Good-Bye Daytona Cubs, Hello Daytona Tortugas

On December 4th, 2014, according to Benjamin Hill (MiLB.com), Daytona’s newest minor league team came into existence and  they will now be known as the Daytona Tortugas.

At the end of the 2014 season, the Chicago Cubs ended their affiliation with Daytona. The move ended the 21 year relationship between the Cubs organization and General Manager Jordan Kobritz. The Daytona Cubs had some very good team over the years. They’re leaving with a record of 1434 wins and 1406 losses, good for a .505 win percentage.

The Daytona Cubs finished first in the league twice and in their division four times. The Cubs captured 6 division titles and 6 Florida State League Championships……which included this previous year. The Cubs finished 2014 with a 75-51 record, finished 1st in the league and in their division.

The Cincinnati Reds will be the new occupants of Jackie Robinson Ballpark in 2015.

The Daytona Tortugas are the Reds Class A advanced affiliate. They’ll be managed by former catcher/first baseman/outfielder Eli Marrero who started his career, which spanned 700+ games over 10 years, with the St. Louis Cardinals.  Rounding out the coaching staff will be former reliever Tony Fossas (pitching coach), and Kevin Mahar (hitting coach).

Marrero is entering his fifth season with Reds in a coaching capacity. Recently, he managed the Reds AZL Reds team.

Tony Fossas has six season of being a pitching coach under his belt. Fossas has had some success as a minor league pitching coach.

"Fossas oversaw a pitching staff that broke the all-time Midwest League record for strikeouts in a season, and broke the franchise record for best ERA while leading the league in ERA, strikeouts, shutouts, and fewest runs allowed. (full article)"

Kevin Mahar enters his 4th season as a hitting coach within the Reds organization.

Tony Fossa will have some talented arms to work with in Daytona.  On the staff, Fossa will have 5 of the Reds top 20 prospects. Righ handers Nicholas Travieso, Sal Romano, Jackson Stephens and Lefties Ismael Guillon and Amir Garrett.

Mahar will have less to work with but will still have talented outfielder Phil Ervin and maybe Beau Amaral. Mahar also has a darkhorse in 23-year-old Sebastian Elzalde, who played 121 games between Advanced-A and Full-A.

Should be an exciting year and a fresh start for Daytona fans. Good luck in 2015.