PADRES MAKE MANY MINORS CHANGES
The Padres announced their minor league coaching staffs on Tuesday, with Jared Sandberg headlining the additions as he leaves behind his post the last two years as the Seattle Mariners’ bench coach to manage Triple-A El Paso.
Sandberg, 43, was previously the Mariners’ major league field coordinator after spending the previous decade in the Tampa Bay Rays organization, including 10 as a minor league manager.
Sandberg takes over a post previously held by Edwin Rodriguez, who stepped down in the middle of the season for personal reasons.
The other newcomers on the Chihuahuas’ coaching staff are Mike McCarthy as the pitching coach after spending the last four seasons in the Twins organization, and former Diamondbacks catcher Robby Hammock joining the team as a bench coach.
Hammock also spent nine seasons in the Diamondbacks organization as a coach.
Jonathan Mathews, who was a major league coach for the Padres in 2017 and a hitting coach at Fort Wayne in 2018-19 and 2021, will serve as El Paso’s hitting coach.
Phillip Wellman will return as Double-A San Antonio’s manager and will be joined by pitching coach Pete Zamora, hitting coach Raul Padron and organization newcomer Shane Robinson as a bench coach.
Brian Esposito will manage high Single-A Fort Wayne after managing the Pittsburgh Pirates Triple-A affiliate the past four years. Jimmy Jones will serve as the TinCaps’ pitching coach and newcomer Randolph Gassaway will be the hitting coach. Jhonaldo Pozo will be the bench coach after coaching last season in Lake Elsinore and in the Arizona Complex League.
Former pitching coordinator Eric Junge, the interim manager in El Paso after Rodriguez stepped down, will manage low Single-A Lake Elsinore. He’ll be joined by pitching coach Leo Rosales, hitting coach Pat O’Sullivan and bench coach Felipe Blanco.
The athletic trainers and strength coaches, respectively, for each affiliate are as follows: Brad LaRosa and A.J. Russell at El Paso; Nick Coberly and Mark Spadavecchia at San Antonio; David Bryan and Jim Buckley at Fort Wayne; and Maritza Castro and Austin Harris at Lake Elsinore.