
The Cubs will be adding a second team in the Arizona League (AZL) in 2018, which effectively means the Cubs will be able to add 35 additional minor league roster slots (minor league reserve list slots). So they will now have 320 minor league roster slots available in the organization instead of 285.
Former Cubs Player Development Director Oneri Fleita had proposed adding a second Cubs team to the AZL about seven or eight years ago, but it didn't go anywhere at the time.
So the Cubs two AZL affiliates will match their two Dominican Summer League (DSL) affiliates, allowing young Latin players to be promoted from the DSL to the AZL with ease and then be retained for more years than has previously been the case. It will also allow the Cubs to sign more non-drafted free agents (NDFA) after the June draft, and it will also make it easier to get more innings for rehabbing pitchers and more reps for rehabbing position players in AZL games. And if the Cubs were to (let's say) sign two young hotshot shortstops who aren't ready for Eugene, they can both get regular playing time in the AZL (one with AZL Cubs #1 and one with AZL Cubs #2).
The San Diego Padres added a second AZL team last season, the first MLB club to add a second team in the AZL. And along with the Cubs, the Cleveland Indians and San Francisco Giants will be adding a second AZL team in 2018 as well. So the AZL will now have 18 teams, with the Colorado Rockies still the only MLB club with Spring Training in Arizona to not field even one team in the AZL (although the Rockies do operate one team in the short-season Pioneer League and one team in the short-season Northwest League).
The Detrot Tigers have been operating two teams in the Gulf Coast League (GCL) in Florida for two seasons, and the New York Yankees have had two teams in the GCL for several seasons. So now six MLB organizations (the Cubs, Padres, Giants, Indians, Tigers, and Yankees) will be operating two teams in short-season rookie complex leagues (the rookie leagues that are based at Florida and Arizona Spring Training facilities).
The Cubs are also now one of six MLB clubs with nine minor league affiliates (AZ, HOU, NYM, NYY, and TB are the others). Twelve MLB clubs have eight minor league affiliates, and twelve MLB clubs have seven.
Here are the preliminary 2018 Cubs minor league field staff assignments (some assignments still TBA):
CUBS MINOR LEAGUE PLAYER DEVELOPMENT FIELD STAFF (last updated 1-18-2018)
FIELD COORDINATOR & CATCHING COORDINATOR: Tim Cossins
PITCHING COORDINATOR: Brendan Sagara
ASSISTANT PITCHING COORDINATORS: Mike Mason (full season clubs) and Steve Merriman (EXST & short-season clubs)
HITTING COORDINATOR: Jacob Cruz
ASSISTANT HITTING COORDINATOR: Tom Beyers
INFIELD COORDINATOR: Jeremy Farrell
OUTFIELD & BASERUNNING COORDINATOR: Doug Dascenzo
BASERUNNING INSTRUCTOR: Mike Roberts
LATIN AMERICAN FIELD COORDINATOR: Dave Keller
MENTAL SKILLS PROGRAM DIRECTOR: Josh Lifrak
MENTAL SKILLS PROGRAM COORDINATOR: Darnell McDonald
MENTAL SKILLS COORDINATOR: John Baker
LATIN AMERICAN MENTAL SKILLS COORDINATOR: Raymond Fuentes
IOWA: Marty Pevey (Manager), Rod Nichols (Pitching Coach), Desi Wilson (Hitting Coach), and Chris Valaika (Assistant Coach)
TENNESSEE: Mark Johnson (Manager), Terry Clark (Pitching Coach), Jesus Feliciano (Hitting Coach), and Ben Carhart (Assistant Coach)
MYRTLE BEACH: Buddy Bailey (Manager), Anderson Tavarez (Pitching Coach), Ty Wright (Hitting Coach), and Carlos Rojas (Assistant Coach)
SOUTH BEND: Jimmy Gonzalez (Manager), Brian Lawrence (Pitching Coach), Ricardo Medina (Hitting Coach), and Paul McAnulty (Assistant Coach)
EUGENE: Steve Lerud (Manager), Armando Gabino (Pitching Coach), Osmin Melendez (Hitting Coach), and Jacob Rogers (Assistant Coach)
AZL CUBS #1: Carmelo Martinez (Manager), TBA (Pitching Coach), TBA (Hitting Coach), and Leo Perez (Assistant Coach)
AZL CUBS #2: Jonathan Mota (Manager), TBA (Pitching Coach), Claudio Almonte (Hitting Coach), and TBA (Assistant Coach)
MESA REHAB: Ron Villone (Rehab Pitching Coordinator) and TBA (Rehab Coach)
DSL CUBS #1: Lance Rymel (Manager), Eduardo Villacis (Pitching Coach), TBA (Hitting Coach), Antonio Valerio (Assistant Coach), and Jose Zapata (Assistant Coach)
DSL CUBS #2: Pedro Gonzalez (Manager), Jose Cueto (Pitching Coach), TBA (Hitting Coach), Jovanny Rosario (Assistant Coach), and Carlos Ramirez (Assistant Coach)
MINOR LEAGUE ATHLETIC TRAINING COORDINATOR: Chuck Baughman
ASSISTANT MINOR LEAGUE TRAINING COORDINATOR (MESA REHAB): Jonathan Fierro
LATIN AMERICAN TRAINING COORDINATOR: Jose Alvarez
ATHLETIC TRAINERS: Ed Halbur and Mike McNulty (Iowa), Toby Williams (Tennessee), Logan Severson (Myrtle Beach), James Edwards (South Bend), Sean Folan (Eugene), Ike Ojata (AZL Cubs #1), TBA (AZL Cubs #2), Adrian Pettaway (DSL Cubs #1), and Arnoldo Goite (DSL Cubs #2)
MINOR LEAGUE STRENGTH & CONDITIONING COORDINATOR: Doug Jarrow
STRENGTH & CONDITIONING COACHES: Ryan Clausen (Iowa), Jason Moriss (Tennessee), Keegan Knoll (Myrtle Beach), Ryan Nordtvedt (South Bend), Dallas Lopez (Eugene), Mike Megrew (AZL Cubs #1), TBA (AZL Cubs #2), Amaury Gonzalez (DSL Cubs #1), and Manny Estrada (DSL Cubs #2)
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