CHICAGO -- The hiring of Omar Vizquel to be the manager for Class A Advanced Winston-Salem in 2018 was announced by the White Sox on Dec. 4, 2017, prior to the release of their full player development staff on Tuesday.
But there were a few other significant changes and additions to the organization's overall staff.
Kirk Champion begins his 30th season with the White Sox via a move to the director of Minor League pitching instruction, after serving as director of Minor League instruction in '17 and as field coordinator from 2012-16. Champion served as the Minor League pitching coordinator from 2003-11.
Richard Dotson, who was the pitching coordinator in '17 and the Triple-A Charlotte pitching coach the previous nine seasons, moves to Double-A Birmingham as the Barons' pitching coach.
"He's a tremendous teacher," White Sox director of player development Chris Getz said of Dotson. "With the players we are going to have at the Birmingham level and his skillset, I just felt that it was a perfect fit to have Dotson go there and continue to teach these guys, and continue their development toward Chicago.
"Then with Champ, assuming a lot of those responsibilities of the coordinator, he's a natural in that position. He communicates well, very organized. He's ahead of things. He's got a passion for pitching. He knows the ins and outs, and obviously he's fluent in the pitching language. He knows what's expected of the players in Chicago.
"I felt that having him in that type of role was just going to make us strong as an organization," Getz said. "Those guys have taken the positions by the horns and are excited for the 2018 season."
Previous pitching coaches Brian Drahman (rehab pitching coach) and J.R. Perdew (pitching assistant) will continue to work in the White Sox system. Other new organizational staffers include Doug Sisson as field coordinator, Ben Broussard as leadership development coordinator, Everett Teaford as a quality control coach and Erin Santana as education coordinator. Santana's role, coupled with Broussard's job, indicates the club's rebuild is more about establishing an overall culture of success, both on and off the field, as opposed to simply assembling a plethora of high-end talent.
Getz pointed out Santana's job represents an area where the organization wanted to improve.
"We want our Latin American players to have a good education system in place. She has a lot of experience in building up curriculum in education systems," Getz said of Santana, whose primary focus will be at the White Sox Dominican Academy, but she will be more of a roving instructor. "We want to put these players in the best position possible to perform on the field, feel comfortable with the culture and communicate efficiently. Hopefully that will make them more comfortable as players.
"There are natural attributes when it comes to leadership, but we want to fully develop those skills so those are our guys that came through our system," Getz added, referring to Broussard. "They are using those skills to make us better as a whole. You are trying to create a culture for these guys to flourish. The more people you have that have the skills to do that, I want to bring in here."