CLEVELAND, OH  –  The Cleveland Guardians today announced the organizational staff alignment within the Player Development System for the upcoming Minor League season.

Andy Tracy (third season) will again captain the Triple-A Columbus roster, leading the Clippers to a 85-64 (.570) record in 2022. With the recent promotions of Rigo Beltrán (Bullpen Coach) and Jason Esposito (Run Production Coord.) to the Major League staff, Owen Dew (Pitching Coach) and Junior Betances (Hitting Coach) move from Akron to Columbus along with Greg DiCenzo (Bench Coach), who spent 2021 and 2022 piloting the Lake County Captains to a combined record of 141-108 (.566). Cody Buckel returns for his second season on the staff in the Pitching Strategist role.

Rouglas Odor will again guide the Double-A Akron RubberDucks, who have posted a combined record of 152-105 (.591) over the last two seasons. Beachwood, OH native and former ML pitcher Brad Goldberg assumes Pitching Coach duties with Mike Mergenthaler (Hitting), B-W alum Ian Forster (Asst. Hitting) and former Cleveland OF Daniel Robertson (Bench) rounding out the staff.   Omir Santos moves from Lynchburg to manage Lake County while Jordan Smith assumes Lynchburg managerial duties after guiding the ACL Guardians to a 28-24 mark last summer. TJ Rivera, who joined the organization last May, will guide the ACL club. Rivera, 34, played professionally for 11 seasons (2011-21), appearing in 106 games for the Mets in 2016 and 2017 and was on 2017 Puerto Rico WBC roster.  Jesús Tavárez helms the DSL Blue club for the fourth time while former Cleveland farmhand and 2022 Akron Bench Coach Juan De La Cruz makes his managerial debut with the DSL Red squad.

Other notable Player Development coordinator and coaching promotions and hires include:

Caleb Longshore (Pitching Coordinator): Assumes Pitching Coordinator role alongside Joel Mangrum in his second season in the organization after spending 2022 as the Pitching Coach at Lake County.

 Larry Day (Asst. Field Coordinator): Day is set to begin his ninth season in the Guardians organization, spending the last three seasons as the Player Programs Coordinator. Has previously coached and managed in the system.

Raul Gonzalez (AZ Academy Hitting Coach): Played 20 seasons professionally (1991-2010), parts of 5 seasons in MLB (7G w/CLE in ’04). Has coached professionally since 2011 in the Detroit, Boston, San Diego and Kansas City organizations.

Amanda Kamekona (AZ Academy Hitting Coach): Played professional softball from 2010-2019 after a standout collegiate career at UCLA and Cal State Fullerton. She founded and coached a junior Olympic-level softball team based in Chino Hills, CA in 2020 in addition to head coaching duties at Bishop Amat Memorial HS (2019-22) in La Puente, CA.

Ben Johnson (Asst Director, Pitching Development): Moves into a front office role in his fourth year with the Guardians, spending the 2022 season as the club’s Pitching Resource Coordinator.

Matt Eiden (Strength and Conditioning Coordinator): Was the Major League Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Washington Nationals from 2016-21.

Lionel Chia (Physical Development Resource Coordinator): Second season in the organization, joining the club in Jan. 2022. Previous stop was five years as the Physiotherapist/Rehab Coach w/the W. Harbour Rugby Club in Sydney, Australia (2017-21).

Dan Himmerick (Rehab Coordinator): First season as Rehab Coordinator based out of Goodyear. Was a Minor League Physical Therapist with Cleveland during his first three seasons, 2020-22.

Michael Poole (Pitching Development Coach): Akron native and Lake Erie College alum interned with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2020 and later moved to the collegiate coaching ranks before latching on with Driveline Baseball

Dan Mahoney (Pitching Development Coach): The Leesburg, VA native played professionally in the Marlins and Yankees systems, 2009-13. Since playing days he has worked as a strength coach in the physical therapy field in addition to coaching at the AAU/travel/HS level and operating his own private training facility.

Last season, the four full-season affiliates compiled a record of 303-244 (.554) the third-best record among the 30 Major League organizations while sporting the youngest collective rosters at the Triple-A, Double-A and High-A levels. Overall, the seven Minor League club’s posted a combined record of .379-339 (.528). Recently, The Athletic’s Keith Law rated the Guardians organization second-best in the Majors. The 2023 Minor League season is currently slated to begin on March 31 (Triple-A) and April 6 (Double-A; High-A).