MARINERS ANNOUNCE PLAYER DEVELOPMENT STAFF FOR 2021 SEASON

SEATTLE, Wash. -- Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto and Director of Player Development Andy McKay announced today the Mariners Player Development Staff for the 2021 season.

In December, the Mariners extended invitations to the Tacoma Rainiers (AAA), Arkansas Travelers (AA), Everett AquaSox (High-A) and Modesto (A) to be Mariners affiliates in Major League Baseball’s new player development structure. MLB will announce all affiliates within the next few weeks.

“Our 2021 version of the Player Development staff is the best that we have had over the last six years,” McKay said. “The commitment that they have shown to continuing education, personal growth, and serving our players is exceptional. We have also added Franklin Gutierrez, Kristopher Negrón, Collin Cowgill and Eric Young Jr. to our on-field coaching staff. This gives us four more former Mariners who have played in our current process and are now excited to teach it to our current players.”

To support the minor league managers and coaches, the Mariners player development program has assembled a 9- person group of coordinators, led by 2nd-year Minor League Field Coordinator Tony Arnerich. Alvin Davis (11th season), Dan Wilson (8th season), and Mike Cameron (2nd full season) will each serve as a Special Assignment Coach. Connor Dawson enters his first season as Hitting Coordinator after spending last season as Hitting Strategist, while Cesar Nicolas will enter his 3rd season as Latin American Field Coordinator, Ari Ronick begins his first season as Coordinator of Pitching Strategy and Rehabilitation and Max Weiner remains Pitching Coordinator (third season).

Franklin Gutiérrez begins his first season in the Mariners organization as Special Assignment Coach. Gutiérrez has appeared in 954 Major League games with the Indians (2005-2008), Mariners (2009-2013, 2015-16), and Los Angeles-NL (2017). He combined to bat .257 (778x3032) with 394 runs scored, 150 doubles, 97 home runs and 361 RBI over 12 Major League seasons. In 7 seasons with the Mariners, Franklin combined to bat .257 (557x2169) with 74 home runs and 268 RBI. He was the 2010 American League Gold Glove® winner for center fielders and set an American League record with 846 consecutive errorless chances from Aug. 21, 2009-Sept. 11, 2012.

Triple-A – Kristopher Negrón enters his 1st season managing the Mainers Triple-A affiliate, after spending the 2020 season as Assistant Director of Player Development. Negrón is a six-year Major League veteran, playing most recently for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2019. For his career, Negrón played in 170 games over 6 seasons with Cincinnati (2012, 2014-15), Arizona (2017), Seattle (2018-19) and Los Angeles-NL (2019), batting .221 (83x375) with 14 doubles, 1 triple, 9 home runs, 32 RBI and a .627 OPS, while also recording a lifetime .986 fielding percentage (5 errors in 348 chances), playing every defensive position other than pitcher and catcher. Roy Howell (Hitting Coach) and Rob Marcello (Pitching Coach) will both return to the Triple-A coaching staff. Eric Young Jr. will make his coaching debut after recently wrapping up his professional career. In parts of 10 Major League seasons, he combined to bat .245 (422x1725) with 275 runs scored, 67 doubles, 22 triples, 13 home runs, 112 RBI and 162 stolen bases in 651 games with the Colorado (2009-13), New York-NL (2013-14, 2015), Atlanta (2015), New York-AL (2016) and Los Angeles-AL (2018). Young Jr. was the National League stolen base champion in 2013. He spent his final season with Triple-A Tacoma in 2019.

