Former Cubs Pitcher on Peoria's Staff

The Peoria Chiefs finally joined the party in announcing their 2011 field staff, and it includes a name that is going to be familiar to a lot of Cubs fans. The new pitching coach is Illinois native and former Cubs reliever Jeff Fassero.

Unfortunately, because of the new Midwest League schedule setup, Peoria will not be coming to Coveleski Stadium in 2011. The Silver Hawks host Cedar Rapids, Quad Cities, Clinton, and Kane County from the Western Division, while traveling to Peoria, Burlington, Wisconsin, and Beloit.

Peoria Chiefs
Manager - Casey Kopitzke
Pitching Coach - Jeff Fassero
Hitting Coach - Ricardo Medina

That leaves only the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers without a named field staff to this point. Please go bug Chris Mehring on his blog until he finally announces it.

Updated Field Staffs

Great Lakes announced their staff over the weekend, the Silver Hawks made the announcement yesterday, and the Hot Rods followed suit today. I'll still have more thoughts on the Silver Hawks staff when I get the time (probably tomorrow -- busy today). We are waiting on the Chiefs and the Timber Rattlers to round out the league. Updatesd list is below.

Beloit Snappers (same as last year)
Manager - Nelson Prada
Pitching Coach - Gary Lucas
Hitting Coach - Tommy Watkins

Bowling Green Hot Rods (same as last year)
Manager - Brady Williams
Pitching Coach - RC Lichtenstein
Hitting Coach - Manny Castillo

Burlington Bees (Kane County's staff from 2010 due to affiliation change)
Manager - Aaron Nieckula
Pitching Coach - Jimmy Escalante
Hitting Coach - Haas Pratt

Cedar Rapids Kernels
Manager - Brent Del Chiaro (was hitting coach last two years)
Pitching Coach - Trevor Wilson
Hitting Coach - Mike Elyward

Clinton LumberKings
Manager - Eddie Menchaca
Pitching Coach - Rich Dorman
Hitting Coach - Terry Pollreisz

Dayton Dragons
Manager - Delino DeShields (former big league star)
Pitching Coach - Tony Fossas
Hitting Coach - Alex Pelaez

Fort Wayne TinCaps
Manager - Shawn Wooten
Pitching Coach - Willie Blair
Hitting Coach - Kory DeHaan

Great Lakes Loons
Manager: John Shoemaker
Pitching Coach: Kremlin Martinez
Hitting Coach: Lenny Harris

Kane County Cougars
Manager - Vance Wilson
Pitching Coach - Jim Brower
Hitting Coach - Damon Hollins

Lake County Captains
Manager - Ted Kubiak
Pitching Coach - Jeff Harris
Hitting Coach - Jim Rickon

Lansing Lugnuts
Manager - Mike Redmond
Pitching Coach - Vince Horsman
Hitting Coach - John Tamargo, Jr.

Peoria Chiefs - Not yet announced

Quad Cities River Bandits (same as last year)
Manager - Johnny Rodriguez
Pitching Coach - Tim Leveque
Hitting Coach - Joe Kruzel

South Bend Silver Hawks
Manager - Mark Haley
Pitching Coach - Wellington Cepeda
Hitting Coach - Bobby Smith

West Michigan Whitecaps
Manager - Ernie Young
Pitching Coach - Mark Johnson
Hitting Coach - Ben Oglivie

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers - Not yet announced

2011 Field Staff Announced

It's finally here! Late this afternoon, the Silver Hawks 2011 Field Staff was announced. You can read the full press release on http://www.silverhawks.com/.

I'll have more tomorrow.

Now Pinch Hitting for the Great Lakes Loons...

Interesting title for this post, huh?

The Great Lakes Loons probably wish at some point this season that they could look down their bench and call upon their new hitting coach in a pinch hitting role. Why would they want to do that? Only because he's the MLB all-time leader in pinch hits.

That's right, Lenny Harris is the new hitting coach for the Great Lakes Loons, and I get the chance to meet another one of my favorite players as a kid (in addition to meeting Luis Quinones earlier this year. By the way, are you seeing a theme here? My favorite players are all scrappy infielders who are known much more for their pinch hitting than they are for anything else.)

The complete 2011 Loons field staff:

Manager: John Shoemaker
Pitching Coach: Kremlin Martinez
Hitting Coach: Lenny Harris

Busy, Busy, Busy

Sorry that it's been almost two days since I last posted. Things have been quite hectic the last few days.

