Tacoma’s coaches were announced Monday. M’s have finalized 2022 coaching staffs for all minor league affiliates
On Monday, the Mariners set their Triple-A Tacoma coaching staff in stone.
On Tuesday and lasting through Friday — one team, and one day at a time — Seattle’s organization announced their coaching staff for the remainder of their minor league affiliates. Recently named the most talented minor league farm system by Baseball America, each of Seattle’s six clubs finished at least five games above .500, and were a combined 342-257 (.571) in 2021.
Here’s a look at who to expect in each dugout:
DOUBLE-A ARKANSAS TRAVELERS
Collin Cowgill led the Travelers to a 64-56 in his first season as Double-A Manager in 2021. He’ll get the nod again in 2022.
“My family and I are extremely excited to spend another season in Little Rock,” Cowgill said in a Tuesday news release. “We loved being a part of the Travs and the Little Rock community in 2021, and we look forward to being back. Our coaching staff is very much looking forward to developing our players both on and off the field.”
Cowgill, a six-year MLB veteran outfielder, debuted for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2011. After stints with Oakland (2012), the New York Mets (2013), Los Angeles Angels (2013-15), and the formerly named Cleveland Indians (2016), Cowgill spent 2020’s spring training slate with Seattle, though never appearing in the pandemic-shortened regular season.
Shawn O’Malley takes over as Arkansas’ hitting coach after a promotion from High-A Everett. The hitting coach for the AquaSox last year, O’Malley begins his third season in Seattle’s organization.
O’Malley was named the hitting coach for High-A Modesto prior to the cancellation of the 2020 minor league season. His playing career spanned 13 seasons, including two Major League seasons with the Los Angeles Angels (2014) and one with Seattle (2015-16).
Sean McGrath enters his third season in the Mariners organization, and his first as pitching coach for the Travelers. Also receiving a promotion from the High-A ranks, McGrath spent the 2021 season as Everett’s pitching coach, and would have coached alongside O’Malley in Modesto had the pandemic not shut down the minor leagues in 2020.
In 2018 and 2019, McGrath spent two seasons as pitching coach for Elon University.
Geoff Jimenez begins his second season in Seattle’s organization and his first as a coach for Double-A Arkansas. He spent the 2020 season with the Phillies on their player development staff, and added five years of collegiate coaching experience between 2015-19.
Amanda Lee returns for her fourth season as athletic trainer with Double-A Arkansas.
Chris Walter was introduced Tuesday as Arkansas’ strength and conditioning coach after six seasons as a Major League Strength and Conditioning Coordinator for the Detroit Tigers from 2015-20.
HIGH-A EVERETT AQUASOX
After leading Low-A Modesto to a 64-51 record in 2021, Eric Farris moves up to manage High-A Everett in what will be his fifth season in Seattle’s organization.
“I am very excited to continue the process of developing our players,” Farris said, who served as hitting coach for Single-A West Virginia in 2019, and would have managed the team in 2020 before the season’s cancellation. “We have a great staff in Everett this season and we are looking forward to working together.”
Farris debuted for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2011 after his selection in the fourth round of the 2007 draft. He appeared in 14 career major league games and 963 minor league games, batting .281 with 35 home runs and 351 RBI in the latter.
Ryan McLaughlin will serve as Everett’s hitting coach after coaching Double-A Arkansas in 2021. In 2020, McLaughin signed a minor league contract with the Mariners, but did not play due to the cancellation of the minor league season.
Matt Pierpont begins his first season in Seattle’s organization as pitching coach for the AquaSox. He signed a minor league contract with the Mariners in 2021, but did not appear in a game.
A 26th-round selection by Colorado in the 2013 MLB First-Year Player Draft, Pierpont whiffed 345 batters in 331 innings in a minor league career that featured a 2.83 earned run average and spanned 222 games.
Jose Umbria, a 12-year veteran in Seattle’s organization, starts his second as Everett’s fourth coach. Now with stops at six affiliate clubs, Umbria was named the 2018 Dave Henderson Minor League Staff Member of the Year, and appeared in 475 career minor league games in Toronto’s organization from 1996-2005.
Aric Quinney, ATC returns to Everett for his second season as athletic trainer, and his third season in Seattle’s organization. Brennan Mickelson resumes strength and conditioning coach duties after serving in the same role in 2021.
