FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 7, 2017

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1 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 7, INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FIELD MANAGERS SIX NEW SKIPPERS IN PLACE FOR RUN AT THE GOVERNORS CUP When the International League's 134th season opens on April 6, six of the circuit s fourteen teams will have a new manager leading the quest to capture the coveted Governors Cup trophy. Two clubs from each division hope a newcomer can capture the IL title in the same fashion as occurred in In his debut season as a manager in the IL, Al Pedrique led Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to the best record in Minor League Baseball and captured the Triple-A National Championship. The reigning International League Manager of the Year returns as one of four skippers looking to capture the honor for a second time. Ron Johnson, the League s longest-tenured manager, enters his sixth season with Norfolk. Johnson was IL Manager of the Year in 2015, one year after Billy Gardner, Jr. won the award in his first season with Syracuse. Gardner is back for a third year with the Chiefs, just like Rochester s Mike Quade who was the 1993 IL Manager of the Year while with Ottawa. Including Pedrique, the last three managers to win the Governors Cup are in the hunt again this season. Chris Tremie piloted Columbus to the Cup in 2015, and last year his Clippers captured a third straight division flag. Pawtucket won the IL title in 2014 under rookie manager Kevin Boles, who this year returns for his fourth season with the PawSox. Also returning in Louisville is Delino DeShields, whose Bats finished 2 nd in the IL West in his second year at the helm in The League s youngest skipper is once again Jared Sandberg in Durham. Last season at the age of 38, he led the Bulls to within 1.5 games of a division crown. Two of the circuit s new skippers will be familiar faces to their team s fans. Mike Rojas was thrust into the role of manager in Toledo ten years ago, replacing an injured Larry Parrish and leading the Mud Hens to the playoffs. He now returns to the Detroit organization three years after departing to become Seattle s bullpen coach. In Buffalo, the 133-year-old Bisons franchise welcomes its secondever former player to return as manager, and its first-ever African-American manager, in Bobby Meacham. Meacham is one of four incoming managers to have formerly played in the International League. Dusty Wathan, the new manager in Lehigh Valley, spent parts of five seasons in the IL as a player with Buffalo, Scranton/WB, and Ottawa. Indianapolis new manager, Andy Barkett, saw action with Richmond in 2000 and 2005 as well as Toledo in Barkett is in his first season managing at the Triple-A level, as is Charlotte s new field general Mark Grudzielanek. Grudzielanek played for Ottawa in 1995, one season before making the National League All-Star Team. The only manager entirely new to the IL in 2017 will be Gwinnett s Damon Berryhill, who didn t appear in this circuit throughout his fifteen-year playing career spanning five organizations. Berryhill was the 2015 Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year while with the Oklahoma City Dodgers. 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 well over 10,000 games in the minors. Three of this year s group Johnson, Gardner, and Quade are among the top twelve winningest managers active in the Minor Leagues. Meanwhile there are also eight IL skippers with fewer than 200 career wins at the Triple-A level, all hoping to be the one man destined to have his name etched onto the IL's coveted postseason trophy when the 2017 season concludes this September.

