Albernaz, Willis staying put on Guardians' coaching staff
CLEVELAND -- Breathe easy, Guardians fans, because neither pitching coach Carl Willis nor Craig Albernaz are going anywhere.
The Guardians announced six changes to their 2025 Major League coaching staff on Wednesday, including a promotion for Albernaz from bench coach to associate manager. They also named Grant Fink the hitting coach, replacing Chris Valaika, who left for Cincinnati.
“As we looked at the landscape of the hitting across the game,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said, “we kept going back to Grant and what he brings from a leadership standpoint, from familiarity with a lot of our players and familiarity with the other three hitting coaches on our staff.”
The team then confirmed the return of the rest of its coaching staff, including Willis, who returns for his 15th season with Cleveland. If there was any concern that Willis was going to retire, that can now be eliminated.
“I couldn't be more thankful that Carl's coming back," Vogt said. “We lean on him a lot. This is the most experience on our staff, and for Carl to want to come back to want to be with us, we couldn't be more thrilled. And I know I'm looking forward to sitting next to him for another season and him having to hear my words during the game and calm me down.”
Here’s a full look at the Guardians’ changes:
- Craig Albernaz promoted to associate manager
- Grant Fink promoted to Major League hitting coach
- Kai Correa promoted to Major League field coordinator and director of defense, baserunning and game strategy
- Jason Esposito promoted to Major League assistant hitting coach
- Hasani Torres promoted to head Major League strength and conditioning coach
- Joe Kessler promoted to senior coordinator of strength and conditioning, integration and development
Albernaz and Correa both joined the Guardians' coaching staff prior to the ’24 season and played key roles in helping lead this team to success. Albernaz was rarely apart from Vogt, always by his side in his office with him before and after every game. The Guardians knew that Albernaz would be highly sought after this offseason by other teams. He was a top candidate to take the Marlins' managerial job. He was also in the mix for the White Sox. He probably got plenty of other calls, too. But ultimately, he wanted to come back to Cleveland, and the Guardians wanted to show their appreciation by giving him an elevated title.
“Just so excited he's coming back,” Vogt said. “Obviously for him to get the two opportunities and for him to choose to come back to us, it just speaks to who Alby is. … His responsibilities won't change. It was just a recognition of, 'You're more than a bench coach, you mean more to us than a bench coach.'”
Correa will continue to organize and oversee Major League Spring Training camp and daily workout duties during the regular season, but he will take on additional duties coordinating game strategies.
Fink spent the past three seasons as Cleveland’s Minor League hitting coordinator. He began his professional career with the organization in 2017 after a three-year playing career. He was one of the internal candidates that the Guardians considered for the role. The organization did not interview external candidates in the process.
“Grant was very involved with our Major League group and he was a good resource for [Valaika] and the hitting group, because he did help [bridge that gap] for guys that were making the transition from Triple-A to the Major Leagues,” Vogt said. “So Grant had a huge hand in what we did last year and a lot of that went into our decision. But also, it's just the person. Grant Fink is exceptional and I'm really excited to work with him.”
Sandy Alomar Jr. will be back as first-base and catching coach for his 16th season. Assistant pitching coach Joe Torres returns to help Willis, and Brad Goldberg will be back as the bullpen coach. Rouglas Odor will serve as the third-base coach again, and JT Maguire will continue to coach the outfielders.