LOW-A MODESTO NUTS
With five seasons under his belt in Seattle’s organization, Austin Knight takes over as Modesto’s newest skipper.
The Arizona Complex League Mariners manager in 2021 and the Dominican Summer League Mariners manager in 2019, Knight was promoted to a Nuts team now without Everett’s Farris. In 2018, Knight volunteered as a coach at Dallas Baptist University, and in 2017, served as hitting coach for Short-A Everett.
“I’m looking forward to working with this talented and passionate group of coaches in Modesto,” Knight said in Thursday’s news release. “We are committed to helping our players reach their potential as baseball players and as young men, while competing for a Low-A West championship. I can’t wait to get started.”
And after serving as hitting coach for the ACL Mariners under Knight in 2021, Michael Fransoso moved to Modesto in the same role.
Nathan Bannister, now in his fourth season in Seattle’s organization, continues his stint as pitching coach for the Nuts in 2022. A coach with the DSL Mariners in 2019, Bannister previously appeared in the Mariners’ minor league system as a player, appearing in 54 games and earning 50 starts between the 2017 and 2018 season.
Ryan Scott, who played in seven minor league seasons between 2013 and 2019, retired in 2020 and will join Modesto as a coach in 2022. Dan Laberry will return to Modesto for his second season as athletic trainer, the release said.
Jose Alcantara Beas, who served as the strength and conditioning coach for the DSL Mariners in 2021, heads to Modesto in the same role.
ARIZONA COMPLEX LEAGUE MARINERS
Now in his seventh year in Seattle’s organization, the Mariners named Luis Caballero the newest manager for the ACL Mariners. Part of the DSL Mariners coaching staff throughout the last five seasons – and the team’s manager in 2021 – Caballero’s playing career spanned from 2010-15 with the Braves and Mariners.
He appeared in 307 career minor league games, and after retirement, joined Single-A Clinton in 2016 as a coach.
“Our player development and process throughout the organization starts in Arizona and the Dominican Republic,” Director of Player Development Emanuel Sifuentes said in Friday’s release. “We are thrilled to have these coaches round out a strong minor league staff across our affiliates.”
Moving to the ACL Mariners alongside Caballero is Brett Schneider, who served as the DSL Mariners hitting coach last season and will continue that role. Yoel Monzon, now in his seventh year as pitching coach for the ACL Mariners, appeared in 56 minor league games with the Colorado Rockies organization from 1999-2000 and earned a 7-5 record and 3.94 earned run average.
Nico Giarratano joins the Mariners organization as an Arizona Complex League coach after competing in the Mexican League in 2021. A 24th-round selection by the San Francisco Giants in the 2017 Draft, Giarratano’s career featured 186 career minor league games throughout 2017-19.
Randy Roetter, ATC returns to the team as athletic trainer. Drew Weidner, who served as an intern for the ACL Mariners in 2021, was named the strength and conditioning coach in Friday’s release.
DOMINICAN SUMMER LEAGUE MARINERS
Seattle announced Willie Concepcion as the DSL Mariners’ new manager, who played college baseball at the College of Staten Island and most recently served as director of international operations for “The Catching Camp.” Devin Fujioka, a baseball volunteer assistant for Austin Peay State University in 2021, was named the team’s hitting coach in his first year in the organization.
Now in his sixth season with Seattle’s organization, Jose Amancio joins Concepcion and Fujioka as pitching coach. A Dominican native and former minor league pitcher for Oakland’s organization in 2000-2001, Amancio appeared in 28 career games and worked for MLB’s development program as a pitching coach from 2013-16.
Hecmart Nieves joins the DSL Mariners coaching staff after a stint with Detroit’s organization in 2021, working as a baseball operations assistant in the Dominican Republic in 2021. An Ottawa University alum in Kansas, Nieves hit for a .316 average in 80 career games from 2017-18.
Jorge Rodriguez, ATC returns to the team as athletic trainer. Cesar Velazquez, who served as a performance coach for Low-A Modesto in 2021, becomes the club’s strength and conditioning coach.
This story was originally published February 4, 2022 at 12:43 PM with the headline "Tacoma’s coaches were announced Monday. M’s have finalized 2022 coaching staffs for all minor league affiliates."