2 MINORS TRIPLE-A BOBBY MEACHAM BUFFALO BISONS Opening Day Age: 56 Born: Los Angeles, CA Season With BUF: 1st Season With Blue Jays: 5th Former Bisons infielder Bobby Meachum is the club s new manager for 2017, replacing Gary Allenson. He is the first African-American manager in the 133-year history of the Bisons franchise and the second former player to return as skipper, along with Torey Lovullo. Meacham enters the 27th season of his coaching career with 10 years of experience as a minor league manager. He joined the Blue Jays organization in 2013 and led Single-A Dunedin to a first-half championship in the Florida State League. He has spent the last three years as manager of Double-A New Hampshire. In 2015, Meacham received the Bobby Mattick Award for excellence in player development within the Blue Jays organization. His only prior season managing in Triple-A was with Pittsburgh s Calgary Cannons (PCL) in He also managed at Eugene (1992), Carolina (1994) and Rancho Cucamonga ( ). Meacham s coaching career also includes six years at the Major League level serving as a third base coach for Florida (2006) and the New Yankees (2008) and first base coach for San Diego (2007) and Houston ( ). Meachum is a former 1st round draft pick who spent parts of six seasons with the New York Yankees. MINORS MARK GRUDZIELANEK charlotte knights Opening Day Age: 46 Born: Milwaukee, WI Season With CHA: 1st Season With White Sox: 1st Mark Grudzielanek, who hit.289 over 15 seasons in the majors as a Gold Glove-winning infielder, makes his debut as a Triple-A manager this season with the Charlotte Knights. Grudzielanek replaces Julio Vinas, who will return to his former role as manager of Double-A Birmingham. Grudzielanek enters his first season in the White Sox organization after spending the last two years with the Diamondbacks. As a rookie manager in 2015, he guided the Kane County Cougars (Class-A) to an record and a postseason berth. Last year he worked in Arizona s player development system as an Assistant Coordinator. Grudzielanak played for six teams over his illustrious 15-year big league career, including the Expos ( ), Dodgers ( ), Cubs ( ), Cardinals (2005), Royals ( ), and Indians (2010). 1996, while playing for the Expos, Grudzielanek hit.306 in 153 games. He was a National League All-Star that season. In 2006 as a member of the Royals, Grudzielanek was awarded a Rawlings Gold Glove at second base. He appeared in 1,802 major league games over the course of his career and compiled a.289 batting average with 2,040 hits. MINORS TRIPLE-A CHRIS TREMIE COLUMBUS CLIPPERS Opening Day Age: 47 Born: Houston, TX Season With COL: 5th Season With Indians: 12th Back for a fifth season managing Columbus is Chris Tremie, who has led the Clippers to three straight division titles in the IL West. That stretch also included a Governors Cup championship in 2015, which helped earn Tremie the chance to manage the IL to a victory at the 2016 Triple-A All-Star Game. Before he arrived in Columbus, Tremie managed seven seasons in the lower levels of the Cleveland organization. He also won a league title in 2012 when he led Double-A Akron to the Eastern League Championship. Before he became manager of Akron in 2011, Tremie piloted the rookie level Arizona League Indians in 2010, as well as Class-A Kinston in , Class-A Lake County in 2007, and the rookie level Gulf Coast League Indians in Before managing, Tremie enjoyed a 14-year playing career that included stops in the White Sox, Phillies, Rangers, Pirates, Marlins, and Astros organizations. He appeared in 22 games at the big league level over parts of four seasons. Tremie was originally a 39th-round selection of the Chicago White Sox in the 1992 draft, having graduated from the University of Houston with a degree in Kinesiology. MINORS TRIPLE-A JARED SANDBERG DURHAM BULLS Opening Day Age: 39 Born: Olympia, WA Season With DUR: 2nd Season With Rays: 10th In his first season at the helm of the Bulls in 2015, Jared Sandberg s club finished just 4.0 games out of 1st in the IL South, and despite a losing record in 2016 Durham missed the postseason by only 1.5 games. During his 12-year playing career he spent parts of five seasons in Durham, appearing in 326 games as a member of the Bulls. After playing nine seasons in the Tampa Bay organization, including nearly 200 games with the Rays between , Sandberg returned as a coach in 2008 following his retirement. Since 2009 he has been a Minor League manager, beginning with rookie level Princeton before spending with Short-Season Class-A Hudson Valley. After guiding Hudson Valley to a New York-Penn League title in his final season and being named the Baseball America Short-Season Manager of the Year, he moved on to Class-A Bowling Green and led the Hot Rods to the playoffs in One year before coming to Durham he piloted High Class-A Charlotte to a mark. Sandberg is the Tampa Bay organization s all-time Minor League leader in home runs (113), RBI (473), and runs (417). He is the nephew of Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg.

