2020 Coaching Staff Released

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 2020 season, which includes a promotion to Minor League Field Coordinator for Tony Arnerich. 
 

To support the minor league managers and coaches, the Mariners player development program has assembled an 8person group of coordinators, led by 1st-year Minor League Field Coordinator Tony Arnerich (see below). Alvin Davis (10th season), Pete Harnisch (5th season), Dan Wilson (7th season) and Mike Cameron (1st full season) will each serve as a Special Assistant. Hugh Quattlebaum returns as Hitting Coordinator, Cesar Nicolas will enter his 2nd season as Latin American Field Coordinator, while Max Weiner remains Pitching Coordinator. 

Arnerich, 40, has been promoted to Minor League Field Coordinator after spending 2019 as the Assistant Hitting and Catching Coordinator. The 2020 season marks the 4th year for Arnerich in the Mariners organization. Arnerich launched his coaching career after retiring as a player after the 2005 season. He spent 7 years (2007-14) as an assistant coach at UC Berkeley and helped lead the Golden Bears to the 2011 College World Series. Arnerich also served as a part-time assistant coach in 2007 at Sonoma State, where he earned a degree in sociology in June of 2008.  

As a player, Arnerich attended Santa Rosa Junior College where he was a two-time, first-team all-league selection and a 2000 first-team Junior College All-American, helping guide his team to the 1999 California Junior College World Series. He then earned a scholarship to Texas Tech, where he was second-team All-Big 12 in 2001, leading the Red Raiders to an NCAA Regional berth. Arnerich signed with the Kansas City Royals after his 2001 summer season and then played in the Marlins organization from May 2004 through June 2005. 
 
"Tony Arnerich will do a fantastic job as our new Field Coordinator," said McKay. "He is a well-rounded leader who has earned the respect of those in Player Development as well as our other Baseball Operations departments. He has been a steady voice of advocacy for our initiatives and his relationship with (Major League Field Coordinator) Carson Vitale will be critical in creating seamless transitions for our players between our major league and minor league groups. 

"The rest of this year's PD staff is a diverse group of people who have very different backgrounds and skill sets. They are excited for the challenge of helping every one of our players get better and chase their dreams." 

Triple-A Tacoma - Daren Brown enters his 9th season managing Triple-A Tacoma, his second consecutive after serving previously from 2007-13. The Rainiers finished 4th in the Pacific Coast League in 2019 with a 61-78 record, 11.5 games behind the division winners Sacramento. Brown had previously led Arkansas to the postseason in 2018 and was named Southern League Manager of the Year in 2016 after leading the Jackson Generals to a Southern League title. Brown enters his 23rd season in the Mariners organization and has compiled a 1292-1186 record (.521) over 21 seasons as a manager in the minor leagues. Brown spent 2016-18 with Double-A Arkansas. Brown now ranks as the winningest manager in Tacoma franchise history with 494 wins. His record (494-508/.493) over 1,002 games was accumulated in parts or all of the 2007-13 and 2019 seasons, with a 50-game stint as Seattle's interim Manager in 2010. Roy Howell will return for his second season as the Rainiers hitting coach after spending the previous 5 seasons as part of the Double-A staff. Rob Marcello will join the Rainiers as their pitching coach after spending last year with High-A Modesto in the same role, his first with the Mariners organization. 

Double-A Arkansas - Dave Berg continues his journey through the Mariners minor league system, taking over as Arkansas Manager from West Virginia, where he spent 2019 in the same role. Berg previously acted as Tacoma's hitting coach in 2018 and has been with the Mariners organization since 2016 after spending 7 seasons as part of the Miami Marlins Player Development staff. He was selected by the Marlins in the 38th round of the 1993 MLB June Draft out of the University of Miami. Over parts of 7 seasons, Berg hit .269 (430x1600) in 582 career games with the Marlins (1998-2001) and Blue Jays (2002-04). He is bringing 2019 West Virginia Pitching Coach Alon Leichman with him to Arkansas and will have Joe Thurston act as his Hitting Coach. Thurston held the same position with Short-A Everett in 2019. 
 
