CYCLONES ANNOUNCE 2015 COACHING STAFF

CYCLONES ANNOUNCE 2015 COACHING STAFF

Familiar Faces Returning to MCU Park for Team’s Milestone 15^th Season

Brooklyn, NY, February 17, 2015 – The coaching staff for the 2015 Brooklyn Cyclones has been announced and will feature a crew that is very familiar with MCU Park. Tom Gamboa, who guided the team to a 42-34 mark last season, will return as Cyclones manager and will be joined by pitching coach Tom Signore, hitting coach Yunir Garcia, athletic trainer Kiyoshi Tada and strength coach Joe Lego. Yunir Garcia is the only coach that was not a part of the staff during the 2014 season, but the 32-year-old is very familiar with the Cyclones having played parts of two seasons with the team during his eight-year minor league career.

“The 2015 season will be a very special one for our franchise,” said Cyclones Vice President Steve Cohen. “We will be celebrating our 15th season as a franchise and will be welcoming the 4,000,000th fan through the gates of MCU Park. But we are also hopeful that, under the guidance of this very experienced staff, we will return to the playoffs and contend for a New York-Penn League Championship.”

Gamboa, 67, enters his second season with the Mets organization and his 42nd year in pro baseball. The Rancho Mirage, CA native was at the helm of the Cyclones last season and fell just short of a Wild Card berth, losing a tie-breaker to the Connecticut Tigers following the last game of the season. Gamboa has served on the Major League coaching staffs of the Chicago Cubs (1998-99), and Kansas City Royals (2001-03). The father of five has also had a successful managerial career in the minor leagues, including division titles most recently in Arkansas (AA) in 2005, and Albuquerque (AAA) in 2000.

Signore, 53, returns for his second year as the pitching coach after guiding the Cyclones to a league-leading 2.74 team ERA during the 2014 season. The Connecticut native filled in as the pitching coach for the Las Vegas 51s (AAA), where he worked with the eventual National League Rookie of the Year Jacob deGrom, to start last year. Prior to joining the Mets, he was a part of the Blue Jays organization from 2005-2013. Signora graduated from Quinnipiac College in 1985, and was a teammate of Mets Special Assistant to the General Manager, J.P. Ricciardi, during his lone season as a professional pitcher with Helena (R) in 1985.

Garcia, 32, begins his eighth season as a coach in the Mets organization and his first as the hitting coach with the Cyclones. The San Pablo, Venezuela native served in the same role with the Kingsport Mets of the rookie-level Appalachian League for the last three seasons after beginning his coaching career with the Dominican Summer League Mets (2010) and Venezuelan Summer League Mets (2008-2009). The former catcher also spent eight seasons as a player in the Mets organization, making it as high as AAA in 2006. Garcia appeared in 37 games with the Cyclones in 2003 and 10 games in 2004.

Kiyoshi Tada will return for his second consecutive season, and third season overall, as the athletic trainer for the club. The Aichi, Japan native has been with the Mets organization since 2011. Rounding out the staff is strength coach, Joe Lego, who served in the same role in 2014, his first as a member of the Mets organization.