Rich Dubroff

Orioles continue makeover by dismissing minor league personnel

The Orioles continued their front office makeover Monday when they fired a number of their minor league personnel.

The most prominent name, according to a source, was minor league hitting coordinator Jeff Manto, a former Oriole. Other names included Frederick manager Ryan Minor (pictured above), and Keys pitching coach Justin Lord and hitting coach Bobby Rose.

Others reportedly dismissed included Gulf Coast outfield coach Carlos Tosca, who also served as a roving outfield coach for the organization, Aberdeen field coach Jack Graham, and minor league catching coordinator Don Werner and Ramon Martinez, who worked with pitchers in Latin America.

Scott McGregor, the team’s minor league pitching coordinator in Sarasota, was also fired. McGregor, who won Game 5 of the 1983 World Series, was also a longtime minor league pitching coach with the  team.

News of the dismissals was first reported by The Athletic and MASNsports.com.

General manager Mike Elias fired 11 front office personnel and scouts last month, and changes were expected at the minor league level once their seasons ended last week.

Minor, who has managed Frederick and Delmarva since 2010, replaced Cal Ripken Jr. at third base on September 20, 1998 when Ripken decided to end his consecutive games streak.

Tosca, who once managed the Toronto Blue Jays, was brought into the organization on the recommendation of former manager Buck Showalter. He had also served as Gulf Coast’s manager

Werner, who once backed up Johnny Bench with the Cincinnati Reds, is a highly respected catching instructor and a survivor of Stage 3 breast cancer. He’d been working with Adley Rutschman, the top overall draft pick.

Martinez, who had an excellent major league career as a pitcher, is the brother of Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez and had occasionally filled in as Orioles pitching coach in 2016 when Dave Wallace had to leave the team to attend to family matters.

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