Rockies Announce 2016 Minor League Staffs
January 22, 2016 - Pioneer League (PL)
Grand Junction Jackalopes News Release
DENVER - The Colorado Rockies announced their Minor League staff for the 2016 season today. The announcement includes a new High-A Supervisor of Development, a change in managers at two different levels and four new hitting coaches, three of which are to be determined.
Andy Gonzalez will be the new manager for Short-Season Boise. This will be the first managerial position for Gonzalez, who made his coaching debut in 2015 as the hitting coach for Boise. Gonzalez played professionally for 13 seasons, having been originally drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the fifth round of 2001 First-Year Player Draft. The Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico native played in parts of three seasons at the Major League level with Chicago-AL (2007), Cleveland (2008) and Florida (2009).
The new manager for Rookie-Level Grand Junction will be Frank Gonzales, who spent 2015 as the manager for Single-A Boise. This will be the fourth season in the Rockies organization for Gonzales, who served as the pitching coach at former Short-Season affiliate Tri-City in 2013 and 2014. Gonzalez, a native of La Junta, Colo., played professionally for eight years after being drafted out of Colorado State University by the Detroit Tigers in the 16th round of the 1989 First-Year Player Draft. Prior to being hired as a coach by the Rockies, he spent four years (2009-2012) as Head Baseball Coach at Fort Collins High School and seven years as the head coach of Colorado State's club baseball team. His son Marco Gonzales is currently a pitcher in the St. Louis Cardinals organization.
Anthony Sanders will begin his first season as the Supervisor of High-A Development after previously serving three seasons as the manager for Rookie-Level Grand Junction from 2013-15. He was named the Pioneer League Manager of the Year following the 2014 season after guiding the Rockies to a 43-33 overall record. Sanders began his career with the Rockies as the hitting coach at Short-Season Tri-City from 2007-12. The former Major League outfielder was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the seventh round of the 1992 First-Year Player Draft and played three seasons in the Major Leagues with Toronto (1999) and Seattle (2000-01).
Lee Stevens will begin his first season as the hitting coach for High-A Modesto, his fourth season overall in the Rockies organization. Stevens was previously the hitting coach for three seasons with Rookie-Level Grand Junction. The former first-round draft pick of the California Angels in 1986 played eight years in the Major Leagues with California (1990-92), Texas (1996-99), Montreal (2000-02) and Cleveland (2002) and has 17 total years in professional baseball.
GRAND JUNCTION ROCKIES 2016 FIELD STAFF
Supervisor - Tony Diaz
Manager - Frank Gonzales (Boise Manager)
Pitching Coach - Ryan Kibler
Hitting Coach - TBD
Medical Trainer - John Duff
• Discuss this story on the Pioneer League message board...
Pioneer League Stories from January 22, 2016
- Rockies Announce 2016 Minor League Staffs - Grand Junction Jackalopes
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
