The Giants announced their player development staff for the 2018 season on Friday, along with their coaching staffs for all eight Minor League affiliates.
The player development staff has six new additions, including two front-office members who spent the last two years as Major League hitting coaches. There are also more than a dozen new additions to the coaching staffs, as six of the eight affiliates have new managers.
"We are thrilled to have a staff that is aligned to provide leadership and support with a team-first approach," said vice president of player development David Bell. "We are excited to build on the hard work and past success of our player development system and look forward to contributing to this great organization."
Alan Zinter joins the Giants' organization as assistant director of player development, offense after spending the last two years as the Padres' hitting coach. Meanwhile, Dave Hansen, who spent five years as a hitting coach for the Angels, Mariners and Dodgers, will be the club's new hitting coordinator.
Other additions to the staff include Matt Buschmann as assistant director of player development, run prevention; Julio Rangel as pitching coordinator; Justin Lehr as rehab pitching coordinator; and Dan O'Brien as development coach.
"We are adding more resources, including coaches, medical staff, sports science and analytical support to our player development team to put our Minor League players in the best possible position to succeed at all levels and ultimately help us win at the Major League level," general manager Bobby Evans said. "Under David Bell's leadership, we are excited about this direction. David's done a tremendous job in a short amount of time building a strong and committed player development staff. His energy and focus has helped prepare us for a strong year ahead."
The Giants largely promoted Minor League managers from within the organization, but they did hire one outsider, as Willie Harris will manage the Double-A Richmond Squirrels after previously managing the White Sox Class A Advanced affiliate in Winston-Salem.
Lipso Nava will take over as Class A Advanced San Jose's manager after being the hitting coach in Richmond last season. Jolbert Cabrera has been promoted from Class A Short-Season Salem Keizer's manager to Augusta's manager, and Hector Borg moves from the Rookie-level Arizona League to managing for Salem Keizer.
Rounding out the changes, Hector Valderrama moves from managing in Augusta to managing in the Arizona League, and Billy Horton has been promoted from a hitting coach in the Arizona League to managing the Giants' second AZL affiliate.