2029-30 Offseason Rookie League Coach Appointments

[Ghosts]

Let's use this as the thread in which to make our players-to-personnel selections for PEBA's new rookie league.

Bakersfield appoints former SP, four time all-star, and All-Leather Award winner Felix Maese as the manager for the Punta Cana Mamajuanas.

For hitting coach, we select former slugger Pat Lilly, who's illustrious resume includes 3 MVP selections, 8 all-star appearances, and sole ownership of almost every Bears hitting record.

For pitching coach, since our all-time WAR leader Markus Hancock is already working with our youngsters in SS-A ball, we select our second place all-time WAR leader Fred Benjamin to teach our youngest rookies the time honored art of making hitters act the fool, as they say.

[Hitmen]

Did we have criteria listed somewhere detailing who we should be picking?

Does it have to be recent retirees, can it be from earlier in the league history, does it have to be from our team (I was thinking of former NJ Hitmen players I would have loved to bring back, back in the day)

Thanks for throwing this thread up

[Ghosts]

Mike or Dylan correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the intent is for it to work the same as the CP option (detailed here).

To quote:

Players who retired from your organization or played the majority of their major league careers for your organization can be converted immediately; others require a 3-year wait after their retirement.

I pulled mine off my all-time leaders list. Since the Hitmen are not run by a human at the moment, you should be fine to select players from there history so long as they've been retired for three years.

[Hitmen]

Thanks Dan! Found a semi-answer:

5) Rookie League coaching staff. One last thing on the Rookie League that I think we originally brought up (?), but hasn't been mentioned much - Teams will be allowed to freely select former players to convert to coaches for their Rookie League teams, and they will need to remain through the Inaugural campaign. The Board is still discussing whether GMs will be allowed any bonus points (as we do for the CP award) to boost these coaches abilities. I favor the idea, but not to the level the CP award does. So start thinking who'd you'd like to hire - I know my first two manager choices have stayed stubbornly active, so my search continues. The CP rules regarding player selection still apply - so if you have someone in mind, please be respectful of teams with first right of refusal.

[Borealis]

Hey Mike! I say feel free to drag a few Hitmen in if you like, though old Long'men would be ideal...

[Wind Dancers]

Toyama's selections:

For Manager, none other than former pitcher Akira 'Four Eyes' Watanabe who was a 9-year Toyama vet and leader. Four Eyes played from 2017-2025 and unfortunately was held back by serious injuries.

For Pitching Coach, a Lupin legend, Tsuyoshi Nishiyama. Nishiyama is Toyama's all-time leader in innings pitched with 1,906, a record Shinobu Takeuchi is close to breaking. Nishiyama played for the Cliffhangers for 11 seasons and saw the transition of the team to the Wind Dancers in 2023 before moving to the WIL.

For Hitting Coach, a recent retiree and Toyama career hitting leader, Sadatake 'The Natural' Sato. Before joining Shin Seiki in 2025, Sato spent 11 seasons with the Cliffhangers/Wind Dancers after being drafted 3rd overall in 2010. Sato has a whopping 28.2 career WAR with Toyama and hit 226 home runs in that time.

[Underground]

The Underground are ready to announce the inaugural staff for the Crocodile Hunters.

First, Nathan Carter will serve as hitting coach. Carter was an Underground 1st round pick in 2011 and went on to play in 1,341 games for the Underground. He won the 2020 Royal Raker award, as well as two All-Leather awards, and was a 4 time All Star. His career batting average with the Underground was .303.

Next, Hiroyuki "Zippo" Nii will serve as pitching coach. Nii was an Underground 1st round selection in 2010. He would end up playing in 316 games (314 games started) over 10 seasons for the Underground. He was the 2014 recipient of the Wunderkid award and went on to appear in 6 All Star games.

Finally, Luis Mora will serve as manager. Mora is the Underground's longest tenured retiree, having spent 13 seasons with the team. He was a 4th round draft pick in the inaugural league draft. Mora earned 293 saves for London, and would eventually retire with 304. He was a 4 time All Star.

