Chambliss joins White Sox farm system as AAA manager

The Chicago White Sox continue to retool their farm system and the changes include hiring former major-league slugger Chris Chambliss along with Ron Oester, Olmedo Saenz and former hitting coach Gary Ward.

Chambliss, once a hitting coach for Joe Torre's New York Yankees, will begin his first season as manager of Triple-A Charlotte. He spent the last two seasons in the Atlanta organization as a hitting coach and manager. He also served as a major-league hitting coach with Cincinnati (2003-06) and New York-AL (1988 and 1993-95).

Chambliss played 17 seasons in the majors with Cleveland (1971-74), New York-AL (1974-79 and 1988) and Atlanta (1980-86), winning a pair of World Series titles with the Yankees in 1977-78.

Oester will serve as the organization's infield instructor after working in the Cincinnati organization from 1991-01 and again in 2004. He played 13 seasons with the Reds from 1978-90, hitting .265 (1,118-4,214) in 1,276 games.

Saenz begins his first season as the hitting coach with Rookie Great Falls. He hit .263 in 733 major-league games with the White Sox (1994), Oakland (1999-02) and Los Angeles-NL (2004-07).

Ward returns as the hitting coach for AAA Charlotte after serving in the same capacity from 1999-01. In May of 2001, he was promoted to hitting coach of the White Sox, serving until May of 2003. Ward played 12 major-league seasons with Minnesota (1979-83), Texas (1984-86), New York-AL (1987-89) and Detroit (1989-90), hitting .276 (1,236-4,479) with 130 home runs and 597 RBI in 1,287 games.

Greg Briley begins his first season in the White Sox organization as hitting coach with Class A Kannapolis. He spent nine seasons (1999-07) in the Pittsburgh organization, serving as hitting coach at various levels. Briley played six seasons in the majors with Seattle (1988-92) and Florida (1993).

Everado Magallanes begins his first season as manager with Class AA Birmingham. He has served as a manager in the Los Angeles-AL organization over the last three seasons, including Class A Rancho Cucamonga in 2008.

Ryan Newman has been named manager at Rookie Bristol after serving as manager for Class A Oneonta in the Detroit organization in 2008. He spent the previous three seasons coaching in the Pittsburgh organization. Prior to coaching, Newman played in the Pirates minor-league system from 2002-05.

In other changes within the player development staff, Joe McEwing (manager) and Bobby Thigpen (pitching coach) were added to Winston-Salem's staff, Ernie Young was named manager at Kannapolis, Andy Tomberlin was named hitting coach at Birmingham, Brian Drahman will serve as pitching coach for Great Falls, Curt Hasler was named pitching coach at Bristol and Manny Trillo will serve as the organization's bunting and baserunning instructor.

White Sox Player Development Staff

Director of Player Development: Buddy Bell

Field Coordinator: Nick Capra

Pitching Coordinator: Kirk Champion

Hitting Coordinator: Jeff Manto

Outfield Instructor: Daryl Boston

Infield Instructor: Ron Oester

Bunting/Baserunning Instructor: Manny Trillo

Latin Roving Instructor: Jose Bautista

Conditioning Coordinator: Dale Torborg

Minor League Training/Rehab Coordinator: Scott Takao

Class AAA Charlotte

Manager: Chris Chambliss

Pitching Coach: Richard Dotson

Hitting Coach: Gary Ward

Trainer: Scott Johnson

Conditioning: Chad Efron

Class AA Birmingham

Manager: Everado Magallanes

Pitching Coach: J.R. Perdew

Hitting Coach: Andy Tomberlin

Trainer: Joe Geck

Conditioning: Raymond Smith

Class A Winston-Salem

Manager: Joe McEwing

Pitching Coach: Bobby Thigpen

Hitting Coach: Robert Sasser

Trainer: Josh Fallin

Conditioning: Adam Tischler

Class A Kannapolis

Manager: Ernie Young

Pitching Coach: Larry Owens

Hitting Coach: Greg Briley

Trainer: Kevin Pillifant

Conditioning: Tim Rodmaker

Advanced Rookie Great Falls

Manager: Chris Cron

Pitching Coach: Brian Drahman

Hitting Coach: Olmedo Saenz

Trainer: TBD

Conditioning: Jeremie Imbus

Advanced Rookie Bristol

Manager: Ryan Newman

Pitching Coach: Curt Hasler

Hitting Coach: Jerry Hairston

Trainer: Cory Barton

Conditioning: Ibrahim Rivera