Double-A – Collin Cowgill will make his managerial debut, after wrapping up his professional career following the 2020 season. He was most recently was with the Mariners during the 2020 Spring Training. Cowgill spent 6 Major League seasons with Arizona (2011), Oakland (2012), New York-NL (2013), Los Angeles-AL (2013-15) and Cleveland (2016), batting .234 (161x689) with 83 runs scored, 22 doubles, 12 home runs, and 57 RBI in 317 career games. He was selected by Arizona in the 5th round following his senior season at the University of Kentucky. He made his Major League debut with the Diamondback on Aug. 28, 2011 at San Diego. Alon Leichman (Pitching Coach), Joe Thurston (Hitting Coach) will return to the Double-A coaching staff, while Ryan McLaughlin will begin his first season as a coach in the Mariners organization.

High-A – Louis Boyd begins his third season in the Mariners organization, his first full season as the manager for the Mariners High-A affiliate. During the 2020 was a coach during Summer Camp 2.0 and was on the staff at the alternate site in Tacoma. He was scheduled to manage Short-A Everett in 2020 prior to the cancellation of the minor league season. Boyd served as a player/coach for High-A Modesto at the beginning of the 2019 season and went 19-19 in Short-A Everett's final 38 games after taking over as manager on July 23. He was originally selected by the Mariners in the 24th round of the 2017 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Arizona (2016-17). The North Vancouver, British Columbia, native, spent two seasons in the Mariners minor league system, batting .240 (65x314) with 41 runs scored, 5 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs, 18 RBI, 28 walks and 3 stolen bases in 97 games spanning over four different levels in the organization. Sean McGrath (Pitching Coach), Shawn O’Malley (Hitting Coach) and Jose Umbria (Coach) will serve on Boyd’s coaching staff.

Single-A – Eric Farris, who was the hitting coach for West Virginia in 2019, will enter his first season at the helm of Seattle's Single-A affiliate. Farris, who coached in Everett in 2018, was a 4th round draft pick in 2007 by Milwaukee, and he spent parts of 9 seasons in the minor leagues, amassing a lifetime .281 (1020x3635) batting average with 35 home runs, 351 RBI and a .688 OPS. Farris, an outfielder, attended Loyola Marymount University where he was a semifinalist for USA Baseball’s Golden Spikes Award. He was drafted in 2004 out of high school by the Atlanta Braves in the 42nd round but did not sign. After spending the first 6 years of his career in Milwaukee’s organization, which included 14 games in 2011 and 2012 at the Major League level (1x9, 1 run scored), he was selected by Seattle in the Minor League phase of the Rule 5 Draft in 2012, but was traded to Minnesota on March 30, 2013, where he’d spend the next three years playing for their Triple-A affiliate Rochester. His staff will consist of Nathan Bannister as the pitching coach, Rob Benjamin as the hitting coach and Geoff Jimenez as coach. Jimenez begins his first season in the Mariners organization as a coach for the organization’s Single-A affiliate. Prior to joining the Mariners organization, spent the 2020 season with the Phillies player development staff. He spent the 2019 season working as the recruiting coordinator/assistant coach at Maryville University in St. Louis, Missouri. From 2017-2018 Jimenez was a graduate assistant coach at Missouri State University where he received his master's degree in Sports Administration.

Rookie Peoria – Austin Knight begins his first season as manager with the Mariners Rookie affiliate, the Arizona League Mariners. He led the Dominican Summer League Mariners squad to a 2nd place finish in the DSL Northeast Division in 2019. Yoel Monzon will return as pitching coach, Michael Fransoso will be team’s hitting coach, while Zac Livingston will serve as coach.

Dominican Academy – Manager Luis Caballero enters his 6th season in the Mariners organization, but his 1st as manager for the Dominican Summer League Mariners. He spent the previous four seasons as a coach for the DSL Mariners (2017-2020). After wrapping up his playing career, began his coaching career in 2016 with the Clinton LumberKings. Caballero’s staff includes pitching coach Jose Amancio, hitting coach Brett Schneider and coaches Juan Pimentel (1st year) and Guady Jabalera. Prior to joining the Mariners organization, Pimentel served as Pitching Coach and Recruiting Coordinator for the University of Delaware after joining the Blue Hens baseball coaching staff in July 2018.