Gabe Alvarez is set to return for a second season at Triple-A Toledo, while Tony Cappuccilli and Rene Rivera received promotions after leading High-A West Michigan and Single-A Lakeland to league titles, as the Tigers announced their Minor League managers, coaches and support staffs for the upcoming season.
Alvarez, who led Double-A Erie to back-to-back Eastern League titles in 2023 and 2024 before moving to Toledo, took the Mud Hens to the cusp of a playoff berth with a late-season surge despite a carousel of player movement. The Hens finished with an 84-66 record for the season, including 45-30 in the second half. While right-hander Troy Melton rode a strong midseason stint to a midsummer promotion to Detroit and an impressive stretch run with the Tigers, infield prospects Hao-Yu Lee and Max Anderson had strong summers that positioned themselves to compete for roles in Detroit this Spring Training. Catcher Eduardo Valencia had a breakout campaign that earned him a 40-man roster spot and a Spring Training invite.
Hitting coaches Mike Hessman and Francisco Contreras and pitching coach Doug Bochtler return to join Alvarez in Toledo.
Cappuccilli takes over as Erie manager after leading West Michigan to its first league championship in a decade, joined by pitching coach Nick Green. Kyle MacKinnon joins the group as hitting coach, while former Mariners, Rays and Brewers infielder Nick Franklin will make his pro coaching debut as the SeaWolves’ bench coach.
Rivera follows Cappuccilli at West Michigan after leading Lakeland to a league title. Matt Malott returns as hitting coach, while Dan Ricabal moves from Erie to join Rivera’s coaching staff as pitching coach. Cole Roberts, son of Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, makes his coaching debut as Whitecaps bench coach following a three-year playing career as an infielder and outfielder in the Diamondbacks and Phillies systems.
Cole Roberts gets his coaching start in the organization where his father began his playing career; Dave Roberts was a 28th-round pick by the Tigers in the 1994 Draft and spent parts of five seasons in the Tigers farm system.
Salvador Paniagua will manage the Flying Tigers in Lakeland after managing the Rookie-level Florida Complex League Tigers last year. Tyler Anderson makes the jump with him as pitching coach, joined by hitting coach Freddie Landers and bench coach Chris Gutierrez.
Former Tigers catcher Brayan Peña, who stepped back from managing at West Michigan a couple of years ago to become an instructor, returns to managing this season, taking over the Florida Complex League team. Rafael Gil returns to the FCL Tigers as hitting coach, joined by assistant Ben Steck and pitching coaches Marcelo Alfonsin and Willians Moreno.