Barons Announce 2008 Coaching Staff

[BamaJason]

HOOVER, AL – The Birmingham Barons announced Thursday the coaching staff for the team’s 2008 season. First-year manager Carlos Subero is one of four first-year staff members in Birmingham, joining J.R. Perdew (pitching coach), Wes Clements (hitting coach), and Raymond Smith (strength and conditioning coach). Joe Geck (trainer) is the lone returner from last season.

 

Carlos Subero enters his first season with the White Sox organization as manager of Class AA Birmingham. He spent the 2006-07 seasons as manager of Class A Bakersfield (California League) and has gone 381-431 (.469) over seven years in the Texas farm system. A Venezuela native, the 35-year-old spent four seasons as a minor-league infielder in the early-1990s. He began his coaching career in 1999 with the Gulf Coast League Rangers before assuming the managerial duties the following season. He then skippered the Clinton LumberKings (Midwest League) for three seasons before leading Bakersfield for two.

 

“I am looking forward to managing the Barons in 2008 as we anticipate having a fun and competitive team made up of several White Sox prospects,” Subero said. “The White Sox and the Barons have had a great player development partnership for many years and we look forward to another great season of Barons baseball at Regions Park. I’m excited to work with my fellow coaches and I’m eager to get to know the fans in Birmingham as well.”

 

Subero will be joined in the dugout by pitching coach J.R. Perdew, who will start his first season at the Double-A level. He begins his 12th season with the White Sox organization after having served for five years at Class-A Winston-Salem (Carolina League). A native of Frostburg, Md., Perdew graduated from Fort Hill High School in Cumberland, Md. Perdew attended Allegany (Md.) College and then George Mason University from 1986-87. He entered the major league draft following his junior season, but did not sign. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps and later received his masters in education from Frostburg (Md.) College. Before joining the White Sox organization, Perdew spent seven seasons at Allegany (Md.) College as the pitching coach, where his teams appeared in the Junior College World Series in five of his seven seasons.

 

Wes Clements begins his first year with the Barons as hitting coach after being a staff member in Winston-Salem last season. Clements, a native of Hawthorne, Calif., lettered in golf and basketball at Hawthorne High School, but didn't play baseball. He played at El Camino Junior College before transferring to the University of Arizona. While at Arizona, Clements was part of the 1980 NCAA National Championship team and was named a Sporting News All-American. Considered a top prospect, he played five seasons as a 1B/DH in the Houston Astros farm system before joining Milwaukee's organization in 1986. Clements hit 173 home runs with 664 RBI in his minor league career and retired from playing in 1990. Clements was head baseball coach for Calabasas (Calif.) High School for three years and previously worked as a hitting coach in the Brewers and Angels organizations.

 

Raymond Smith will begin his first season in Birmingham as the strength and conditioning coach. The 29-year-old Winston-Salem, N.C. native had previously been the conditioning coach with the hometown Warthogs for two seasons. An Appalachian State University graduate, he began his minor league coaching career with the White Sox as the conditioning coach at Advanced Rookie Bristol (Appalachian League) in 2004. After serving in the same role in the Atlanta organization at Class A Rome (South Atlantic League) in 2005, he rejoined the White Sox system in 2006 at Winston-Salem. He is a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association and the Association of Professional Ball Players of America.

 

Joe Geck, 34, returns for his eighth season as the Barons trainer, and 16th year in the White Sox organization. Geck was named Southern League Athletic Trainer of the Year in 2002 and has worked several All-Star Games over the course of his career. His White Sox organizational journey began with the Gulf Coast League Sarasota White Sox, and he had worked for both Class A Hickory and Winston-Salem before coming to Birmingham. An Ann Arbor, Mich. native, he began his baseball career with the Kansas City Royals in 1990 as the Gulf Coast League Athletic Trainer. He is a graduate of the University of South Florida and is a member of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association.

 

Subero and the Barons will don their new uniforms for the first time when they open the 2008 Southern League schedule on April 3rd, 2008. Birmingham will welcome the Tennessee Smokies, the Class AA affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, to Regions Park in a battle between the Southern League affiliates of Chicago’s two Major League franchises.

 

[Texsox]

Wes Clements begins his first year with the Barons as hitting coach after being a staff member in Winston-Salem last season. Clements, a native of Hawthorne, Calif., lettered in golf and basketball at Hawthorne High School, but didn't play baseball. He played at El Camino Junior College before transferring to the University of Arizona. While at Arizona, Clements was part of the 1980 NCAA National Championship team and was named a Sporting News All-American. Considered a top prospect, he played five seasons as a 1B/DH in the Houston Astros farm system before joining Milwaukee's organization in 1986. Clements hit 173 home runs with 664 RBI in his minor league career and retired from playing in 1990. Clements was head baseball coach for Calabasas (Calif.) High School for three years and previously worked as a hitting coach in the Brewers and Angels organizations.

 

I do not mean to disparage Mr. Clements, but there are thousands of guys with similar resumes, how does this guy get entrusted with our AA hitters? Zero MLB experience. Three seasons as a High School head baseball coach, etc?

 

Not so much defending him, but how do some of these guys have careers like this? Of course he has Walker to help him out . . .