To fill you in, here's a bunch of links for you:

-The Arizona Diamondbacks continued to be major players at the Winter Meetings, resigning Mike Hampton yesterday and then drafting a player in the Rule 5 Draft this morning.

-Reaction on the Diamondbacks moves can be found here and here.

-I gave a speech on behalf of the Silver Hawks to a career day at West Side Middle School in Elkhart yesterday morning. If you want to book a Silver Hawks speaker for your school, group, or business, go here.

-I also joined Swoop yesterday at the University Park Mall. We were guests of Sunny 101.5 FM as part of their Giving Trees promotion. Please stop by their tables and vote for your favorite tree -- all proceeds to to charity.

-Finally, we are still waiting on the Diamondbacks to announce the field staff for their Minor League affiliates. I think it's a safe bet that Mark Haley is returning, but we don't know the rest of the staff as of yet. Obviously, as soon as we know something, the information will be on http://www.silverhawks.com/.

2011 Midwest League Field Staffs

Within the last day, a bunch of teams have announced their field staffs for 2011, so I figured now was a good time to catch up on the entire league in case I missed anyone else. We'll go alphabetically through the list of teams (links provided where available)...

Beloit Snappers (same as last year)
Manager - Nelson Prada
Pitching Coach - Gary Lucas
Hitting Coach - Tommy Watkins

Bowling Green Hot Rods - Not yet announced

Burlington Bees (Kane County's staff from 2010 due to affiliation change)
Manager - Aaron Nieckula
Pitching Coach - Jimmy Escalante
Hitting Coach - Haas Pratt

Cedar Rapids Kernels
Manager - Brent Del Chiaro (was hitting coach last two years)
Pitching Coach - Trevor Wilson
Hitting Coach - Mike Elyward

Clinton LumberKings
Manager - Eddie Menchaca
Pitching Coach - Rich Dorman
Hitting Coach - Terry Pollreisz

Dayton Dragons
Manager - Delino DeShields (former big league star)
Pitching Coach - Tony Fossas
Hitting Coach - Alex Pelaez

Fort Wayne TinCaps
Manager - Shawn Wooten
Pitching Coach - Willie Blair
Hitting Coach - Kory DeHaan

Great Lakes Loons - Not yet announced

Kane County Cougars
Manager - Vance Wilson
Pitching Coach - Jim Brower
Hitting Coach - Damon Hollins

Lake County Captains
Manager - Ted Kubiak
Pitching Coach - Jeff Harris
Hitting Coach - Jim Rickon

Lansing Lugnuts
Manager - Mike Redmond
Pitching Coach - Vince Horsman
Hitting Coach - John Tamargo, Jr.

Peoria Chiefs - Not yet announced

Quad Cities River Bandits (same as last year)
Manager - Johnny Rodriguez
Pitching Coach - Tim Leveque
Hitting Coach - Joe Kruzel

South Bend Silver Hawks - Not yet announced

West Michigan Whitecaps
Manager - Ernie Young
Pitching Coach - Mark Johnson
Hitting Coach - Ben Oglivie

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers - Not yet announced

Lugnuts Announce Field Staff

The Lansing Lugnuts announced their field staff for 2011 late yesterday, featuring a 12-year Major League veteran as their new manager. You can read the full release on their website, or just view the summary below.

Manager - Mike Redmond
Pitching Coach - Vince Horsman
Hitting Coach - John Tamargo, Jr.

LumberKings Announce Coaching Staff

The Clinton LumberKings announced their coaching staff for 2011 yesterday. If you go to the link, you can read where their new manager once played in the Midwest League, as well as some biographical information on all the coaches.

If that doesn't interest you, allow me to just list the staff for you below:

Manager - Eddie Menchaca
Pitching Coach - Rich Dorman
Hitting Coach - Terry Pollreisz

Quad Cities Field Staff

They don't have it up on their website yet, but the Quad Cities River Bandits just sent out a press release announcing their 2011 field staff. However, all three coaches are back from last season, so there's not a lot of drama with this one.

Manager: Johnny Rodriguez
Pitching Coach: Tim Leveque
Hitting Coach: Joe Kruzel

Fort Wayne Announced Field Staff

The Fort Wayne TinCaps have announced their field staff for 2011. As best I can tell, this is the first Midwest League team that has announced their staff for next year.

Manager - Shawn Wooten
Pitching Coach - Willie Blair
Hitting Coach - Korey DeHaan

All three have played in the majors. Willie Blair once pitched for the Diamondbacks.