Finally, Some Thoughts on the New Staff

(First of all, I had some blog issues today, thus the new design. More on that later.)

I've been promising you this for a couple of days now, but things have been busy around here and I'm just now getting around to putting it up.

First off, as a reminder, here is the Silver Hawks 2011 field staff:

Manager - Mark Haley
Pitching Coach - Wellington Cepeda
Hitting Coach - Bobby Smith

Rather than give you my thoughts on the guys, I figured I could do better. I just got off the phone with Mike Bell, who is Arizona's new Director of Player Development. I asked Mike about the staff and about what we can expect to see with the Silver Hawks in 2011. Here are some of his thoughts...

About Mark Haley...
-Everybody in Silver Hawks country knows Mark Haley.
-He is extremely dedicated, hardworking, and knowledgeable about the game of baseball.
-(on Mark staying with South Bend for seven years) You don't see it every day. Someone who is willing to go back, not only willing, but truly excited to be there. It gives our organization and staff some stability.

About new hitting coach Bobby Smith when they were teammates in Charlotte (AAA)...
-We were in similar situations in that we were both six year free agents and both trying to put ourselves back on the mat.
-Bobby and I had an unbelievable relationship on the field and made a commitment to each other that we would look after each other.

Even though we don't know exactly who is going to be here, here are Mike's thoughts on the group that is most likely to come to South Bend...
-There will obviously be some new faces. Yakima was in the playoffs, and even though Missoula didn't make it, they fought to the end, so you're going to get a group of winners.
-You'll see great pitching depth with the starters.
-South Bend will have a pretty talented infield, like you had last year.
-There is going to be some great competition in the outfield.

I want to thank Mike for his time, because you know how busy he is trying to evaluate players, and get acclimated to the new position. He was very gracious on the phone and I'm sure I'll have him for a pregame interview at some point (if not two or three times) in the upcoming season.