Yankees Announce 2024 Coaching Staff For Somerset
Bridgewater, New Jersey – The New York Yankees have named their 2024 coaching staff for their Double-A affiliated Somerset Patriots.
Bridgewater, New Jersey – The New York Yankees have named their 2024 coaching staff for their Double-A affiliated Somerset Patriots.
Welcome back! Raul Dominguez will return to Somerset in 2024 for his second season as manager for the Patriots.🎉
— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) January 26, 2024
Dominguez led Somerset to a Double-A best 84-53 record in 2023, while leading all MiLB clubs with a +211 run differential. pic.twitter.com/uviTps4K0G
Raul Dominguez will return for his second season as manager of the Patriots and 18th overall in the Yankees organization. In 2023, Dominguez led Somerset to a Double-A best record of 84-53 with an MiLB best +211 run differential. The team also led all of Double-A in home runs (197), stolen bases (256), as well as topped the Eastern League in RBI (693), R (749), OBP (.346), SLG (.430), OPS (.776) and walks (BB). The pitching staff was the best in Double-A with a 3.56 ERA and 3.27 bullpen ERA, while leading the Eastern League with 1,397 strikeouts.
“I am happy and excited for the opportunity that the Yankees organization has given me to return as manager in Somerset,” said Dominguez. “It will be another year of a lot of development, competition, and joy with the fans. After having had a great experience in my first year as a full-season manager, Somerset was like my second home due to its facilities, community, people, and fans. This year will be very positive regarding player development since, knowing the facilities that Somerset offers us, I will have better preparation and an idea of how to lead our staff and players during the season.”
He spent the two seasons before Somerset (2021-2022) as a defensive coach for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He was assigned to the same post for 2020 before the minor league season was canceled due to COVID-19.
Dominguez previously served as the defensive coach for Trenton (2018-2019) and Tampa (2017). The Panama City, Panama native has prior managerial experience with the GCL Yankees East (2016), DSL Yankees 1 (2011-2015) and DSL Yankees 2 (2009-2010). From 2012-2015, his teams finished at least 10 games over .500, including reaching the DSL semifinals in 2012 and 2015. His managerial career record is 392-293 (.572 winning percentage).
An outfielder during his playing days, Dominguez signed with the Yankees as a non-drafted free agent in 2001 and played four minor league seasons for New York. He then began his coaching career in 2008 with the DSL Yankees 2, after spending 2007 as the Yankees’ tryout scout in the Dominican Republic.
Pitching coach Brett DeGagne begins his first season with Somerset and fourth year in the Yankees organization. DeGagne was previously the pitching coach for the FCL Yankees in 2022 and 2023. Last season, his staff led the Florida Complex League in strikeouts (587) and finished fourth in ERA (4.47).
He was hired to be the DSL Yankees pitching coach in 2020 before the cancellation of the minor league season. He played collegiate ball at the University of North Dakota (2012-2016) and began his coaching career during graduate school at St. Cloud University for the 2017 and 2018 seasons. He also coached for the Bismarck Larks and North Iowa Area Community College.
Hitting coach Kevin Martir begins his first season in Somerset and fourth with the Yankees after serving in the same position with the High-A Hudson Valley Renegades last season.
Martir was previously the hitting coach for Single-A Tampa for two seasons (2021-22).
He joined the Yankees organization in 2020 after spending 2019 as a coach for the GCL Phillies East. He was a star catcher at the University of Maryland (2013-15) where he was a semi-finalist for the Johnny Bench Award given annually to the nation’s top collegiate catcher (2015). He was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 18th round of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft and spent two years in the Astros organization before moving on to the Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies organizations.
Defensive coach Aaron Bossi is back for his third season in Somerset. He helped lead the Patriots to the Double-A best 256 stolen bases and a .980 fielding percentage, good for third in the Eastern League and fourth in all of Double-A. T.J. Rumfield earned the 2023 MiLB Gold Glove Award honor for first base under Bossi’s tutelage.
Bossi made his coaching debut as Hudson Valley’s defensive coach in 2021. Prior to his coaching experience with the Yankees, he spent 2017-2019 assisting rehabbing players at the organization’s minor league complex in Tampa. The St. Louis, Missouri native was signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Yankees on June 24, 2016 as a catcher/infielder. He played in 22 games for the GCL Yankees East in 2016.
Athletic Trainer Brandon RodrĂguez returns to the Patriots after joining the team in the second half of 2023 from Hudson Valley. This will be his third season as an Athletic Trainer in the Yankees organization. He also held the position for Single-A Tampa and the Mesa Solar Sox of the Arizona Fall League in 2022.
Strength & Conditioning Coach Isiah McDonald enters his first season with Somerset and third in the Yankees organization. He spent the 2023 season as the Strength & Conditioning Coach for Hudson Valley and served in the same role for the FCL Yankees in 2022 where he was named the Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year during his first year in professional baseball.
Rounding out the staff include Assistant Athletic Trainer Maegan Manrow, Video Assistant Carlos Cespedes and Advance Scouting Analyst Matt Wells entering their first seasons with Somerset. Clubhouse Manager Corey Saccone returns for his second season with the Patriots.
About the Somerset Patriots
The Somerset Patriots are the New York Yankees Double-A Affiliate and develop today’s top minor league talent into the pinstriped superstars of tomorrow for MLB’s winningest team. The Patriots 2024 season is presented by New Jersey Office Systems, LLC. Home games are played at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, NJ, where fans of all ages and levels of baseball fandom get to enjoy the unique experience that is minor league baseball. To learn more, visit: somersetpatriots.com.