Giants sticking with what works

SAN FRANCISCO -- The San Francisco Giants have finalized their Minor League coaching staff for the 2010 season.

Coming off one of the best overall seasons in organization history, San Francisco's Minor League affiliates put together another successful year in 2009 with its farm system producing the best record (463-305, .603) in all of organized baseball. The Giants organization also had five of their seven affiliates make the playoffs, including the California League-champion San Jose Giants, who won their third championship in the past five seasons, while the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes won their third title in the past four years and the DSL Giants were also crowned champions. The San Jose Giants also won Minor League baseball's top award, the John H. Johnson President's Trophy, which honors the most complete baseball franchise.

Most of the coaching staff remains unchanged from last season, including managers: David Machemer (Class A Augusta), Tom Trebelhorn (short-season Salem-Keizer) and Mike Goff (Rookie-level Arizona). Steve Decker, who managed Double-A Connecticut last season, will take over the helm at Fresno while Andy Skeels, who led San Jose to their second California League Championship in the past three campaigns, will be the skipper for the Giants' new Double-A affiliate in Richmond. Brian Harper, who was San Francisco's roving catching instructor the past two years, will make his managerial debut in the Giants organization at San Jose. New to the Minor League staff in 2010 are hitting coaches Ken Joyce (Triple-A Fresno) and Russ Morman (Double-A Richmond) and pitching coach Marcos Garcia (Rookie-level Arizona).

Joyce, 45, spent the past eight seasons in the Toronto Blue Jays system, last year as the Triple-A hitting coach for the 51s in Las Vegas, where he helped the team pace the Pacific Coast League with a .290 batting average. Born in Portland, Maine, Joyce began his coaching career in 1988 as an assistant baseball coach with the University of Southern Maine, his alma mater. He played in the NAIA College World Series and was elected to the school's Hall of Fame in 1998 while also being elected into the State of Maine Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001. Joyce began his professional coaching career in the Florida Marlins system from 1994-'99 before joining the Blue Jays in 2002.

Morman, 47, has spent the past two seasons as the hitting coach for the Pawtucket Red Sox after spending each of his previous four campaigns in the same capacity with the Portland Sea Dogs. The Blue Springs, Missouri native was named Manager of the Year in 2001 after leading the Kane County Cougars, the Marlins' Class A affiliate, to an 88-50 record, winning the Midwest League championship. Morman played 17 years of professional baseball, including parts of nine seasons at the Major League level with the White Sox (1986, 1988-'89), Royals (1990-'91) and Marlins (1994-'99). He was originally selected out of high school by the Royals in the seventh round of the 1981 January Draft, but instead attended Iowa Western Community College and later Wichita State University. He was selected by the White Sox in the first round (28th overall) of the 1983 June Draft.

Garcia, 40, returns to baseball after being out of the game the past four seasons. His most recent coaching experience came from 2000-'05, when he served as a Minor League pitching coach in the Seattle Mariners organization, where he supervised and trained the pitching staff for the Everett AquaSox and the Peoria Mariners. Garcia was an assistant on the Arizona Diamondbacks coaching staff in 1998, serving the ballclub as the right-handed throwing batting practice pitcher. He also worked in the organization as a roving pitching instructor in 1996 and as a pitching coach in Peoria in 1995. Garcia pitched in the Seattle organization from 1988-'92, but had his career cut short by an arm injury that occurred after his first recall to the Majors. He graduated from Rogers High School in Rhode Island in 1984, earning All-State honors as a shortstop, then attended the University of South Carolina-Aiken.

Roving instructors and medical staff for the upcoming season include: Shane Turner -- coordinator of instruction; Bert Bradley -- coordinator of Minor League pitching; Bob Mariano -- coordinator of Minor League hitting; Joe Amalfitano -- special assistant; Jim Davenport -- special assistant; Lee Smith -- roving pitching instructor; Jose Alguacil -- roving infield instructor; Henry Cotto -- roving baserunning and outfield instructor; Kirt Manwaring -- roving catching instructor; Jay Williams -- coordinator of Minor League trainers; Tony Reale -- organizational physical therapist; Geoff Head -- coordinator of Minor League strength and conditioning; Carl Kochan -- coordinator of Minor League strength and conditioning at Fresno; Abe Gonzalez -- coordinator of Minor League strength and conditioning at Richmond; Garrett Sherill -- coordinator of Minor League strength and conditioning at San Jose; Yousef Zamat -- coordinator of Minor League strength and conditioning at Augusta and Alfonso Javier Tousent -- coordinator of Minor League strength and conditioning at DSL Giants.