Tigers announce full minor league coaching staffs for 2025

Gabe Alvarez takes over in Toledo, while Andrew Graham moves back up to Erie this season.

The Detroit Tigers finalized their coaching staff for the minor league system on Monday. Most of the big changes were already announced early in the offseason, but they’ve certainly shaken things up with new assignments for their managers. The development system is retaining a lot of continuity though, as the Tigers have a pretty solid group of managers and coaches who have been in the system for years now, developing along with the player development system.

The biggest change is Gabe Alvarez who takes over the Toledo Mud Hens from Tim Federowicz this year. Alvarez has led the Erie SeaWolves to back-to-back Eastern League titles. The 50-year-old former major leaguer, a native of Navojoa, Mexico played third base and outfield in his three years with the Tigers and the San Diego Padres . He appears to be on the fast track to coaching in the major leagues fairly soon.

Federowicz was initially hired as the catching coach for the Tigers back in 2023. His desire to manage led the Tigers to move him to managing the Mud Hens in 2024, but after the season he was let go and will now manage the Baltimore Orioles Triple-A affiliate, the Norfolk Tides, for the 2025 season.

Staying put are Mike Hessman and Doug Bochtler as hitting and pitching coaches with the Mud Hens. Francisco Contreras will also move up from West Michigan as a hitting coach for the Hens this year, while Virgil Vasquez will work with Bochtler as a pitching coach. Scott Thurston as the athletic trainer and Phil Hartt remaining in place as the strength and conditioning coach will round out Alvarez’s staff.

Taking over in Erie is former Lakeland Flying Tigers’ manager, Andrew Graham. The Sydney, Australia native came up in the Tigers system after they drafted him in the 19th round of the draft back in 2003. He never reached the major league level, topping out at the Triple-A level with the Mud Hens as a player before representing Australia in the World Baseball Classic in 2009 as their starting catcher.

The Tigers hired Graham as a minor league catching coordinator back in 2009, and since 2011, Graham has managed just about everywhere in the Tigers’ system. He was the Midwst League championship with the West Michigan Whitecaps in 2015, back when that was the Low-A level. He was also the Florida State League Manager of the Year in 2023. The only full season squad he hasn’t helmed yet is the Mud Hens. Graham was the manager for Double-A SeaWolves back in 2018, and he now returns to that role. At this point, he is one of the longest tenured Tigers’ employees anywhere in the organization.

Dan Ricabel will be Graham’s pitching coach, moving up from High-A West Michigan, while CJ Wamsley will be the hitting coach for the second year in a row with the SeaWolves. Bryce Hietpas is the SeaWolves’ athletic trainer this season, while Paul Syndenkyj is the strength and conditioning coach.

Tony Cappuccilli remains the manager of the High-A West Michigan Whitecaps for the second season in a row. Nick Green will move up from Low-A to High-A as the pitching coach for the ‘Caps this year. Matt Malott moves to West Michigan from Erie as Cappuccilli’s hitting coach. Nick Wheeler and Corey Fitzgerald round out his staff as the athletic trainer and strength and conditioning coach, respectively.

In Lakeland, Rene Rivera takes over as manager from Graham after working as his bench coach in 2024. He’ll have Ollie Kadey as his pitching coach as a season working with Bochtler in Toledo, with Freddie Landers as hitting coach. Justin Wagler will be the Flying Tigers athletic trainer, while Kevin Kleis joins the staff as strength and conditioning coach, moving south after working under Cappuccilli in West Michigan last year.

We rarely get much information about these moves, but it is notable that the Mud Hens has two hitting and pitching coaches this season. Hessman and Bochtler are pretty well established there, and it feels like they’re sending promising young coaches to work under them before assigning them elsewhere in the system. Graham is by far the longest tenured manager in the system, so clearly the Tigers really like his abilities, and he too has gotten a cast of coaches to work with who then progressed elsewhere in the system.

The Tigers continue to hire in some outside coaches, but they also lost pitching coordinator Stephanos Stroop to the Mariners this offseason. Stroop was previously a pitching coach in the Dodgers system, where he no doubt came to the attention of director of pitching, Gabe Ribas, and pitching coach Chris Fetter. Stroop is only 37 years old and already has quite a track record of developing minor league pitchers, so it’s too bad the Tigers couldn’t retain him.

The full coaching staffs, including the Complex League and both Dominican Summer League teams, DSL Tigers 1 and DSL Tigers 2, are included below.