Stockton Ports Announce 2025 Coaching Staff

Stockton, Calif. - In conjunction with the Athletics, the Stockton Ports are thrilled to announce the field staff for the 2025 season.

Manager - Javier Godard

Javier Godard will enter his second season at the helm as manager of Stockton. Prior to that, he spent the 2023 season as hitting coach for Midland and two seasons in the same role with Lansing.

He began his professional coaching career as a member of the Stockton staff in 2019 and was named hitting coach for Beloit in 2020, prior to the cancellation of the minor league season.

Originally signed as an international free agent on Jan. 30, 2013, by the A’s, Godard went on to play six seasons of affiliated baseball with the club. He played three years in the Dominican Summer League before coming to the United States in 2016. His best season came in 2015 when he batted .277 with 16 doubles and 22 RBI in 59 games for the DSL A’s.

Godard was born in Baruta, Venezuela.

Pitching Coach - Jim Gott

Jim Gott joins the Ports as pitching coach after serving in the same role for the Arizona A’s in 2024 and the DSL A’s in 2023.

Gott was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the fourth round of the 1977 MLB Draft and made his MLB debut on April 9, 1982, with the Toronto Blue Jays. Over his 14-year playing career, he also pitched for the San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Los Angeles Dodgers, compiling a win–loss record of 56–74, an earned run average of 3.87, and 91 saves.

He served as the bullpen coach for the Philadelphia Phillies from 2018 through 2020.

Hitting Coach - Ron Witmeyer

Ron Witmeyer joins Stockton as the hitting coach once again in his second season. Originally drafted by the A’s in the seventh round of the 1988 First-Year Player Draft, he has coached at every level of baseball since the end of his five-year playing career, including multiple stops at the collegiate level.

His coaching career began at Stanford University, his alma mater, in 1994, followed by stints as head coach at City College of San Francisco and as an assistant coach at California. In 2007, Witmeyer opened the first of two Frozen Ropes San Diego Baseball and Softball Training Centers, and from 2015-20, he was also the head coach at the Bishop’s School in La Jolla, where he coached his sons Clay—a recent Washington University Business School graduate— and Tommy—currently a sophomore in the business school at Santa Clara University—throughout their high school baseball careers.

In 2021, Witmeyer was the manager of the independent Martinez Sturgeon, and most recently, he served as head coach at Marymount California University for the 2021-22 season.

Witmeyer’s college career was highlighted by back-to-back College World Series Championships at Stanford in 1987-88. After being drafted by the A’s, he made his Major League debut in 1991. He resides in San Diego, Calif.

Assistant Hitting Coach - Luis Baez

Luis Baez will be back for his second season as the Assistant Hitting Coach. He began his coaching career with the A’s in 2018 as an infield coach in the Dominican Republic.

Originally signed by the A’s in 2009, Baez played professionally at several levels of the organization, batting .234 with 17 home runs and 113 RBI over a seven-year professional career. He is originally from Bani, Dominican Republic.

Athletic Trainer - Audyanna Merrick

Audyanna Merrick continues in her second season as head athletic trainer for the Ports in her fourth year with the A’s organization. Her previous three seasons were spent with the Arizona A’s, serving as athletic trainer in 2023 after spending 2021-22 as assistant athletic trainer. Prior to that, she was an assistant athletic trainer for Grand Canyon University for the baseball and men’s volleyball teams.

Sports Performance Coach – Haley Marquadt

Rounding out the Stockton staff, Haley Marquardt takes on the role of sport performance coach after serving in the same role with the Arizona A’s (2024) and the team’s Dominican Summer League affiliate (2023).