Leo: Former Clippers highlight Tribe minors staff

The Cleveland Indians announced the minor league staff for the 2012 season and there are plenty of familiar faces:

Edwin Rodriguez, 51, joins the Indians organization and will manage Class-A Advanced Carolina. Rodriguez played in Columbus during the 1983 season as a Yankees farm hand. He batted .249 with 2 HR and 54 RBI over 112 games. Rodriguez is best known for his tenure as the Florida Marlins manager from June 23, 2010 to June 18, 2011. He compiled a 78-85 record. He’s no stranger to the Carolina Mudcats, serving as their hitting coach in 2004 while an affiliate of Florida.

David Wallace will manage Class-A Lake County after serving as the skipper for Mahoning Valley last year. Wallace finished his seven year minor league career with the Clippers in 2008. Columbus was the Washington Nationals Triple-A club and Wallace appeared in 43 games. Despite busting my laptop with a foul ball into the broadcast booth, I consider Wallace one of my favorite Clippers. He’s smart, personable, and I believe has a bright coaching career ahead. Obviously, the Indians front office agrees.

Scott Erickson begins his coaching career in the Indians organization as the pitching coach at Carolina. Erickson was 142-136 in the majors with a 4.59 ERA in 389 games (15 seasons). He pitched for six teams from 1990-2006.  He pitching in Columbus during his final season, posting a 1-2 record with a 4.24 ERA in 12 games in the Yankees system. He was an American League All-Star and World Champion with the Minnesota Twins in 1991. Erickson led the league in wins (20) and finished second to Roger Clemens in the AL Cy Young voting that year.

Travis Fryman remains in the role of minor league Infield Coordinator, so expect to see him at Huntington Park several times during the 2012 campaign. Fyrman, a five-time all-star during his playing career, served as the Mahoning Valley manager from 2008 to 2010, but transitioned into the hitting coordinator role before last season.

Rob Leary will be the minor league field coordinator, joining the organization after spending the last two seasons as a Major League Staff Assistant for the Boston Red Sox. He was Boston’s Field Coordinator from 2003 to 2009 and worked in the Florida Marlins player development system from 1995 to 2001.

Mickey Callaway wil be the new pitching coordinator after coaching with Lake County (2010) and Kinston (2011). He pitched parts of five seasons in the bigs with the Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers and Anaheim Angels from 1999 to 2004.

Alan Zinter takes over the role of hitting coordinator. He was a hitting coach at various levels in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization over the last four seasons, last year with Double-A Mobile in the Southern League.

Here is the complete listing of Indians 2012 minor league staff:

Field Coordinator: Rob Leary*
Pitching Coordinator: Mickey Callaway*
Hitting Coordinator: Alan Zinter*
Infield Coordinator: Travis Fryman
Rehab Coordinator: James Quinlan
Strength & Conditioning: Jake Beiting
Latin America Strength & Conditioning: Nelson Perez
Mental Skills Coordinator: Julio Rangel
Cultural Development Coordinator: Lino Diaz
Advisor: Johnny Goryl
Advisor: Minnie Mendoza
Advisor: Ken Rowe

Triple-A — Columbus (Clippers)
Manager: Mike Sarbaugh
Hitting Coach: Phil Clark*
Pitching Coach: Ruben Niebla
Athletic Trainer: Michael Salazar

Double-A — Akron (Aeros)
Manager: Chris Tremie
Hitting Coach: Rouglas Odor
Pitching Coach: Tony Arnold
Athletic Trainer: Chad Wolfe

Advanced-A — Carolina (Mudcats)
Manager: Edwin Rodriguez
Hitting Coach: TBD
Pitching Coach: Scott Erickson*
Athletic Trainer: Jeremy Heller

Class-A — Lake County (Captains)
Manager: David Wallace*
Hitting Coach: Jim Rickon
Pitching Coach: Jeff Harris
Athletic Trainer: Bobby Ruiz

Short Season Class-A — Mahoning Valley (Scrappers)
Manager: Ted Kubiak*
Hitting Coach: Tony Mansolino
Pitching Coach: Greg Hibbard
Athletic Trainer: Matt Beauregard

Rookie Level – Arizona (Indians)
Manager: Anthony Medrano
Hitting Coach: Junior Betances*
Pitching Coach: Steve Karsay*
Coach: Dennis Malave
Athletic Trainer: Ted Blackwell

Rookie Level — Dominican Summer League (Indians)
Manager: Max Diaz
Hitting Coach: Francisco Cabrera*
Pitching Coach: Mario Brito
Coach: Carlos Fermin
Athletic Trainer: Miguel Ledesma

* New to the position