Nationals Name 2022 Farm Managers, Coaches
In the wake of last year’s teardown at the trade deadline, followed by the announcement of a new sheriff in the player development town, it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that the 2022 version of this annual announcement feels a little different.
Obviously, with the MLB lockout (make sure you get that right, the players have not gone on strike) there’s a lot more attention being paid to what’s usually a checkbox item for the PR department.
But even a MASN Commenter can tell that this is different. The Nats had been called out for the lack of size/depth of their coaching ranks* and clearly this is their response.
* No, I will not parrot the “PD” sophistry. I get enough of that during the day.
The Nats boasted of 14 new hires and 20 new roles in yesterday’s statement, including a the hiring of a nutritionist. This, coupled along with MLB announcing it will pay for players’ housing is a huge step in the right direction.
Why? Aside from the fact that I ate just as poorly when I was in a similar position of living at the poverty line (a.k.a. grad school) – and for much the same reasons (quick and cheap was all I could afford), in the early days of this site, we had a player’s father tell us insistently in the comments that his son would lose 15-20 lbs from March to September. I didn’t believe it then, but now that my two sons are the age of players, it’s no longer hard for me to believe.
So if they can get the players off futons and air mattresses, it only makes sense to start teaching them how to eat like an elite athlete. I could be wrong, but well-rested and well-fed players may actually perform/produce better.
Anyway, here’s a look at the new slate:
* = New Assignment for 2022 | Italics = New to the organization
ROCHESTER
Manager – Matthew LeCroy
Hitting Coach – Brian Daubach
Pitching Coach – Rafael Chaves
Athletic Trainer – Eric Montague
Strength/Conditioning – Mike Warren
Developmental Coach – Billy McMillon
HARRISBURG
Manager – Tripp Keister
Hitting Coach – Micah Franklin
Pitching Coach – Justin Lord*
Athletic Trainer – TD Swinford
Strength/Conditioning – RJ Guyer
Developmental Coach – Oscar Salazar
WILMINGTON
Manager – Mario Lisson*
Hitting Coach – Tim Doherty
Pitching Coach – Mark DiFelice
Athletic Trainer – Don Neidig
Strength/Conditioning – Brandon Pentheny
Developmental Coach – Mark Harris*
FREDERICKSBURG
Manager – Jake Lowery*
Hitting Coach – Delwyn Young
Pitching Coach – Joel Hanrahan
Athletic Trainer – Kirby Craft
Strength/Conditioning – Ryan Grose
Developmental Coach – Carmelo Jaime
FLORIDA COMPLEX LEAGUE
Manager – Luis Ordaz*
Hitting Coach – Ender Chávez
Pitching Coach – Franklin Bravo
Athletic Trainer – Jacob Meyer
Strength/Conditioning – Shane Hill
Developmental Coach – Destin Hood
DOMINICAN SUMMER LEAGUE
Manager/Field Coordinator – Sandy Martinez
Hitting Coach – Freddy Guzman
Assistant Hitting Coach – Feliberto Sanchez
Pitching Coach – Edwin Hurtado
Infield Coach – Wilson Valdez
Outfield Coach – Emiliano Alcantara
Put Me In Coach – I’m Ready To Play
Athletic Trainer – Miguel Cabrera
Strength/Conditioning – Santo Del Rosario
Latin American Training Coord. — Manny Moore
Tryout Assistant — Anthony Rosario
Two managers and one coach were reassigned upward – Lisson, Lowery, and Lord – while longtime hitting coach Luis Ordaz was given the reins at the FCL. This is usually where we’d end this post, but given the tenor here, let’s look at the rest of the assignments, per the Nats PR:
# = new position | new to the organization
Director, Player Development — De Jon Watson
#Senior Advisor, Player Development — Dave Jauss*
Senior Advisor, Player Development — Spin Williams
Director, Minor League and Florida Operations — Ryan Thomas
#Director, Player Development Technology & Strategy — David Longley*
Assistant Director, Player Development — John Wulf
Assistant Director, Minor League Operations — JJ Estevez
Manager, Florida Operations — Dianne Wiebe
Player Education and Cultural Development Coordinator — Andrew Scarlata
Minor League Clubhouse & Equipment Coordinator — Carlos Felix
Minor League Clubhouse Operations — Scott Paquin
DSL Academy Administrator — Eduardo Castro
DSL Clubhouse Assistant — Edniel Rouancourt
DSL Academy Administrative Assistant — Lorena Rosario
Field Coordinator — Bob Henley
Assistant Field Coordinator — Jeff Garber
Hitting Coordinator — Joe Dillon*
#Lower Level Hitting Coordinator — Troy Gingrich
Pitching Coordinator — Sam Narron
#Lower Level Pitching Coordinator — Michael Tejera
Outfield/Baserunning Coordinator — Coco Crisp*
Infield Coordinator — José Alguacil*
Catching Coordinator — Randy Knorr
#Quality Control Coordinator — Bill Mueller*
Rehabilitation Pitching Coordinator — Mark Grater
Medical Rehab Coordinator — Gene Basham*
Assistant Medical Rehab Coordinator — Jeff Allred
Strength and Conditioning Coordinator — Gabe Torres
#Athletic Trainer — Cesar Roman*
#Mental Skills Coordinator — Dana Sinclair*
#Nutritionist — Emily Kaley*
Alou2Alu has already weighed in on some of these and I’m sure others will have their say, too. I think the biggest takeaway here is that, despite their claims to the contrary, the Nats have finally recognized that their… wait for it… minors org chart needed to be updated if not upgraded.
