KANSAS CITY -- The Royals announced their Minor League coaching staffs for 2016 on Monday, with the biggest addition being Andy Hawkins, a former Major Leaguer who served as the Rangers' bullpen coach the past seven seasons and now will be the Royals' pitching coach at Triple-A Omaha.
Hawkins will serve under Omaha manager Brian Poldberg, now entering his third season. Hawkins has the distinction of being the winning pitcher in the Padres' only World Series win in 1984.
Tommy Gregg will return for his eighth year as the hitting coach for Omaha, while Dave Iannicca and Joe Greany come back as the club's certified athletic trainer and strength and conditioning coach, respectively, after serving in the same roles in 2015.
Double-A Northwest Arkansas manager Vance Wilson returns for his third season after taking the Naturals to the postseason in 2015 as the first-half champ in the Texas League's North Division. Wilson will have two new coaches in pitching coach Steve Luebber and hitting coach Brian Buchanan. Luebber served as the pitching coach at Wilmington (Class A Advanced) for the past nine seasons, while Buchanan was Wilmington's manager in 2015. Certified athletic trainer Masa Koyanagi and strength and conditioning coach Austin Driggers will return to the Naturals.
Wilmington will have new manager Jamie Quirk, who returned to the organization after the former Kansas City catcher served in the same role for San Antonio and El Paso in the Padres' system in 2015. Quirk has held Minor League managing positions the past two years after serving as a coach at the Major League level with the Royals (1994-2001), Texas Rangers (2002), Colorado Rockies (2003-08), Houston Astros (2009-11) and Chicago Cubs (2012-13). He will be joined on the bench by new pitching coach Charlie Corbell, who was the Minor League pitching coordinator for the Marlins in 2015. Abraham Nunez returns to Wilmington for his second season as hitting coach, while James Stone enters his fifth year as the club's certified athletic trainer.
Class A Lexington manager Omar Ramirez enters his second season with the club and eighth in the Kansas City organization. Ramirez previously served as the manager at Idaho Falls (2012-14), as well as the club's hitting coach in 2011; he held the same title with Burlington (2009-10). Mitch Stetter will serve as the Legends' pitching coach after holding the same title with Surprise (Arizona Rookie League) last season. Hitting coach Damon Hollins, bench coach Glenn Hubbard and certified athletic trainer Mark Keiser are all returning to Lexington.
Idaho Falls (Rookie) will be led by second-year manager Justin Gemoll, who led the Chukars to a postseason appearance in his first season at the helm. The remainder of the coaching staff remains intact, with pitching coach Jeff Suppan and hitting coach Andre David returning for their second seasons. Justin Kemp, who worked in Surprise last season, will take over as the certified athletic trainer.
Burlington (Rookie) manager Scott Thorman returns for his second year with the club. His staff remains the same as in 2015, with pitching coach Carlos Martinez, hitting coach Jesus Azajue and certified athletic trainer Saburo Hagihara all returning.
Surprise manager Darryl Kennedy returns after leading the Royals' Arizona League club to the best record in the league, winning both halves and earning a postseason berth. Carlos Reyes joins incumbent Mark Davis as pitching coaches for the team. Reyes held the same title with Lexington a season ago, while Nelson Liriano and Willie Aikens will serve as the club's hitting coaches.