3 MINORS TRIPLE-A DAMON BERRYHILL GWINNETT BRAVES Opening Day Age: 53 Born: South Laguna, CA Season With GWN: 1st Season With Braves: 1st This past offseason former big league catcher Damon Berryhill was named the sixth manager in Gwinnett Braves history. John Moses, who managed the club for 81 games in 2016, is returning to his original role as hitting coach. Berryhill joins the Atlanta organization after having most recently spent seven seasons with the L.A. Dodgers ( ). He embarks on his ninth season as a minor league manager in 2017 and his third at the Triple-A level. He managed the Dodgers Triple-A affiliate from , piloting Albuquerque in 2014 and then Oklahoma City in He led OKC to a franchise-record 86 wins and claimed the honor of PCL Manager of the Year while making his fifth trip to the postseason as a skipper. He spent five seasons as manager for Rookie-level Ogden, and before joining the Dodgers served one year as manager for Advanced-A Bakersfield of the Rangers organization. He was a minor league catching coordinator with the Rangers ( ) and Diamondbacks ( ). His coaching career began with High-A Rancho Cucamonga of the L.A. Angels organization (2002). Berryhill was a 1st round draft pick in 1984 and played 10 MLB seasons with the Cubs, Braves, Red Sox, Reds, and Giants. MINORS ANDY BARKETT INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS Opening Day Age: 42 Born: Miami, FL Season With IND: 1st Season With Pirates: 2nd The 60th manager in Indians franchise history will be Andy Barkett, who takes over after Dean Treanor departed to become the bullpen coach for the Miami Marlins. Barkett spent the 2016 campaign as an assistant hitting coordinator within the Pirates organization, the same role he held the year before with Miami. This will be Barkett s ninth season as a manager in the Minor Leagues. From , he managed the Marlins Double-A affiliate in Jacksonville where he led the Suns to the Southern League championship in his final year at the helm. Prior to that he spent four years in the Tigers system as a manager. He guided Short-A Oneonta (2007) to a playoff berth and then guided High-A Lakeland for three seasons ( ). He has not managed at the Triple-A level prior to During Barkett s eleven-year playing career, he logged 17 games for the Pirates in 2001, hitting.304 with two doubles, a homer, and three RBI. He also played over 1,100 games in the minors with the Texas, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Detroit organizations. Barkett played parts of two seasons in the IL with Richmond (2000, 2005) and one with Toledo (2004). MINORS DUSTY WATHAN LEHIGH VALLEY IRONPIGS Opening Day Age: 43 Born: Jacksonville, FL Season With LHV: 1st Season With Phillies: 10th Dusty Wathan, the winningest manager in the history of Double-A Reading, has been named the new manager of Lehigh Valley. He replaces the IronPigs all-time winningest manager, Dave Brundage, who is now manager of San Francisco s Pacific Coast League affiliate in Sacramento. In his five seasons with Reading, Wathan posted a.527 winning percentage and guided the team to three playoff berths, and in 2016 he won his second consecutive Eastern League Manager of the Year award. Overall, Wathan has nine years of experience as a skipper in the Phillies system coming with Short-A Williamsport (2008), Low-A Lakewood (2009), Advanced-A Clearwater ( ) and Reading ( ). Lakewood claimed the 2009 South Atlantic League title under Wathan, who was named SAL Manager of the Year. During his 14-year playing career, Wathan appeared in more than 1,000 minor league games which included stops in six different organizations: Seattle, Florida, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Cleveland, and Philadelphia. He reached the majors for three games with the Royals in He also spent parts of five seasons in the IL with Buffalo ( ), SWB (2006), and Ottawa (2007). MINORS TRIPLE-A DELINO DESHIELDS LOUISVILLE BATS Opening Day Age: 48 Born: Seaford, DE Season With LOU: 3rd Season With Reds: 9th Delino DeShields is two years into his first stint as a Triple-A manager, having piloted the Bats to a combined record since Last year s club finished 2nd in the IL West Division. DeShields was promoted to Louisville after spending two seasons managing Cincinnati s Double-A affiliate in Pensacola where he guided the Blue Wahoos to a record. This will be the ninth season overall for DeShields in the Cincinnati organization and eighth as a manager. He joined the Reds in 2009 to serve as hitting coach for rookie level Billings, and a year later he was named manager of the Mustangs. DeShields then went on to manage the Class-A Dayton Dragons in 2011 and 2012 before he arrived in Pensacola. DeShields was a first round draft pick of the Montreal Expos in Between 1990 and 2002 he played in 1,615 games at the Major League level with the Expos, Dodgers, Cardinals, Orioles, and Cubs, primarily as a second baseman. He currently ranks 48th all-time with 463 career stolen bases. DeShields spent part of the 1989 season with Indianapolis (in the American Association).