This is as big a post as is possible for the offseason, so much information.
The absolute low point for the Nats last year was after the trade for Keibert Ruiz there was no catching coordinator to meet him at Rochester. Gave the impression of a fleabag outfit.
Give Rizzo credit for the big about-face and looking to start fresh.
Rizzo loves Tommy John guys
Tyler Glasnow a possible addition since he has Pirates origins
Watson added numerous
Guys with Bucs ties
This comes at least 8 years too late.
What does the phrase mean : Quality control ??
Destin Hood…now that’s a name I haven’t seen in a while.
Micah Franklin playing career ended in 2004 in Arizona
Ex- po fans should recognize the new Mets bullpen coach , Craig Bjornson who played for Buck Rodgers @ AAA Indy then toiled in Expo PD staffs along with Dave Jauss .
Depth additions :
Brian “ loogie “ Lawrence
Rochester Rusney Castillo
R. Santos AA Rh bullpen asset?
Lawrence the converted knuckleballer?
Old friend Joel Hanrahan quit the Pirates as their AAA pitching coach because it was said he wanted to be on the big league staff.
That story seems wrong now that he’s the pitching coach at Fredericksburg. The pitching coach at Low A is far more important to any organization than one at AAA so this is his chance to show his stuff.
What is a developmental coach actually ?
From the WaPo story: Quite literally, someone who will aid in development at the affiliates, a sort of bench coach focused more on fundamentals and teaching than in-game strategy. In 2021, the Nationals had only a manager, hitting coach, pitching coach, athletic trainer and strength and conditioning coach at each site. The developmental coaches — Billy McMillon in AAA, Oscar Salazar in AA, Mark Harris in high-A, Carmela Jaime in low-A and Destin Hood in Florida — will provide an extra hand and whatever’s needed based on the roster. Harris, for example, is a skilled infield coach and could key on Jordy Barley, a young shortstop who may very well wind up in high-A Wilmington to begin the season.
IMO, they could just have easily used “Assistant Manager” (or as fans of the original “The Office” will recall, Assistant to…) but getting that word “Developmental” in was key. Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s a suburban media courier at my door inquiring about his two dollars.
Luke the force is always with you ….and your daily light aired sarcasm like mine …Carry on ..
Interesting that brass has Billy McMillon in high esteem with an assignment to AAA for his first possible PD role .
Unless he could suit up in a pinch on a long road trip or something ..
Rizzo finally recognized the utter deficiency of his MiLB development program. It’s long past due to provide the latest technology to the minor league guys to assist them in overcoming their deficiencies and maximizing their strengths. The Astros and LAD have been doing this for years.
It is good to see several former Nat farm hands getting opportunities within the organization. Perhaps the biggest job belongs to 31-year-old Jake Lowery, a Richmond native and James Madison alum. Fredericksburg figures to be stocked with top prospects, many of them very young, some in need of gentle encouragement, others perhaps a kick in the rear.
Also, it’s good to see that Luke has named John Fogerty to the Dominican staff ; )
It is interesting how many guys have been moved to roving coordinator positions, including several guys formerly on the MLB staff. Of course it helps that three of the four affiliates are now within about a two-hour radius of DC.
Sure hope Coco Crisp will be working with the big leaguers some as well, as that’s a bad base-running team.
Rhett Wiseman on FanGraphs podcast:
“For guys that sign in the first couple of rounds [and] get signing bonuses that are good, that doesn’t matter as much. But for the guys who are later-round signs, middle-round signs, and then are making $1,500 a month, I mean, that’s criminal. How is that possible? How are we in a situation where we’re at the field for literally 10 hours a day, and [when] you break that down hourly, it’s dollars an hour? It’s insane. You have no leverage. You can’t get out of the contract. Name me another profession, another job, where you’re signed into a contract for seven years, with no pay escalation, where you can’t leave. You have virtually no rights.”
This link includes more quotes, as well as a link to the podcast itself: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/sunday-notes-jose-cruz-sr-is-in-the-hall-of-very-good-and-throws-a-great-bp/
Thankfully he has his degree from Vanderbilt. Wiseman is 27 and, after 7 years in the minors, he’s a pauper. Wish him luck.