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Former major leaguer Brian Daubach announced this morning on an WEEI Radio interview in Boston that he has been named the manager of the Nationals' Low Single-A affiliate, the Hagerstown Suns of the South Atlantic League.
The 38-year-old Daubach hit .259 with 93 homers and 333 RBIs in an eight-year major league career that included stints with Florida, Boston, the Chicago White Sox and New York Mets. For four straight seasons between 2000-2003, he surpassed 20 homers and 70 RBIs.
Daubach spent last season skippering the Pittsfield (Mass.) Colonials of the independent Can-Am League and previously managed that loop's New Hampshire-based American Defenders. It's possible Daubach could be the first professional manager for last year's No. 1 overall draft pick, catcher-turned-right fielder Bryce Harper - assuming that's where the parent Washington Nationals assign Harper to play at the beginning of 2011.
The appointment of Daubach as Hagerstown's manager, creates a ripple effect in the organization, where last year's Hagerstown field boss, ex-major league catcher Matt LeCroy, has been promoted to the next rung on the ladder and will take over Advanced Single-A Potomac in Woodbridge, Va. The 34-year-old LeCroy managed the Suns for two seasons, his first assignment as a minor league skipper.
Both moves have surfaced without a formal announcement by the Nationals, who have yet to release their full minor league managing and coaching staffs. No word, either, on what happens to Gary Cathcart, who led the Potomac Nationals to the Carolina League title in 2010 in his first season with the Washington organization after spending the previous seven seasons as a coach or manager in the Toronto system.
