Mariners announce 2017 Minor League coaches

December 19th, 2016

SEATTLE -- The Mariners announced their full roster of Minor League coaches for 2017 on Monday, including former Major League infielder Dave Berg, who will be the new hitting coach for Triple-A Tacoma.
The Mariners have promoted former Tacoma hitting coach Scott Brosius to their Major League staff for the upcoming season, opening a spot for Berg, who was the manager for Double-A Jacksonville in the Marlins' organization last year. Berg, 46, was an infielder with the Marlins and Blue Jays from 1998-2004 and had a career .269 average in 582 big league games.
The Mariners' Major League staff is returning in full, with Brosius added as an extra coach.
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Pat Listach will be return for his third season as the manager for Tacoma, with Lance Painter also returning as pitching coach. Brian Hunter, who was the hitting coach for Class A Short-Season Everett (Wash.) last year, joins the Rainiers' staff as a hitting and baserunning coach.
The Mariners will be changing their Double-A affiliate from Jackson (Miss.) to Arkansas this year, but Daren Brown -- who skippered Jackson to the Southern League title this past season -- retains that post with the new team in the Texas League. Roy Howell also returns as hitting coach, but the club has a new pitching coach, as Ethan Katz has been promoted from Class A Advanced Bakersfield. Eddie Menchaca, who managed Bakersfield last season, has also been promoted as an additional coach for the Arkansas Travelers.
The Mariners also have a new Class A Advanced affiliate, with Modesto replacing Bakersfield as their California League representative. Mitch Canham, who managed Class A Clinton in 2016, takes over as Modesto's skipper. Pete Woodworth, last year's Clinton pitching coach, will handle those duties for Modesto. Former big league utility man Joe Thurston, who previously coached for the Red Sox's Double-A Portland affiliate, has been hired as hitting coach, and Jim Pankovits, who was a roving infield coordinator for the Mariners last year, joins the Nuts as an additional coach.
Clinton will have an entirely new staff this coming season, with Pat Shine taking over as manager. Shine, a former Gonzaga University player, was a coach at UCLA and California State University, Los Angeles before moving to the Marlins' Major League staff the past three years as their instant replay video coordinator. His staff will include as pitching coach, David Flores as hitting coach and James Lofton as the extra coach. Lofton was the hitting coach for Rookie-level Peoria last year, while Mathis and Flores are new to the organization.
Jose Moreno, in his 17th season with Seattle, takes over as manager of Everett after five years as the Latin America field coordinator. He previously managed Everett to a Northwest League title in 2010. Danielin Acevedo, the pitching coach for the Mariners' Dominican affiliate last year, was promoted to the AquaSox staff in that same position. Austin Knight takes over as hitting coach, while Andy Bottin, who coached the Peoria last year, joins the Everett staff this season.
Zac Livingston returns for his second season as manager for Peoria after leading that club to an Arizona League title in 2016. Moises Hernandez, the older brother of , will team with Yoel Monzon as the club's pitching coaches. Hernandez was the pitching coach at Everett last year, and Monzon was Peoria's manager. Denny Hocking, a former Major Leaguer who spent last year as the Angels' Minor League infield coordinator, has been hired as hitting coach. Jose Umbria, the manager of the Rookie-level Dominican League Mariners last year, will be the extra coach.
Cesar Nicolas takes over the Mariners Academy team in the Dominican Summer League, and his staff includes pitching coach Jose Veloz, hitting coach Selwyn Langaigne, infield coach Richard Paz and coaches Luis Caballero and .
The Mariners also have a 15-person group of Minor League coordinators who support all their affiliates. Field coordinator Mike Micucci returns for his second year to lead that staff, which also includes Alvin Davis as special assistant coordinator, Dan Wilson as defensive coordinator, Brant Brown as offensive coordinator, Oscar Marin as pitching coordinator and Tony Arnerich as catching coordinator.