News
Cards announce Minors assignments
Coaching staffs returning largely intact for 2010By Matthew Leach / MLB.com
11/04/09 5:46 PM EST
ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals announced nearly all of their Minor League coaches for the 2010 season on Wednesday, and while few of the names have changed, many of the assignments are new.Every affiliate but one will have a different pitching coach in 2010, but every one of those coaches was working somewhere in the organization in '09. Four managers are returning to their same posts, including Triple-A Memphis manager Chris Maloney, as are three hitting coaches and four athletic trainers.
Memphis' staff is representative. Maloney, hitting coach Mark Budaska and athletic trainer Chris Conroy all return to the 2009 Pacific Coast League champions. Derek Lilliquist, however, switches jobs with Blaise Ilsley. Lilliquist, who was the pitching coordinator at the Jupiter, Fla., complex, becomes the Memphis pitching coach. Ilsley goes from Memphis to take Lilliquist's spot in Jupiter.
Likewise, three-fourths of the staff at Double-A Springfield returns intact -- manager Ron "Pop" Warner, hitting coach Derrick May and athletic trainer Jay Pierson all come back. Dennis Martinez, who was the pitching coach at Class A Palm Beach, moves up to Springfield while Bryan Eversgerd goes from Springfield pitching coach to that same role at Palm Beach.
No manager has been named yet at Palm Beach.
In the lower Minors, Johnny Rodriguez moves up from short-season Batavia to manage low Class A Quad Cities and Dann Bilardello shifts from his role as Minor League catching coordinator to manage Batavia. Mike Shildt and Steve Turco return to manage the rookie-level Johnson City and Gulf Coast League affiliates, respectively.
Mark DeJohn, who was the Batavia manager, will now serve as a senior roving pitching instructor.
Matthew Leach is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
