photo: George Greer, Oliver Marmol, Jose Oquendo (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
Long-time St. Louis Cardinals third base coach and infield specialist Jose Oquendo has decided to shift his focus to minor league instruction in Jupiter, Florida for a second time. Lured back to Mike Matheny’s 2018 staff after two years working out of the organization’s player development headquarters, Oquendo stayed with St. Louis for just one season in his second stint – a tumultuous one during which Matheny was fired and the club’s defense was erratic.
During a media briefing at Busch Stadium Tuesday morning, John Mozeliak, St. Louis’ president of baseball operations, also disclosed that bench coach Ron “Pop” Warner will be the new third base coach and first base coach Oliver Marmol has been selected by manager Mike Shildt to be the new bench coach.
Other shifts affect the dual hitting coaches promoted to St. Louis when John Mabry and his assistant Bill Mueller were fired along with Matheny in July. George Greer is returning to his prior job as minor league hitting coordinator and former Memphis hitting coach Mark Budaska will remain with the big-league staff as the assistant hitting coach in 2019.
Finally, if Memphis manager Stubby Clapp remains with the organization, it is a “high probability” (per Mozeliak) that he will take one of the two openings on Shildt’s 2019 staff. The two spots currently unfilled are first base coach and hitting coach.
Prior to joining the Cardinals organization two years ago, during which he led the Triple-A Redbirds to a pair of Pacific Coast League titles, Clapp logged eight seasons of experience as a minor league hitting coach in the Astros and Blue Jays systems.
Currently managing Surprise in the Arizona Fall League, Clapp has been identified as a candidate for the open managerial job with the Toronto Blue Jays. For that position, the Canadian native has the endorsement of outgoing manager John Gibbons.
In addition, Clapp is also among managerial candidates being considered by the Texas Rangers, according to a Tuesday report from the Daily Memphian. At this stage, identified as “initial conversations,” the level of the American League club’s interest is not known.
As a player, Clapp finished his collegiate career at Texas Tech after opening at a Lone Star State juco, Paris.
Along with the major league openings, the Cardinals will need to hire both a new manager and hitting coach for Memphis. After Budaska moved up to St. Louis in July, the organization rotated several staffers through the Triple-A affiliate as interim hitting coach.
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Brian Walton can be reached via email at brian@thecardinalnation.com. Follow Brian on Twitter.
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