Mendoza to manage Charleston
"Carlos is a very bright young man who was a leader as a player, and has displayed the same leadership skills as a manager," said Mark Newman, the Yankees' senior vice president for baseball operations. "We have great confidence that he will make an excellent manager for the RiverDogs."
Mendoza replaces Aaron Ledesma, who left baseball and has entered private business.
Carlos Mendoza
Mendoza joined the Yankees organization for the 2009 season a member of the Staten Island Yankees' coaching staff before joining the RiverDogs' workforce for the 2010 campaign. During 2011, he served as the manager of the Gulf Coast League Yankees.
He was signed by the San Francisco Giants as an amateur free agent in 1996. A native of Barquisimeto, Venezuela, the switch-hitter played parts of 13 seasons in the Minor Leagues, as well as in independent leagues. He made his MLB debut in 1997 with the New York Mets, and made it to the show again in 2000 with the Colorado Rockies. In all, he played in 28 games in the Majors before retiring and beginning his coaching career.
Mendoza will be the fourth RiverDogs manager in as many years, and follows Ledesma (2011), Mt. Pleasant resident Greg Colbrunn (2010), and Torre Tyson (2009), also a Mt. Pleasant resident.
Joining Mendoza on the RiverDogs' staff in 2012 will be several familiar faces.
Greg Colbrunn
The popular Colbrunn, a 13-year veteran of the big leagues, returns for his sixth year with the RiverDogs, his fifth as hitting coach.
A sixth-round pick by Montreal in the 1987 First-Year Player Draft, Colbrunn served as manager after spending three seasons as hitting coach. Although the team struggled through a 65-74 campaign -- the club's first losing season since 2002 -- Colbrunn instructed an offense led by infielder Rob Lyerly, who was named to the SAL's Postseason All-Star Team.
From 2007-09, and under Colbrunn's tutelage, the RiverDogs never finished worse than fourth in the SAL in team batting average, and featured several individual highlights. In 2007, third baseman Mitch Hilligoss sported a league-record 38-game hitting streak that lasted from April 17 to June 1.
Brian Baisley
A newcomer to the staff, but no stranger to RiverDogs fans, is former player Brian Baisley, who was a member of the club from 2007-09. He joins the staff as the first base coach.
"Brian is a promising young man, who is beginning his first full year as a coach," said Newman. "As a former RiverDog, Brian fully understands the ups and downs that young players face in the South Atlantic League. His experience in Charleston will be a great help to our young players."
Baisley joins Charleston after beginning his coaching career in 2011 as an assistant under Mendoza with the short-season Rookie-level GCL Yankees. As a player, he spent parts of three consecutive years in Charleston (2007-09) before retiring after the 2009 season. A Tampa, Fla., native, Baisley was a 24th-round pick by the Yankees in the June 2006 Draft. He played collegiately at the University of South Florida.
Danny Borell
Also new to the staff is pitching coach Danny Borell. The Yankees' former rehab pitching coordinator in Tampa spent last season as the pitching coach for the Staten Island Yankees. He is a native of Sanford, N.C., and was a second-team All-America southpaw out of Wake Forest University. Borell was a second-round pick in the 2000 First-Year Player Draft, and pitched for Staten Island.
Borell also pitched in the Oakland A's organization, reaching their Tiple-A affiliate in 2008.
Also joining the staff will be trainer Jorge Vargas, while Mike Kicia will return as the strength and conditioning coach.
The RiverDogs begin the 2012 campaign on Thursday, April 5, when the rival Rome Braves come to Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park to open a seven-game homestand.