2017 Instructors

2017 Instructors

Barry Moss (Field Coordinator)

Special Assignment Scout – Los Angeles Dodgers

    

Moss is a Special Assignment Pro Scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers and previously worked within their organization as an Independent League Scout from 2009-11.

After being taken by the Cincinnati Reds in the fifth round of the 1975 first-year player draft, Moss played eight years in professional ball – six with the Reds’ organization and two with the Blue Jays. He was hired by the Cincinnati Reds as a Hitting Instructor for their Florida State League affiliate for the 1985-86 seasons.

In 1987, Moss led the Salt Lake Trappers (Rookie Pioneer League) to 29 consecutive wins, still a professional baseball record. He managed the Trappers for three seasons.

Moss managed the Erie Sailors of the New York-Pennsylvania League in 1991 and served in a variety of coaching positions for the Spokane Indians (High-A Padres), Stockton Ports (High-A Brewers) and Orlando Cubs (Double-A Cubs) from 1993-97. In 1998, he was hired as Player Procurement Director for the independent St. Paul Saints, a position he held with the Saints, Brockton Rox and Ft. Worth Cats over the next 13 years.

He served as the Miami Marlins Minor League Hitting Coordinator in 2012.

During the off seasons of 2000-2005, Barry was the Hitting Coach for the U.S.A. Professional Tournament Teams that played for the World Cup and Pan American Games Qualifying Tournaments.

His well-rounded experience at the major league level makes him the perfect candidate to serve as the CWL’s Field Coordinator.

Chris Carminucci

Professional Scout/Independent League Scouting Coordinator – Arizona Diamondbacks

   

Carminucci currently serves as a Professional Scout/Independent League Scouting Coordinator for the Arizona Diamondbacks after previous scouting experience with the Kansas City Royals and Philadelphia Phillies.

Chris’s professional managerial debut was in 2004 with the Bangor Lumberjacks of the Canadian-American League. He was named the Can-Am League’s Manager of the Year in 2009-10 when he led the Brockton Rox to their highest win total in club history.

Carminucci has a unique blend of on-field managing as well as front office experience. In 2006, he was named Vice President of Player Procurement for Ventura Sports Group, where he continues to help build rosters for several Can-Am and American Association teams. Carminucci has served as CEO and Director of Baseball Operations for the Brockton Rox, Atlantic City Surf and Grosseto Professional Baseball Club Italy and owns his own baseball consulting firm, Carminucci Sports Group, and was instrumental in the formation of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League of New England, a summer collegiate baseball league that began play in the summer of 2011.

Rick Schroeder

Professional Scout – Texas Rangers (MLB)

   

Schroeder has scouted for the Kansas City Royals and the Texas Rangers dating back to 1982. During his tenure as a professional scout, Schroeder has scouted and signed the following major and minor league players: Danny Duffy, Derek Holland, Gary Alexander, Steve Buechele, Bob Gamez, Danny Herrera, Randy Kramer, John Lujan, and Alex Rivers. In two seasons with the CWL, he has signed two players directly out of the CWL and offered many more MLB spring training invites.

Mike Garcia

Area Scout – Philadelphia Phillies (MLB)

philadelphia phillies p logo

Mike Garcia is currently an area scout for the Philadelphia in the Southern California, focusing on the large crop of high-level amateur talent the region has to offer. He is responsible for building reports on the area’s talent and assisting the Phillies’ front office in their preparations for the MLB Rule 4 Amateur Draft in June. Garcia comes to the CWL every season due to the high volume of players from outside of the area who could potentially interest the Phillies organization.

Bobby Brown (Hitting Coordinator)

Manager – Lincoln Saltdogs (American Association)

    

Brown has 19 years of professional baseball experience as a player, coach, scout and manager. This is his sixth season with the CWL.

Brown initially played with the Springfield Capitals of the Frontier League in 1996 before hooking on with the Kansas City Royals the following year, following a similar path to majors many CWL players take. He returned to the Frontier League in 1998 and posted career highs in batting average (.363), home runs (9) and RBI (63) with the Canton Crocodiles.

Brown served as manager for Amarillo Thunderheads from 2013-2015, sending five players to the majors during his time with the club, including David Peralta of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

After his time in Amarillo, Brown became the hitting coach for the Lincoln Saltdogs in the American Association in 2015. He was quickly promoted to manager in just his second season with the club in 2016.

Brown’s expertise in the art of hitting is why the CWL brought him on to serve as the league’s Hitting Coordinator.