[Hitmen]

With Canton being a team without much success over it's 23 seasons, there aren't many guys who made huge impacts over an extended time and have that high caliber experience we are trying to mold into our youth. So the Melbourne Bitters had to get creative for their manager.

Manager: Mario 'Mad Hatter' Tessier; formally of the New Jersey Hitmen (now a World Independent League team) spent 10 years with the Hitmen, collecting 2 All-Star nods and 2 All-Leather Awards in the process. Tessier was consistently at the top of this game while he played for the Hitmen and was a key cog in the 5 straight playoff appearances for the team from 2013-2017.

Hitting Coach: Jose 'Vapor Lock' Martinez; breathed new life into the Longshoremen in 2015 as the 19th overall pick. He went on to win the Wunderkind Award for his 2015 campaign, along with 1 All-Star appearance and 2 All-Leather Awards at 1B. His big bat put fear into opposing pitchers in his short time with Canton.

Pitching Coach: Pedro Cruz; part of the original 2007 Longshoremen, Pedro was never a super star, but he was a consistent workhorse and he is prominent throughout Canton's pitching records. During his 9 seasons with the team, he compiled a 76-77 record, 817 K, and a 3.81 ERA. After some leisure time on the golf course, Pedro is ready to come back to Canton and groom the next generation of arms.

[MikeB]

Not much beloved history in SJs past unfortunately. Pretty high turnover over the years it looks like and the good one year standouts not particularly character guys. I will convert one and seek others from the coaching list.

Manager: Pepe Rico
Played with the Yamato Battleships, the Japanese League forerunner of the San Juan Coqui, from 2007 to 2009. He enjoyed a long career as a reliever, including a PEBA leading 46 saves for Florida in 2018 at age 35. He pitched in AAA until age 44. He is 46 now.

[Leones]

Havana announces the staff of the Tauranga Taniwha

Manager: Kenko “Dragonslayer’ Nakamura; The colorful backstop, fan favorite and 5 time LRS All Star, was instrumental in guiding the Edo Battousai to their back to back Championships on 2014-2015. His deft management of the Edo pitching staff was crucial to the success of the club.

Hitting Coach: Morihiro ‘Homu Ran’ Nakamura; ‘Homu Ran’ the name says it all. The man could rake. An 8 time LRS All Star, he set the LRS single season HR record in 2008 with 72 HR. After posting 448 career home runs in the LRS the aging Nakamura swapped his 'October Orange' uniform for the Havana colors and picked up another 10 in PEBA before ending a stellar career.

Pitching Coach: Takanibu ‘Decoy’ Murata; Leader of Edo’s ‘Pentagon’ rotation, this 5 time LRS All Star leads the club in career wins with a 139-97 record.

Nakamura3.jpg

[Evas]

I am loving the throwbacks in these picks. Havana's especially bring me back.

My Picks:

Manager: TBD

Hitting Coach: Ryozo Takeuchi - Having just retired this past sim, the timing couldn't be better for the SS career leader in most counting stats (G, AB, H, 2B, HR, R, RBI, SO). He isn't a great leader, but his intelligence and work ethic could make him a good hitting coach. He knows what it is like to be a top prospect with high expectations, having been the first SS Minor League Player of the Year back in 2014. He'll join his long time LRS teammates Toshikasu Tanaka, Shinsui Hoshino, Katsunan Hiraoka, and Mitsunari Suzuki as a member of the Evas' hitting development team.

Pitching Coach: Gonçalo 'Streamline' Doroteia. Another long time Eva stalwart. He posted 22.9 career WAR in 1250IP. He didn't have a HoF career, but he had a nice peak, delivering 15.2 WAR over 2012-2015 with ERA+'s of 144, 159, 131, & 125. He'll join his long time Eva Toshikasu Tanaka,as a member of the Evas' pitching development team.

[Vic]

Here are the Scottish picks, franchise legends all:

Manager - Salavador "The Gambler" Medrano, who's giving up a popular radio/TV gig to take a turn in the dugout. Sal is the Scottish leader in numerous offensive categories, and as a former catcher, brings great tactical baseball knowledge to the job. The Scottish may be grooming him to take the reins of the major league club if and when Hayato Sasaki leaves the post.

