Blue Jays announce Minor League appointments

The TORONTO BLUE JAYS announce the following appointments to their Minor League Field staffs for the 2013 season. Managers MARTY BROWN, JOHN TAMARGO JR., CLAYTON McCULLOUGH, DENNIS HOLMBERG and JOHN SCHNEIDER will return to their respective positions in Buffalo, Lansing, Vancouver, Bluefield and the Gulf Coast Blue Jays.  Joining the organization as managers will be GARY ALLENSON who will take over as manager at New Hampshire (AA) and BOBBY MEACHAM who assumes the post in Dunedin (A).  The club is also pleased to announce the additions of TIM LEIPER (Senior Advisor), TIM RAINES (outfield and baserunning coordinator), MIKE BARNETT (hitting coordinator), RICHIE HEBNER (hitting coach, New Hampshire) and STUBBY CLAPP (hitting coach, Dunedin).

LEIPER, 46, joins the Blue Jays after spending the last two seasons with the Florida Marlins as their Infield Coordinator. The Whittier, California native will enter his 18th season working at the minor league level, including 12 seasons as a manager while working for the New York Mets, Montreal Expos, Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates. He played 12 seasons of minor league baseball posting a .273 average with 40 home runs, 460 RBI.  He is currently serving as a coach with Canada's WBC team after spending 2003-2006 with the Canadian National team, participating in two Olympic qualifiers, the 2004 Olympic games and the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006 & 2009.

BARNETT, 53, returns to the Blue Jays organization as the minor league hitting coordinator after serving as the club's major league hitting coach from 2002-2005. The native of Columbus, Ohio helped lead the Blue Jays offense in 2003 into top 5 in the American League offensive categories, including batting average (2nd), runs (2nd), hits (2nd) and home runs (5th). He rejoins the club after spending the last two seasons as the hitting coach for the Houston Astros.

RAINES, 53, joins the Blue Jays organization as the Outfield and Baserunning coordinator for the 2013 season. The seven time all-star has had previous managing and coaching experience in the minor leagues and at the major league level. The Sanford, FL native spent the last four seasons with the Newark Bears, managing the club from 2009-2011 and spent 2012 as their Director of Player Development. The former Montreal Expo played in in 2,502 Major League games accumulating 2,605 hits in 8,872 at bats for a .294 career batting average along with 170 home runs, 980 runs batted in and a .385 on base percentage. He spent 13 of his 23-year Major League career as a member of the Montreal Expos (1979-1990) that included winning a batting title in 1986 and had his #30 jersey retired by the club.

ALLENSON, 57, debuts as the Manager of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (AA) of the Eastern League. The Culver City, California native spent last season managing the Aberdeen IronBirds of the New York Penn League (short-A) in the Baltimore Orioles organization. The Cape Coral, Florida resident has 18 years of managerial experience which was highlighted by leading the Oneonta Yankees to a New York-Penn League championship in 1988.  The former catcher played seven seasons in the Major Leagues including part of the 1985 season with the Blue Jays.  In 416 games hit .221 with 19 home runs.

MEACHAM, 52, takes over as the Manager of the Dunedin Blue Jays of the Florida State League (A) after spending the majority of 2012 with the Houston Astros as their first base coach. The Los Angeles, California native has had previous managing experience at the minor league level where he managed the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (advanced-A) of the California League from 2002-2004.  The former infielder played six seasons in the Major Leagues, all with the Yankees posting a .236 average in 457 games.

HEBNER, 65, returns to the Blue Jays organization to serves as the hitting coach for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (AA). The Norwood, Massachusetts native has enjoyed two previous stints with Toronto serving as both a minor league manager and a roving hitting instructor. He was in voted Manager of the Year in the South Atlantic League in 1988 after leading the Blue Jays' minor league affiliate, Myrtle Beach to a record of 83-56. The veteran of 18 Major league seasons, he posted a .276 career batting average with 1,694 hits and participated in eight National League championship series.

CLAPP, 39, joins the Blue Jays after spending the last six seasons working in the Houston Astros organization.  The Windsor, Ontario native has worked four seasons as a hitting coach before spending the past two seasons as manager for the Tri-City ValleyCats (A). He played professionally for 11 seasons and appeared in 23 games for the St. Louis Cardinals during the 2001 season.  Also played for Team Canada in the 1999 Pan Am Games where Canada won bronze, the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, Team Canada in the WBC (2006 & 2009) and is currently a coach with Canada's WBC club.