Indians announce Minor League coaching changes

CLEVELAND -- Once the Indians hired manager Terry Francona in October, the ensuing coaching shuffle created a slew of vacancies.

The ripple effect was felt throughout the organization, as all four of Cleveland's full-season Minor League affiliates will have a new manager for the 2013 campaign.

The Indians retained certain instructors, including Sandy Alomar Jr., who stayed on as bench coach. The front office plugged other holes with outside hires, such as Ty Van Burkleo and Mickey Callaway, who assumed the positions of hitting and pitching coach, respectively.

Mike Sarbaugh joined the big league club as first-base coach, leaving an opening at Triple-A Columbus, where the 45-year-old had served as manager the last three seasons. To fill Sarbaugh's shoes, the Indians promoted Chris Tremie to skipper of the Clippers.

Tremie, 43, has swiftly worked his way up the organizational ladder. He managed at Class A Lake County in 2007, Class A Kinston in 2008 and '09, the club's Arizona League squad in 2010 and spent the last two years directing Double-A Akron. In Tremie's first season with the Aeros, his club finished 73-69 and placed fourth in its division. Akron compiled an 82-59 mark in 2012 to win its division, and eventually became Eastern League champions. The Clippers finished each of their three seasons under Sarbaugh with a winning record.

Edwin Rodriguez, who captained the Marlins in 2010-11, assumes Tremie's former position in Akron. David Wallace, who led Class A Lake County last year, takes over Rodriguez's old post as skipper at Class A Carolina. Scooter Tucker, the hitting coach at Carolina last season, will manage Lake County.

Elsewhere, a pair of former Indians infielders are shifting roles for the 2013 campaign. Adam Everett, who made a 34-game cameo for the Tribe in 2011 and served as a special assistant to baseball operations last year, takes over for Travis Fryman as the organization's infield coordinator. Fryman will switch to a special assistant role.

Another former Indian, Steve Karsay, who pitched for Cleveland from 1998-2001, shifts from the Arizona League team to the Mudcats, for whom he will serve as pitching coach.

A pair of big league coaches on former Indians manager Manny Acta's staff last season will serve as organizational coordinators under the new regime. Tom Widenbauer, who coached first base in 2011, will be the Tribe's field coordinator. Ruben Niebla, who took over as Cleveland's pitching coach following Scott Radinsky's midseason dismissal, will supervise pitching throughout the organization.

Here are the rest of the Minor League coaching staffs:

Triple-A Columbus Clippers
Manager: Chris Tremie
Hitting coach: Phil Clark
Pitching coach: Tony Arnold

Double-A Akron Aeros
Manager: Edwin Rodriguez
Hitting coach: Jim Rickon
Pitching coach: Greg Hibbard

Class A Carolina Mudcats
Manager: David Wallace
Hitting coach: Rouglas Odor
Pitching coach: Jeff Harris

Class A Lake County Captains
Manager: Scooter Tucker
Hitting coach: Tony Mansolino
Pitching coach: Steve Karsay

Short Season A Mahoning Valley Scrappers
Manager: Ted Kubiak
Hitting coach: Shaun Larkin

Rookie League Arizona Indians
Manager: Anthony Medrano
Hitting coach: Junior Betances
Pitching coach: Scott Erickson