BROOKLYN, NY – February 13, 2023 – The New York Mets today announced the coaching staff for the 2023 Brooklyn Cyclones. Chris Newell, who served as the bench coach on manager Luis Rivera’s staff in 2022, will be the 14th manager in franchise history when the season opens on Friday, April 7th.
The 2023 season will mark Newell’s fourth in the Mets organization after serving as the manager of the Complex League Mets in 2021. The native of Clarkston, Michigan also has prior managerial experience with the Birmingham-Bloomfield Beavers in the United Shore Professional Baseball League from 2016-2019, where he guided the squad to back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018, and was named the Manager of the Year in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Chris has also served as a scout for the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees during his professional baseball career, which dates back to 1997.
Joining Newell on the bench will be Victor Ramos (Pitching Coach), Richie Benes (Hitting Coach), John Vaughn (Bench Coach) and Juan Loyo (Development Coach).
Ramos, 41, begins his fifth year with the Mets organization after previously serving as the pitching coach in St. Lucie and with the DSL Mets. He began his time with the Amazins in 2019 as a Player Development Associate, heading up video operations for the St. Lucie Mets video. The native of Puerto Rico was selected in the 35th round of the 2000 First-Year Player Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates as a catcher, but made the transition to pitcher in 2004 and went on to play in the Cubs and Red Sox systems before Tommy John Surgery ended his playing career in 2006. Ramos has also been a member of the Team Puerto Rico Coaching Staff in the last two World Baseball Classics.
Benes, 45, returns to Brooklyn as the hitting coach after serving in the same role in 2022. The Bronx native has also been a hitting instructor for the DSL Mets and Complex League Mets over his five seasons in the Mets organization. Prior to joining the Mets, he was the hitting and infield coach at Saint Peter’s University in Jersey City, NJ. Benes held a similar role with the University of Bridgeport (CT) and Monroe College in New Rochelle. Benes was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 23rdround of the 1996 First Year Players Draft out of Columbus High School in the Bronx.
John Vaughn enters his third season with the Mets organization and first with Brooklyn. He served as a Player Development Associate in 2021 and a Minor League Analytics Associate in 2022 with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, primarily focusing on video and analytics for the Mets AA Affiliate. He graduated from Anna Maria College in 2010, where he was the two-time captain of the baseball team. With his playing career behind him, Vaughn was the home clubhouse manager for the New Britain Rock Cats from 2010 – 2013 and later served in a Baseball Data & Video Operations role with St. John’s University Baseball while working towards his Masters Degree in Sports Management from 2019-2020.
Loyo enters his first year as a coach in the Mets system after wrapping up his playing career in 2022 as a member of the Brooklyn Cyclones team that won the Second Half Title in the South Atlantic League’s Northern Division. The 23-year-old backstop played at all four levels of the Mets system in 2022: St. Lucie, Brooklyn, Binghamton and Syracuse. He finished his playing career as a .263 hitting (91-346) in 124 career games. The native of Araure, Venezuela originally signed with the Mets organization in June of 2018. Loyo will join former hitting coaches Yunir Garcia and Bobby Malek, as well as former manager Luis Rivera, as coaches who have also played for the Cyclones.
Rounding out the staff will be Athletic Trainer, Paul Gonzales, and Drew Skrocki, who returns for his second season as the Cyclones Performance Coach.
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