
Altoona: Carlos Garcia will return to Altoona for his second season. He was promoted to the level in 2013 after spending the 2012 season in Bradenton.
Bradenton: Tom Prince will manage in Bradenton. He spent the 2013 season as the Coordinator of Instruction at the minor league level. Prior to that, Prince was the manager of the GCL Pirates.
West Virginia: Michael Ryan returns for his second season as the manager in West Virginia.
Jamestown: Brian Esposito will join the Jammers, replacing Dave Turgeon. Esposito was signed as a player-coach last year, after retiring from baseball following the 2012 season.
GCL: Milver Reyes returns for his second season as the manager in the GCL.
Bristol: Edgar Varela will manage the Bristol Pirates. Varela was a coach with the Bradenton Marauders in 2013.
The Coaches
Indianapolis: Tom Filer returns as the pitching coach. Mike Pagliarulo returns as the hitting coach.
Altoona: Ryan Long returns as the hitting coach. Stan Kyles returns as the pitching coach.
Bradenton: Justin Meccage returns as the pitching coach. Kory DeHaan takes over as the hitting coach, replacing Varela. DeHaan was the hitting coach in Jamestown in 2013.
West Virginia: Jeff Johnson returns as the pitching coach in West Virginia. He was the pitching coach there from 2009-2011, and again in 2013 after spending a year in Altoona. Keoni De Renne takes over as the hitting coach, replacing Orlando Merced. De Renne was a hitting coach in the DSL in 2013, and was a player-coach in 2012.
Jamestown: Orlando Merced takes over as the hitting coach in Jamestown, after spending his first year as a coach in the organization with West Virginia in 2013. Mark DiFelice takes over as the pitching coach. He was a high school pitching coach at Haverford High School in Delaware.
GCL: Mike Lum returns as the hitting coach. Scott Elarton takes over as the pitching coach. This is his first year in the system.
Bristol: Terry Alexander is the hitting coach. This is Alexander’s first year in the system. Miguel Bonilla takes over as the pitching coach, after spending the last few years in the GCL.
The New Guys
Brian Esposito – He had a 13 year minor league career, including a few brief appearances in the majors that amounted to three at-bats. He last played in 2012 with the Cubs in Triple-A. The Pirates signed him in 2013 to be a player-coach.
Mark DiFelice – He had a 12 year minor league career, including parts of three years in the majors with the Brewers. He played in the Italian Baseball League in 2012, after last playing in the majors or minors in 2011.
Scott Elarton – He spent 13 years in the minors, before moving on to play in the Independent Leagues in 2013. Elarton also had a pretty significant Major League career, with a 5.29 ERA in 1065.1 innings pitched. He worked mostly as a starter, spending time with the Astros, Rockies, Indians, and Royals.
Terry Alexander – He was the head coach for Jacksonville University. He stepped down as the head coach after the 2013 season, and from what I’ve read he was pretty much forced out. He was the head coach from 1991-2013, and during that time he sent a lot of players to pro baseball. The most notable player to go pro from Jacksonville University was Daniel Murphy.
New Roles
Frank Kremblas – He was the manager of the Bradenton Marauders in 2013, but will return to his former role as a special assistant to player development.
Dave Turgeon – He was the manager of the Jamestown Jammers in 2013, and will be the assistant field coordinator in 2014.
Larry Sutton – He will take over as the minor league Hitting Coordinator after spending the last two years as the Dominican Field Coordinator. He replaces Jeff Livesey, who joined the Pirates’ coaching staff this off-season.
Mike Steele – He was formerly a pitching coach with Bradenton and Jamestown the last two years, but will be an area scouting supervisor in 2014.
Dominican Summer League
Mendy Lopez will manage Pittsburgh’s team at the Dominican Academy. Lopez played in the big leagues from 1998-2004, including parts of two seasons with the Pirates in 2001 and 2002. Gera Alvarez will oversee the academy. He will also serve as the manager for the DSL Pirates2. Jonathan Prieto, Dan Urbina, Jairo Cuevas, Johe Acosta, Cesilio Beltre and Osiel Flores will serve as coaches in the Dominican Republic.
