Marlins announce Minor League staffs

MIAMI -- For a franchise with modest financial resources like the Marlins, Minor League development takes on added importance.

The Marlins on Thursday announced their Minor League staffs, and many of the familiar faces of the past few seasons are returning.

The organizational coordinators are: John Pierson (field), Wayne Rosenthal (pitching), John Mallee (hitting), Ed Romero (infield), Tarrik Brock (outfield and baserunnig), Tim Cossins (catching), Gene Basham (rehab and training), and Mark West (strength and conditioning).

One notable switch is that Luis Dorante, who managed Double-A Carolina in 2006, again will be managing Class A Advanced Jupiter. In 2005, Dorante was the Marlins bullpen coach. He previously managed Jupiter from 2002-04 and made the playoffs twice.

Reid Cornelius will be Jupiter's pitching coach and Josue Espada will be the hitting coach, while Josh Seligman is the trainer.

The Hammerheads of the Florida State League will be heavily monitored by the Marlins front office because a number of their strong pitching prospects are expected to open the season in Jupiter.

Chris Volstad, Aaron Thompson, Ryan Tucker and Sean West were either first-round picks or first-round sandwich picks in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft. They each were standouts in low Class A Greensboro in 2006.

According to some league and team evaluators, these four have a chance to be as good or better than the four rookies who won 10 or more games for the Marlins this past season: Josh Johnson, Scott Olsen, Anibal Sanchez and Ricky Nolasco.

Brandon Hyde replaces Dorante as the Double-A Carolina manager. Scott Mitchell is the pitching coach, while Paul Sanagorski will handle the hitting and Ben Heimos is the trainer.

Dean Treanor returns as the manager of Triple-A Albuquerque. The Isotopes' on-field staff will be Richard Gale (pitching), Steven Phillips (hitting) and Steven Miller (trainer).

Edwin Rodriguez will manage the Greensboro Grasshoppers with pitching coach John Duffy, hitting coach Anthony Iapoce and trainer James Stone.

The short-season Jamestown Jammers of the New York-Penn League will be managed by Darin Everson. The rest of the staff features Charlie Corbell Jr. (pitching), Johnny Rodriguez (hitting) and Cesar Roman (trainer).

Florida's Gulf Coast League affiliate will feature Cossins as manager. Cossins will handle managing the GCL Marlins along with serving as the organizations catching coordinator. Gary Buckels will coach the pitchers. Jorge Hernandez will oversee the hitters, and Julio Hernandez is the trainer.