High-A Modesto - Denny Hocking enters his 4th season in the Mariners minor league system, including his second as the manager of the Mariners High-A affiliate, the Modesto Nuts. He managed the Clinton LumberKings in 2018 after spending the 2017 season as the Rainiers hitting coach. The 13-year Major League veteran compiled a .251 (591x2358) career average with 25 home runs and 226 RBI in 954 games with Minnesota (1993-2003), Colorado (2004) and Kansas City (2005). Sean McGrath joins the Seattle Mariners organization after spending two seasons at Elon (NC) University (2018-19) as their pitching coach, which included helping set a program record with 575 strikeouts in 2018. In 2019, the Mariners drafted two of McGrath's arms in RHP George Kirby (1st round, 20th overall) and RHP Ty Adcock (8th round, 236th overall), while the Los Angeles Angels also selected RHP Kyle Brnovich five selections prior to Adcock. Prior to joining Elon, McGrath coached two seasons at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. Handling the Hitting Coach duties will be former Seattle Mariner Shawn O'Malley. O'Malley, 32, spent parts of 3 seasons at the Major League level, including 1 with Los Angeles-AL (2014) and 2 with Seattle (2015-16). In 124 games, O'Malley hit .231 (62x268) with 15 extra-base hits, 25 RBI, 11 stolen bases and 37 runs scored. He most recently played in 83 games with the independent league Kansas City T-Bones in 2019 and spent 2018 with Triple-A Albuquerque in the Colorado Rockies organization. 
 
Single-A West Virginia - Eric Farris, who was the hitting coach for West Virginia in 2019, will enter his first season at the helm of Seattle's affiliate in the South Atlantic League, the West Virginia Power. 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 and Rob Benjamin as the hitting coach. Bannister will be making his coaching debut after spending 2017-18 in Seattle's Minor League system as a right-handed pitcher. Bannister was a 28th round selection in 2016 by the Mariners out of the University of Arizona. Benjamin joins West Virginia after spending 2019 as the DSL Mariners Hitting Coach. 

Short A Everett - Louis Boyd will begin his first full season as Everett's manager after taking over on July 23, 2019. Boyd had been serving as a player/coach for the Modesto Nuts in 2019 prior to being named Everett's manager. 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. He will be joined by Ari Ronick (2nd season as Everett Pitching Coach) and Michael Fransoso (1st year as Everett Hitting Coach). Fransoso joins the Mariners as a first-year coach, having spent parts of 3 seasons in the minors with Pittsburgh, compiling a career .238 (159x667) average. In 2019, Fransoso played in 51 games with the independent league Somerset (NJ) Patriots. 

Rookie Peoria - Zac Livingston returns for his 5th season as manager with the Mariners Rookie affiliate, the Arizona League Mariners. Livingston managed the AZL Mariners to back-to-back postseason appearances in 2015 and 2016, including winning the Arizona League Championship in 2016. Prior to joining the Seattle organization, he spent four seasons as a minor league catcher in the Angels organization (2012-15) after being selected by Los Angeles in the 34th round of the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Arizona Christian University. Yoel Monzon will continue to serve as pitching coach, while Jose Umbria enters his first season with the organization as the team's hitting coach after spending 2019 in the same role in Modesto.  

Dominican Academy - Manager Austin Knight enters his 4th season in the Mariners organization, but his 2nd as manager for the Dominican Summer League Mariners. He led the DSL squad to a 2nd place finish in the DSL Northeast Division in 2019. His staff includes pitching coach Jose Amancio, hitting coach Brett Schneider (1st year) and coaches Luis Caballero and Guady Jabalera (1st year). Luis Matias enters his 3rd season as Assistant of Baseball Operations (DR).  
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