4 MINORS 1,617-1,626 TRIPLE-A RON JOHNSON NORFOLK TIDES Opening Day Age: 61 Born: Long Beach, CA Season With NOR: 6th Season With Orioles: 6th The longest-tenured manager in the IL this season will be Ron Johnson, who enters his sixth season in Norfolk and sixth overall with the Baltimore organization. Johnson was IL Manager of the Year in 2015 when he piloted the Tides to a South Division title. Before becoming the all-time winningest manager in Tides history, Johnson spent the previous twelve years in the Red Sox organization. He was Boston s first base coach during the seasons, which followed five years as manager of Pawtucket. Johnson managed for nine seasons total in the Boston farm system, piloting Class-A Sarasota ( ), Double-A Trenton (2002) and Portland ( ). Prior to that, Johnson served as a manager for eight seasons with the same organization that drafted him as a player. In the Kansas City Royals system, Johnson managed Class-A Baseball City (1992) and Wilmington (1993), Double-A Memphis (1994) and Wichita ( ), and Triple-A Omaha of the Pacific Coast League ( ). His playing career was mostly spent in the minors, though he reached the majors for a total of 22 games with the Royals and Expos. MINORS 1,009-1,004 TRIPLE-A KEVIN BOLES PAWTUCKET RED SOX Opening Day Age: 41 Born: Chicago, IL Season With PAW: 4th Season With Red Sox: 10th Kevin Boles is back for a fourth season in Pawtucket, where he s led the PawSox to a record of since assuming the helm in He delivered a Governors Cup title in his first season, but Pawtucket hasn t returned to the playoffs since. Boles managed Double-A Portland from , prior to which he spent the first ten years of his managerial career at either the Rookie or Class-A level with the Marlins, Royals, Twins, and Red Sox organizations. Boles guided his first club, the Gulf Coast League Marlins, to a division title in 2000 as a 25-year-old skipper. He managed Florida s short-season Utica club in 2001 before joining the Royals. He served as a coach in 2002 prior to managing the Arizona League Royals. Boles next joined Minnesota, managing Class-A Quad Cities in He took teams to the playoffs each of the following two seasons, Beloit of the Midwest League in 2005 and Ft. Myers of the Florida State League in Boles later moved on to the Boston organization with Class-A Greenville in , going to one South Atlantic League finals was spent as manager of Salem of the Carolina League. Kevin is the son of former Marlins manager John Boles. MINORS 1,365-1,290 TRIPLE-A MIKE QUADE ROCHESTER RED WINGS Opening Day Age: 60 Born: Evanston, IL Season With ROC: 3rd Season With Twins: 3rd Mike Quade has led Rochester to a record over the past two seasons, though the Red Wings narrowly missed the playoffs both times. He s back for his third year with both the Red Wings and the Twins. Quade became manager of the Chicago Cubs in August of 2010 when Lou Pinella retired, guiding Chicago to a MLB-best record down the stretch. The Cubs went in Quade s one full season as a big league manager in He joined the Minnesota organization after spending 2014 as a roving outfield coordinator with the Yankees. This will be his 20th season as a Minor League manager. He s guided teams in the Pittsburgh, Montreal, Philadelphia, Oakland, and Chicago Cubs chains, finishing with a winning record eleven times. Quade has led five teams to league championship series, winning titles with Class-A West Michigan in 1996 and Triple-A Vancouver in He s twice been named his league s Manager of the Year, including his first year in the IL in Quade piloted Ottawa in 1993 and Scranton/WB in As a player, Quade spent five seasons in the Pirates organization, topping out with a season at Double-A Buffalo in MINORS TRIPLE-A AL PEDRIQUE