Ron Biga (Pitching Coordinator)

Manager – Windy City ThunderBolts (Frontier League)

Ron Biga    

2017 will be Biga’s fifth season managing the Windy City ThunderBolts of the Frontier League, and his 17th season overall in professional baseball. In 2015, he managed the Canada A’s to the CWL Championship. In addition to his duties with the ThunderBolts, Biga is also a Special Assignment Scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He will serve as the CWL’s Pitching Coordinator for the 2017 season.

Dan Rohn (Fielding Coordinator)

Traverse City Beach Bums (Frontier League)

Dan Rohn played 13 years of professional baseball including 3 stints in the majors. He then began coaching Minor League baseball in 1990 as hitting coach of the Portland Beavers, (AAA Minnesota Twins). He spent the next 23 years in baseball working in many facets and was named Manager of the Year on four separate occasions.

Rohn has already experienced success managing in the Frontier League, leading the Traverse City Beach Bums to a 2015 Frontier League Championship. He did that with the help of players he signed directly out of the 2015 CWL season. As for 2017, Rohn will serve as the league’s Fielding Coordinator.

Cameron Roth

Manager – Lake Erie Crushers (Frontier League)

Cameron Roth      

Roth joins the Crushers from his position as Pitching Coach for the Schaumburg Boomers, where he served on Manager Jamie Bennett’s staff for three years. The former Baltimore Orioles draft pick and left-handed pitcher, retired from competitive baseball following the 2012 season due to multiple back surgeries.  Since that time the Newport, Virginia native has served as Bench Coach, Hitting Coach and Pitching Coach for the Boomers. In 2016, Roth was named the manager of the Crushers.

Patrick O’Sullivan

Assistant Coach – Schaumburg Boomers (Frontier League)

Patrick O'Sullivan     

O’Sullivan, the reigning Frontier League Coach of the Year with the Southern Illinois Miners, joins Jamie Bennett’s staff as the Boomers’ hitting coach in 2016. After coming to Southern Illinois from Rockford last year, “Sully” helped guide the Miners to a .270 team batting average that ranked third in the Frontier League while his troops were also top-five in the league in runs scored. Originally drafted in the 34th round of the 1999 MLB Draft, the former New York Mets and Baltimore Orioles farmhand finished his career with an exceptional .317 average over 12 professional seasons. Over six Triple-A seasons he hit .322 with 90 home runs. When he retired as a player at the end of the 2010 season, he was 13th on the active minor league home run list with 200.

Dennis Pelfrey

Manager – Florence Freedom (Frontier League)

     

Dennis Pelfrey returned for his second season as the Freedom’s Manager in 2016. 2017 will be his second season with the California Winter League.

In the 2015 season, Pelfrey led a team that was nine games under .500 at the All-Star Break to the postseason. The Freedom won 14 of their last 20 regular season games, but fell in the Frontier League Wild Card Round to the River City Rascals 6-5.

Prior to his time in Florence, Pelfrey spent four seasons coaching for the Gary SouthShore RailCats under veteran independent professional baseball manager Greg Tagert. His tenure included a 2013 American Association championship.

Pelfrey also played six seasons of professional baseball from 1999-2004 after a collegiate career at Northwood University in Texas. Most of those six seasons were spent in the Frontier League as Pelfrey manned multiple infield positions for the Dubois County Dragons, Kenosha Mammoths and the Springfield/Ozark Ducks.

Boots Day

Assistant Coach – Evansville Otters (Frontier League)

     

Day, 67, is in his fifth season as an assistant coach with the Otters. He was the Frontier League Coach of the Year in 2012, his first year back in Evansville. Boots played Major League Baseball as an outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs and Montreal Expos during his six-year stint. In 1971, his best season, Day hit .283 with four home runs and 33 RBI for the Expos. Day also played for the Evansville Triplets from 1975 to 1978. After his playing days, “Boots” managed the Detroit Tigers’ rookie team, the Otters and teams in the Cleveland Indians’ minor league system. The New York native has also been a hitting instructor for the Cardinals and Kansas City Royals organizations, as well as the hitting coach most recently for the Normal CornBelters of the Frontier League in 2011. Day’s team in 2011 had the second best batting average and recorded the second most hits among all Frontier League teams. He guided the Otters to a 31-38 record as the franchise’s first manager in 1995. Boots led the Manitoba North Stars to a CWL Championship in their inaugural season in 2016.

Andrew Cotner

Pitching Coach – Normal CornBelters (Frontier League)

   

Cotner spent the early part of his career in baseball serving as a scout for the Houston Astros and the San Diego Padres. After moving to Illinois, he began his coaching career at the high school level before becoming a coach at Parkland College. In 2016 Cotner began his professional baseball coaching career as the pitching coach for the Normal CornBelters of the Frontier League. He will resume that role in 2017 as well as make his 2017 debut as an instructor at the California Winter League.