Hitting Coach -Kikugoro Memoto, who holds many of the franchise single-season and career batting records from his days with the Fushigi Yugi Celestial Warriors. He is in the team's Hall of Fame, and was one of the first players to make the jump from the LRS to PEBA back in the day.

Pitching Coach - Kuniaki Matsumoto, who spent his entire career with the Claymores franchise, pitching first for Fushigi Yugi, and then for the Dayton Flyers. Matsumoto can be found among the franchise leaders in many of the all-time pitching categories.

[Lions]

North Sydney Coaching Staff:

Manager: Joel "Bashing Beanpole" Swedlove - Known for getting a ton of power out of a 6'2", 150 lb body, Swedlove is one of two Badgers with 200+ home runs for the team. He had a lot of early success, getting to PEBA at 21 and making the All-Star team three times before he turned 26. He was traded to Kentucky in 2017 when he was 29, then signed with Fargo and saw his decline years there. He retired relatively early, after his age 33 season.

Hitting Coach: Lorenzo "Big Cheese" Amador - The hugely popular catcher who just retired was a big prospect when he came up, and had power/discipline approach at the plate that we hope he'll instill in our rookie ball players. He made three of his 4 All-Star teams after the age of 30 and after leaving Kalamazoo for Florida and Toyama.

Pitching Coach: Adrián Reséndez - Former Nutmegger who pitched for Gloucester and Palm Springs later in his career. He only went 76-82, but had a 3.66 ERA and 113 ERA+. His numbers for Connecticut were better: 3.27 ERA and 122 ERA+. He got 2 starts in his one trip to the postseason, which came with Gloucester in 2016. He went 0-1, but had a 1.38 ERA in 13 innings.

[Zephyrs]

Brisbane Stevedores

Manager - Michael 'Mustache' Johnson: Mustache was drafted 8th overall by Reno out of High School where he pitched for the Union City Hillers. Mustache followed the typical Reno path for first round picks and never quite fufilled expectations. He pitched 8 seasons for Reno posting a 50-76 record with a 4.82 ERA. He went on to disappoint with Shin Seiki, Yuma, Amsterdam and New Jersey before retiring in 2028.

Hitting Coach - Frank Murphy: Frank spent his playing time with Yuma, Charleston and Reno. The bulk of his career AB's came in a Zephyrs uniform where he was known as a good contact hitter with plus power.

Pitching Coach - Jhong-shun 'Earthquake' Kong: Earthquake was drafted 3rd overall in the 2013 Amateur Draft out of High School where he pitched for the Seton Hall Prep Pirates. He played his entire career with the Reno organization and was a three-time All Star. He holds the all time record for Reno wins, pitching WAR, losses, innings pitched, games started, hits allowed, home runs allowed, walks allowed, strikeouts and RWAR.

[Arroyos]

Charlotte Amalie Batey

Manager: Tomas Espinosa pitched the only no-hitter in Kivalina history, and did so the day the tiny Alaskan community was flooded out of its home and forced—every man, woman and child, to move into the Bowheads Stadium, renamed The Sanctuary. Moments after recording the 27th out in his no-no, Tomas helped transport the local citizens from their flooded village into the stadium, where the community has resided ever since. Tomas pitched for the Dozers for 5 years before retiring to Nome, Alaska, where he worked with the Kivalina Relief Society for more than a decade. He's looking forward to relocating in the warmer, sunnier climes of the Caribbean.

Pitching Coach: Alonso Rodriguez spent his entire career hurling for Yuma. He retired last season and has agreed to relocate to Charlotte Amalie to coach the new rookie league team.

Hitting Coach: 3-time All-Star Bud Hoffmann led the Dozer offense from 2007-2011, culminating in his 2010 season when he led the league with a .351 batting average. Though he was traded to Arlington the next season, and played briefly for the Bureaucrats, the Tempe Knights and the Fargo Dinosaurs, he maintained a residence in Arizona and, after retirement in 2018, socialized with the Yuma club during spring training. A long time friend of former Dozer manager David Goode, Bud was delighted to be appointed the hitting coach for the new rookie league team in the Virgin Islands.