Dodgers announce Minor League coaching staff
Dodger affiliates posted the second-highest winning percentage among MLB teams in 2011, entire staffs return from top two affiliates and six of seven managers
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers today announced their 2012 Minor League coaches with eight former Dodger players from the Major League club on staff.
After a successful 2011 season throughout the Dodger organization, Albuquerque and Chattanooga will return their entire coaching staffs next season, while the club will keep in place the managers from six of its seven minor league affiliates. Last season, four of the Dodgers’ seven affiliates reached the postseason with the Rookie-level Arizona League Dodgers winning their league championship. The organization posted a combined .543 winning percentage (414-349), which was the second-highest winning percentage among Major League teams last season.
The majority of the Dodgers’ minor league staff will remain in place with Field Coordinator Bruce Hines (third season) returning along with Senior Advisors, Player Development P.J. Carey (fourth season in current role), Gene Clines (second) and Charlie Hough (second). Ramon Martinez will return for his third season as a member of the Dodger front office and second as a Senior Advisor, Latin America.
Minor League Pitching Coordinator Rafael Chaves and Hitting Coordinator Eric Owens will return for their fourth and second seasons, respectively, in their current positions and Damon Mashore will join the Dodger organization as the Outfield/Baserunning Coordinator. Mashore served as the interim manager of the Angels’ Single-A affiliate in Inland Empire last season and was a hitting coach in the Angels’ organization from 2008-11. He previously managed Rookie-advanced Missoula (D-backs) in 2007 and played in parts of three Major League seasons with the A’s (1996-97) and Angels (1998).
Jody Reed will become the Dodgers’ new Infield Coordinator after earning Arizona League Manager of the Year honors and leading the Rookie-level club to a championship last season. Travis Barbary will return for a sixth season as Catching Coordinator and his 18th overall season with the Dodger organization.
Triple-A Albuquerque Manager Lorenzo Bundy and his coaching staff of Pitching Coach Glenn Dishman and Hitting Coach John Valentin will return for a second consecutive season after leading the Isotopes to a second place finish in 2011. In his eighth season as a minor league skipper last season (fourth with the Dodgers), Bundy managed the Pacific Coast League All-Stars in the Triple-A All-Star Game and also served as a coach in the XM All-Star Futures Game. Dishman enters his eighth season with the Dodger organization and 2012 will be Valentin’s fifth campaign as a coach with the organization.
The Lookouts reached the postseason last year by clinching the second-half division title and will return their entire coaching staff in 2012. Carlos Subero will return for a fourth season with the Dodger organization and a third year as manager of Double-A Chattanooga after leading the team to a 77-62 mark last year. Hitting Coach Franklin Stubbs will return for a second season with Chattanooga after helping the Lookouts tie for the Southern League lead with 705 runs scored and lead the circuit with a .444 team slugging percentage last season. Second-year Lookouts Pitching Coach Chuck Crim will once again lead the Chattanooga pitching staff, which topped the league with a 3.66 team ERA and 1,103 strikeouts in 2011 and had four pitchers make the jump to the Majors a year ago.
The 2011 California League Manager of the Year Juan Bustabad will return for a second season at the helm of Single-A Rancho Cucamonga after leading the Quakes to first and second half division titles and a franchise-record 80 wins last season. Rancho Cucamonga led the league in team batting average (.287), on-base percentage (.362), slugging percentage (.455) and runs scored (848) under Hitting Coach Michael Boughton, who is back for a second season with the Quakes. Pitching Coach Matt Herges will make the jump to Rancho Cucamonga from Rookie-level Arizona, where he made his coaching debut last season and guided the club’s pitching staff to the Arizona League crown.
John Shoemaker will manage Single-A Great Lakes again in 2012 for his 20th season as a minor league manager and his 36th season in the Dodger organization. Shoemaker will be joined in the Loons’ dugout by Pitching Coach Hector Berrios, who served in the same position at Rancho Cucamonga last season, and Hitting Coach Razor Shines. Shines played in parts of four seasons in the Majors with the Expos from 1983-85 and 1987, and has coached since his playing career ended in 1993, last serving on the Mets’ Major League staff as a base coach in 2009 and 2010. Shines has compiled a 572-546 record in eight seasons as a minor league manager and is the father of 22-year-old Devin, who is an outfielder in Dodgers’ minor league system.
Damon Berryhill will return for a fourth season as manager for Rookie-advanced Ogden after leading the club to its third-straight playoff berth in 2011. Pitching Coach Bill Simas returns for a second season alongside Hitting Coach Doug Mientkiewicz, who will make his coaching debut after an 11-year big league career. Mientkiewicz earned a Rawlings Gold Glove at first base in 2001 with Minnesota, won a World Series ring with Boston in 2004 and batted .333 in 20 games with the Dodgers in 2009, his final season in the Majors.
After serving the previous five seasons as the Dodgers’ Minor League Infield Coordinator, Matt Martin will take over as Coordinator of Arizona Instruction and manager of the Rookie-level Arizona League Dodgers. Martin, 42, previously managed the Tigers’ affiliate in the New York-Penn League in 1997 and the Gulf Coast League Yankees in 2006. Leo Garcia returns for a fourth season as the AZL Dodgers’ hitting coach and Kremlin Martinez will be the club’s pitching coach after serving in the same position with Great Lakes last season.
Henry Cruz will return as Campo Las Palmas Director and Antonio Bautista will again serve as the Dodgers’ Field Coordinator at Campo Las Palmas. Pedro Mega returns for his sixth season as manager of the Dominican Summer League Dodgers with Pitching Coach Alejandro Pena, Catching Coach Jose D. Hernandez and Assistant Coach Rafael Ozuna. After eight minor league seasons in the Dodger organization as a player, Keyter Collado will make his coaching debut as the hitting coach for the DSL Dodgers. Collado, 25, retired following the 2011 season after compiling a .282 career batting average as a catcher and first baseman.
Jim Slaton returns for a second season as the pitching coach at Camelback Ranch – Glendale and will also serve as the facility’s rehab coach in 2012. Johnny Washington and Esteban Lopez will be coaches at Camelback Ranch – Glendale after serving as the hitting coaches last season for the Ogden Raptors and the DSL Dodgers, respectively.