Casey Dill

Scouting and Player Acquisition Coordinator – Southern Illinois Miners (Frontier League)

 

Dill is the Scouting and Player Acquisition Coordinator for the Southern Illinois Miners of the independent professional Frontier League. He also is an Associate Scout for the Atlanta Braves. Casey is a graduate of the Scout School hosted by the Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau and has worked in player procurement in different levels of professional baseball the past 5 years. He has scouted and recruited hundreds of professional baseball players and has helped build several professional championship rosters.

John Harris

Manager – So. Maryland Blue Crabs (Atlantic League)

    

Harris brings a unique combination of pro experience as a player, experience as a manger, and experience as a player procurement director at the highest levels of independent baseball. In 2017 he will join the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the Atlantic League to manage to club. This will also be Harris’ fourth season serving as an instructor at the California Winter League.

Tom Vaeth

Assistant Coach – Winnipeg Goldeyes (Can-Am League)

tom-vaeth   

Tom Vaeth, born July 13th, 1972 in Baltimore, Maryland, enters his 14th season in a coaching role with the Winnipeg Goldeyes. In addition to serving as the team’s hitting coach, Vaeth has held various other roles on the staff, including first base coach, third base coach, batting practice pitcher, and bullpen catcher—all while spending an increasing amount of time in player procurement. Vaeth has helped the Goldeyes move contracts of 12 position players to MLB organizations during his time with the club.

Tom Carcione

Hitting Coach – Lincoln Saltdogs (American Association)

    

Carcione has penty of professional baseball coaching experience, serving on Dan Rohn’s Frontier League Champion Traverse City coaching staff in 2015 and 2016. He went on to join CWL Hitting Coordinator, Bobby Brown, in Lincoln to serve as the team’s hitting coach for the 2017 season. In addition to his 15 years of coaching experience, Carcione has 10 years of professional playing experience.

Paul Noce

Manager – East Side Diamond Hoppers (United Shore Professional Baseball League)

   

Paul Noce has been actively involved in the game of baseball for over 33 years, including two stints in the Major Leagues with the Chicago Cubs (’87) and Cincinnati Reds (’90). In 1986, Noce was selected as a Topps All-Star shortstop for his play with the AA Pittsfield Cubs, a MiLB affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.  A proven winner, he was a member of the AAA World Series-winning Indianapolis Indians (a Cleveland Indians minor affiliate) in 1988 and the 1990 World Series Cincinnati Reds. After a successful career as a player, he served as a minor league instructor and manager with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization before moving on to the collegiate ranks. In 1994, he took the reins as Head Coach at Hillsdale College in Adrian, Mich.  Over the next 20 years, Noce would win nearly 350 games. In 2012, he was inducted into the Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame in San Mateo, Calif. 2017 will be his first season with the California Winter League.

Chris Newell

Manager – Birmingham Bloomfield Beavers (United Shore Professional Baseball League)

    

Chris Newell has served in professional baseball since 1997 as a player, manager and scout.  After a successful college career at Northwest Missouri State University, Newell played professional baseball in 1997 and 1998, earning a Gold Glove as a second basemen for the Kalamazoo Kodiaks in the Frontier League.  After retiring as a player, he began his scouting career with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, spanning from 1999 to 2005. In 2003, Newell made his professional managing debut with the Kalamazoo Kings of the Frontier League, making him the youngest manager in professional baseball that year.  Since 2006, he has scouted for the New York Yankees. Through his private instruction, Newell has trained 44 players who have either been drafted professionally or signed professional contracts, including: MLB All-Star DJ LeMahieu and 2015 Tampa Bay Rays draftee Jacob Cronenworth. 2017 will be Newell’s first season with the California Winter League.

Dan DiPace Sr.

Director of Player Procurement – San Rafael Pacifics (Pacific Association)

   

Dan DiPace is an independent league veteran of over 16 years and served as a scout in affiliated baseball when he was an Associate Scout for the Atlanta Braves and Montreal Expos. As a player, DiPace signed as a shortstop for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1963.

DiPace currently serves as the Director of Player Procurement for the San Rafael Pacifics of the Pacific Association. He is in charge of discovering and signing talent for the Northern California based league.

Past Instructors

2016 Instructors

2015 Instructors

2014 Instructors

2013 Instructors

2012 Instructors

2011 Instructors

2010 Instructors