Casey Candaele set to manage Bisons in 2025, leads coaching staff for fifth straight season

BUFFALO, N.Y. - Bisons are thrilled to announce that long-time fan-favorite Casey Candaele will be returning to Buffalo to manage the Herd for a modern era record fifth straight season as the Toronto Blue Jays also announced the Bisons coaching staff in addition to Candaele.

He will be joined by pitching coach Drew Hayes and hitting coach Ryan Long who each served in those roles last season. Cesar Martin is slated to join the Bisons Triple-A coaching staff this season as bench coach, as well.

Also returning to the coaching staff are head athletic trainer Caleb Daniel, head strength and conditioning coach Taylor Whitley, nutritionist Yuka Sanui, and mental performance coach Rob DiBernardo.

The coaching staff also features several new members for the 2025 season. Trevor Cho has been appointed as the Bisons assistant hitting coach, with Chris Schaeffer serving as position coach, and Henry Leake bullpen coach. They are joined by assistant trainer Jason Schwartzman and assistant strength and conditioning coach Zach Kollar.

Candaele has amassed 266 victories in three and a half seasons as Bisons manager, second only to Buffalo Baseball Hall of Famer Marty Brown (312). Candaele also served as the Blue Jays interim bench coach in July 2022, a season after being named the Triple-A East Co-Manager of the Year. He has won 365 games as a manager within the Blue Jays organization dating back to 2018 with the Dunedin Blue Jays, while also serving as the Minor League Field Coordinator for Toronto during that time. The Bisons 79 victories in 2021 under Candaele are the most for the franchise in a single season since 2005 (82).

He also became the first person in the team’s modern era to win a division championship as both a player and manager, thanks to the Bisons 2021 Triple-A East Northeast Division championship. Candaele also played parts of three seasons with the Herd, including the team that won both the 1997 American Association East Division crown as well as the league championship.

Hayes returns for his second season as pitching coach, and his fifth in the Blue Jays organization. Last season the Bisons recorded the most shutouts, 12, of any pitching staff among all 30 Triple-A ball clubs. The group also featured the first pitcher in the team’s modern era to start a season with 10 straight winning decisions. Luis Quinones finished the 2024 campaign with a perfect 11-0 record for the Herd. Hayes began his tenure in the Blue Jays organization by spending a pair of seasons with Dunedin from 2021 and 2022.

The former Vanderbilt University standout also spent two years with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (AA) before being promoted to Buffalo before last year.

Long also returns following a season in which Bisons’ hitters ranked fourth in the International League in on-base percentage, .354, and walks, 672. The former Kansas City Royals draft pick joined the Blue Jays organization in 2024 after a four-year stint with the Lotte Giants of the KBO. He had previously served as hitting coach for the Indianapolis Indians from 2018 and 2019, in addition to serving as a Minor League hitting coach in the Royals and Chicago White Sox organizations.

Martin spent the last four years managing the Fisher Cats in the Eastern League. He has managed at all levels of the minors for the Blue Jays, spending two seasons leading the Lansing Lugnuts (Full-A), prior to the 2019 season with Dunedin where he would be maned the Florida State League Manager of the Year.

He has also represented the Blue Jays organization at the Arizona Fall League, managing the Scottsdale Scorpions in 2019.

Daniel has served as the Bisons athletic trainer for the four previous seasons, joining Candaele for the fifth straight year. He was selected to the Arizona Fall League in 2021, the same year he was named the Triple-A East Athletic Trainer of the Year.

Whitley returns to the Bisons for the third straight season, serving as a strength and conditioning coach for the team since 2023. Sanui was promoted to the Herd last season after spending the 2023 campaign with the Vancouver Canadians.