Half of the clubs are welcoming a new skipper this season.
When the International League’s 136th season opens on April 4, seven of the circuit’s 14 teams will have a new manager leading the quest to capture the coveted Governors’ Cup trophy, completing a wave of new faces sweeping into IL dugouts that has seen every team replace its manager at least once since 2016.
The three longest tenured managers in the IL are each entering just the third season in their current role. Damon Berryhill is back for a third stab at winning the IL South after leading Gwinnett to 2nd place finishes in the division in each of his first two seasons as skipper. He’ll be challenged again by the third-year manager of the Charlotte Knights, Mark Grudzielanek.
Former Bisons player Bobby Meacham is back in Buffalo for a third year as the team’s field general.
Two managers, who captured a division crown during their debut season in 2018, are back for another run at the Governors’ Cup. Gary Jones was named IL Manager of the Year after leading Lehigh Valley to the circuit’s best regular season record, 84-56. In Toledo, the Mud Hens welcome back Doug Mientkiewicz after he guided the club to its first West Division title in over a decade.
Toledo squeaked into the postseason just a half-game ahead of Indianapolis, which brings back Brian Esposito for his second year as manager of the Indians. Joel Skinner, one of two IL skippers with experience managing in the Major Leagues, is back in Rochester.
Skinner piloted the Cleveland Indians for part of the 2002 season. Likewise, the incoming manager of the Syracuse Mets assumed the reins of the Houston Astros at the end of the 2012 campaign. Tony DeFrancesco is now in his second season in the Mets organization as Triple-A manager, and arrives with over 1,100 victories at this classification, making him the winningest skipper in the modern era of the Pacific Coast League.
Meanwhile, each of the other six new arrivals in the IL will be making their managerial debut at this classification. Brady Williams will lead the two-time League champion Durham Bulls into battle, while in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Jay Bell will attempt to guide the RailRiders into the playoffs for the fifth straight season. During the same year he’s being honored for his playing
career as an IL Hall of Fame member of the Class of 2019, Billy McMillon is the new manager in Pawtucket.
Rounding out the group of incoming skippers are Tony Mansolino for Columbus, Jody Davis for Louisville, and Gary Kendall for Norfolk, each being promoted in their organization after a stint as Double-A manager.
The men charged with developing their major league affiliate’s top prospects this season bring with them a wealth of experience and knowledge, having combined to win over 8,800 games in the minors. DeFrancisco and Jones are among the winningest managers active in the Minor Leagues. Meanwhile there are also six skippers making their debut at the Triple-A level. All hope to be the one destined to have his name etched onto the Governors’ Cup trophy when the 2019 season concludes this September.
JOEL SKINNER
Joel Skinner is back in Rochester after leading the Red Wings to a 64-76 finish in 2018. Skinner came to Rochester after a year out of baseball, prior to which he spent the five seasons managing in the White Sox organization, including Charlotte in the IL from 2012-15. Skinner was also manager of Class-A Winston-Salem in 2016. Skinner has managed thirteen minor league seasons since 1995 and also served as interim manager of the Cleveland Indians in 2002 after Charlie Manuel was fired in mid-July. He was named Minor League Manager of the Year by Baseball America and The
Sporting News while leading Triple-A Buffalo to the International League Governors’ Cup Finals in 2000 and by USA Today Baseball Weekly in 1998 with Double-A Akron. He won the 1995 New York-Penn League Championship with Short-A Watertown, earning Manager of the Year that season and in 1997 with Class-A Kinston of the Carolina League.
He enjoyed a lengthy playing career from 1983-91, playing 564 MLB games with the White Sox, Yankees, and Indians.