SCRANTON/WB RAILRIDERS Opening Day Age: 56 Born: Valencia, Venezuela Season With SWB: 2nd Season With Yankees: 5th Al Pedrique arrived in SWB with big shoes to fill in 2016 following the departure of IL Hall of Famer Dave Miley. Pedrique delivered the franchise its second Governors Cup and its first Triple-A National Championship, earning honors as IL Manager of the Year with a classification best record of He s in his fifth season in the Yankees organization, which he joined in 2013 to pilot Low-A Charleston. He skippered High-A Tampa in 2014 and then Double-A Trenton a year before coming to SWB. Before joining the Yankees organization, he served as a coach and manager in the Houston, Kansas City, and Arizona organizations over a 16-year span. For the Astros he served in a variety of roles, including bench coach, third base coach, minor league field coordinator, and special assistant to the G.M. In 2004 he began the season as Arizona s third base coach before spending the second half of the year as the team s interim manager. He had been a minor league manager for the previous nine seasons, including two with Triple-A Tucson. Originally signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1978, Pedrique went on to play in parts of three seasons with the Mets (1987), Pirates ( ) and Tigers (1989).

5 MINORS 1,470-1,471 TRIPLE-A BILLY GARDNER, JR. SYRACUSE CHIEFS Opening Day Age: 50 Born: New London, CT Season With SYR: 4th Season With Nationals: 4th Billy Gardner, Jr. has guided the Chiefs to a record in his first three seasons in Syracuse. He made his Triple-A managerial debut in 2014 upon joining the Washington organization and led the Chiefs to the franchise s first playoff appearance since 1998, earning honors as IL Manager of the Year. That came after 19 seasons managing in the Boston, Kansas City, Cincinnati, and Tampa Bay organizations. Most recently he had been manager of the Rays Double-A affiliate in Montgomery from He won a Southern League championship and Manager of the Year Award, and along the way was rated by Baseball America as the Southern League s Best Managerial Prospect. Gardner also won a title in the South Atlantic League (1999 with Augusta) and was named Midwest League Manager of the Year (1998 with Michigan). Gardner played in the Royals system in 1987 and 1988 after being selected in the 50th round of the 1987 MLB Amateur Draft. His father, Billy Gardner, Sr., managed the Minnesota Twins from and the Kansas City Royals for part of the 1987 campaign. MINORS TRIPLE-A MIKE ROJAS TOLEDO MUD HENS Opening Day Age: 53 Born: Miami, FL Season With TOL: 2nd (2007) Season With Tigers: 11th ( ) After Lloyd McClendon was promoted to the big league staff as a hitting coach, the Tigers announced they were bringing back Mike Rojas as manager of the Mud Hens. Rojas most recently worked as Seattle s bullpen coach under McClendon from , which came after ten years with the Tigers organization. He served as manager at Class-A Oneonta in 2004, Class-A Lakeland in , and Toledo in His season in Toledo turned into a manager s gig after Larry Parrish injured his ankle in the spring. Rojas guided the Hens to an record and the IL West Division title. He then became a minor league field coordinator until ascending to the role of Tigers bullpen coach in July of Rojas brings twelve years of managerial experience to Toledo, having also managed in the White Sox, Astros, and Reds farm systems. In 2005 he was named the Florida State League Manager of the Year and he s twice been named his circuit s Best Managerial Candidate by Baseball America. Rojas played two seasons in the minors in the Oakland (1983) and Toronto (1984) organizations. He is the son of former Major League player, coach, and manager Cookie Rojas.