Miley returns for 5th season as manager
Dave Miley, who led the Yankees to the 2008 Governors' Cup championship as well as four consecutive playoff appearances, returns as manager along with hitting coach Butch Wynegar, pitching coach Scott Aldred, athletic trainer Darren London and strength and conditioning coach Lee Tressel.
The newcomer to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre staff is coach Frank Menechino who replaces Aaron Ledesma in the position he held for the last two seasons.
Miley, who won his 1,500th career minor league game in the 2010 season, enters his sixth season guiding the Yankees' Triple-A club, the first with the Columbus Clippers (2006) and the previous four with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Prior to joining the Yankees, Miley spent 26 seasons in the Cincinnati Reds' organization, including three seasons (2003-2005) as the big league manager in Cincinnati.
"As a group Dave and his staff have done a really great job negotiating their way through the ups and downs of a season with roster moves and all of the other things that you run into," said New York Yankees Senior VP of Baseball Operations Mark Newman. "They are all great coaches and great teachers who understand our system and our organization's philosophies."
Under Miley's guidance, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has posted the best record (340-231) in the International League over the past four seasons, winning four consecutive North Division titles including winning the Governors' Cup as league champions in 2008 and an appearance in the Governors' Cup finals in 2009. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre posted an 87-56 record in 2010, losing in the opening round of the Governors' Cup Playoffs to eventual IL Champion Columbus.
As a franchise, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has won the North five straight seasons, an accomplishment unmatched by any team in IL history. With Miley at the helm, the Yankees have had the IL's best record in 2007 and 2008, had the third best record in the 14 team league in 2009 and finished with the second best mark in 2010. Louisville is the closest team record wise to SWB in the IL since 2007 and is 16.0 games behind the Yankees over that stretch.
"Coming back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 2011 is going to be great," said Miley. "We're looking to get back to the championship round in the Governors' Cup Playoffs and see if we can bring another championship home. Having Butch (Wynegar) and Scott (Aldred) back again makes my job so much easier and I'm looking forward to working with Frank Menechino this season. He did a great job as Trenton's hitting coach the last two years."
2011 will be Miley's 11th season in the International League, where he has posted a record of 853-685 (.554). In five seasons as skipper of the Yankees top farm club, Miley's record is 409-304 (.574). Miley also spent six seasons in the IL from 1998 through 2003 with Indianapolis and Louisville. In four seasons at Louisville, he went 296-245 (.547) and in 2001 he guided Louisville to its first Governors' Cup Championship over the former Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons.
In his minor league managerial career which spans 18 seasons, Miley has an overall record of 1,524-1145 (.571) with an impressive 17 winning seasons. As a player, he was signed by the Reds in 1980 and spent seven seasons as a minor league catcher batting .238 with 16 HR and 172 RBI.
HITTING COACH - BUTCH WYNEGAR
2011 marks the fifth season at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for Wynegar. Prior to joining Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, he spent four seasons as hitting coach for the Milwaukee Brewers. With the Milwaukee Brewers, his pupils put up some impressive numbers. In 2003 the Brewers' offense was 3rd in the National League with 194 home runs and in 2005 they tied a NL record with 571 extra-base hits. Prior to joining the Brewers, he was a manager in the Texas Rangers system from 1995-1997 and the Minor League Roving Hitting Instructor from 1998-2002.
As a player, the two-time American League All-Star played 13 seasons in the Majors with the Twins, Yankees and Angels in 1,301 major league games compiling a .255 average with 65 HR and 506 RBI. In 1976 he was named The Sporting News American League Rookie of the Year and became the youngest player at the time to appear in an All-Star Game (20 years, 212 days). While with the Yankees he caught Dave Righetti's no-hitter on July 4, 1983 and Phil Niekro's 300th victory October 1, 1985.
PITCHING COACH - SCOTT ALDRED
Aldred returns to Scranton for his third year at the Triple-A level and his sixth year as a coach in the Yankees minor league system. In 2010, the Yankees finished third in the International League in ERA (3.78) and led the league in saves with 58. His Trenton Thunder pitching staff's led the Double-A Eastern League in ERA in both 2007 and 2008 on route to back-to-back Eastern League titles. In his debut season as a coach in 2006, he guided the Single-A Charleston pitching staff to the second-best ERA in the South Atlantic League (3.20).
Originally drafted and signed by the Detroit Tigers in 1987, he made his Major League debut with the Tigers in 1990. Aldred appeared in 229 games over an 11-year Major League career, posting a 20-39 record with a 6.02 ERA with six different teams (Detroit, 1990-92, '96; Colorado, 1993; Montreal, 1993; Minnesota, 1996-97; Tampa Bay, 1998-99; Philadelphia, 1999-2000).
COACH - FRANK MENECHINO
Menechino will be in his first season with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and his third in professional coaching after serving as hitting coach for the Double-A Trenton Thunder in 2009 and 2010. Originally a 45th round selection by the Chicago White Sox in the 1993 First Year Player Draft out of the University of Alabama, he played in 450 Major League games in parts of seven seasons with Oakland (1999-2004) and Toronto (2004-2005), batting .240 with 58 doubles, 36 home runs and 149 RBI's.
The infielder also spent time in the Cincinnati (2006), NY Yankees (2006), Colorado (2007) and San Diego (2007) organizations. He played for team Italy in the 2006 World Baseball Classic and played in the Italian Baseball League in 2008.
ATHLETIC TRAINER - DARREN LONDON
London will be entering his 19th season as the Yankees' Triple-A Athletic Trainer and 23rd in the Yankees' organization. He began his career in 1989 working at Single-A Prince William his first two seasons. He was promoted to Single-A Ft. Lauderdale in 1991 and Double-A Albany in 1992. He joined the Columbus Clippers in 1993 and during his stint in Columbus was named the 2006 "International League Athletic Trainer of the Year," by the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society (PBATS). He is a graduate of the University of Maine-Orono where he earned a BS in physical education with a coaching minor.
STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING COACH - LEE TRESSEL
Tressel returns to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as strength and conditioning coach for his third season with the Triple-A club and his seventh year in the Yankees organization. He spent the 2008 season in a similar position with the Yankees Double-A affiliate in Trenton, New Jersey. Prior to working in Trenton, Tressel served as the strength and conditioning coordinator at the Yankees minor league complex in Tampa, Florida. He also served for three seasons (2004-06) as an assistant in the Yankees' baseball operations department under General Manager Brian Cashman. Tressel graduated from Baldwin Wallace College in Berea, Ohio in 2003 with a degree in sports management and business.