Rays announce minor league coaching staff changes for 2018

The Tampa Bay Rays have announced the coaching staff for all of their minor league teams throughout the organizations with several notable newcomers joining the ranks in 2018.

Former Rays infielder, Jared Sandberg returns to manage the Durham Bulls for his fourth year at the helm of the storied minor league franchise. The rest of his staff will look slightly different, as pitching coach Kyle Snyder jumped to the majors. He will be replaced by former Detroit Tigers pitching coach, Rick Knapp.

Knapp filled that role with Detroit from 2008 to 2011, before moving on to be a minor league pitching coordinator for the Kansas City Royals and Los Angles Dodgers from 2012 to 2016. This past year, he worked for Major League Baseball as an international pitching coordinator.

Meanwhile, the other vacancy on the Durham Bulls coaching staff is the position of the hitting coach, opened up by the promotion of Ozzie Timmons to the majors as the Rays new first base coach.

That spot has been filled by Dan Dement, who has spent the past nine years coaching within the Rays system. He spent the past two years in Double-A with the Montgomery Biscuits as their hitting coach.

See below for a complete staff list for all Rays minor league affiliates.

RAYS MINOR LEAGUE COORDINATORS

Field Coordinators: Jim Hoff, Bill Evers, Michael Johns

Pitching Coordinators: Dick Bosman, Dewey Robinson, Jorge Moncada, Charlie Haeger

Hitting Coordinator: Steve Livesey, Steve Henderson

Catching Coordinator: Paul Hoover

Infield Coordinator: Hector Torres

Outfield/Baserunning Coordinator: Skeeter Barnes

Medical Training Coordinator: Aaron Scott

Rehabilitation Coordinator: Joel Smith

Latin America Medical Coordinator: Chris Tomashoff

Latin American Cultural Coordinator: Jairo De La Rosa

Florida Education Coordinator: Lenore Sutton

Strength and Conditioning Coordinator: Patrick Trainor

Mental Skills: Lance Green, & James Schwabach

Equipment Manager: Tim McKechney

Assistant Equipment Manager: Shane Rossetti

DURHAM (AAA - INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE)

Manager: Jared Sandberg

Pitching Coach: Rick Knapp

Coach: Dan Dement

Coach: Ben Johnson

Athletic Trainer: Scott Thurston

Conditioning Coach: Bryan King

MONTGOMERY (AA - SOUTHERN LEAGUE)

Manager: Brady Williams

Pitching Coach: RC Lichtenstein

Coach: Jamie Nelson

Coach: Gary Redus

Athletic Trainer: Kris Russell

Conditioning Coach: Carlos Gonzalez

CHARLOTTE (A - FLORIDA STATE LEAGUE)

Manager: Jim Morrison

Pitching Coach: Steve Watson

Coach: Joe Szekely

Coach: German Melendez

Athletic Trainer: James Ramsdell

Conditioning Coach: Paul Jones

BOWLING GREEN (A - MIDWEST LEAGUE)

Manager: Reinaldo Ruiz

Pitching Coach: Brian Reith

Coach: Manny Castillo

Coach: Jeremy Owens

Athletic Trainer: Brian Newman

Conditioning Coach: James McCallie

HUDSON VALLEY (A - NEW YORK-PENN LEAGUE)

Manager: Craig Albernaz

Pitching Coach: Jose Gonzalez

Coach: Alejandro Freire

Coach: Rafael Valenzuela

Athletic Trainer: Tsutomu Kamiya

Conditioning Coach: Dan Rousseau

PRINCETON (R - APPALACHIAN LEAGUE)

Manager: Danny Sheaffer

Pitching Coach: Jim Paduch

Coach: Wuarnner Rincones

Coach: Blake Butera

Athletic Trainer: Ruben Santiago

GCL RAYS (R - GULF COAST LEAGUE)

Manager: Tomas Francisco

Pitching Coach: Marty DeMerritt

Pitching Coach: Alberto Bastardo

Coach: Rafael Guerrero

Coach: Sean Smedley

Athletic Trainer: Shinichiro Fukuda

Athletic Trainer: Peter Walukiewicz

Conditioning Coach: Justin Weis