Rouglas Odor, Brad Goldberg, Kai Correa added to Guardians' staff

CLEVELAND -- The Guardians have finalized their 2024 coaching staff.

On Monday, Cleveland announced the promotions of Rouglas Odor from Double-A Akron manager to Major League infield coach/third-base coach and Brad Goldberg from Akron pitching coach to Major League bullpen coach. The organization also brought back a familiar face in Kai Correa to become the Major League field coordinator, and Craig Albernaz was named bench coach.

“I feel really good,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “It’s a well-rounded staff. People from all different experience levels, but also just [a] wealth of knowledge, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to have this group heading into the next year.”

Those were the only vacancies the Guardians had to fill. The team is still working through who will be the replay coordinator, but the rest of the staff is set. Sandy Alomar Jr. will return as first-base and catching coach, Carl Willis will serve as pitching coach, Chris Valaika is the hitting coach, Victor Rodríguez is the assistant hitting coach, JT Maguire will remain the outfield coach and Jason Esposito is the run-production coordinator.

“I think it was paramount to have them come back,” Vogt said. “Especially the experience levels of Carl and Sandy and their wealth of knowledge and just their love for Cleveland and the players here. They’re going to be a huge, huge help for me.”

Odor, 55, is heading into his 34th season in the Guardians' organization, beginning his tenure in 1988 as a player before transitioning to a coach with Cleveland’s player development staff in '98. Over his four seasons as the manager of the RubberDucks, he owned a 278-257 record, including the 2021 Double-A Northeast Division regular-season title.

“He’s worked with a lot of these guys as they’ve come up through the ranks together,” Vogt said. “There’s familiarity, there’s a relationship and trust there already, and what he’s going to be able to provide for our middle infield especially, and overall the infield, I think is super important. … He’s earned this.”

Goldberg, 33, was with the Guardians over the past two years. In 2022, he was a pitching coach based out of their player development complex in Arizona. In 2023, he joined Odor as his pitching coach in Akron, and his hurlers posted the second-lowest ERA in the Eastern League (3.87).

Correa, 35, was with Cleveland in 2018 and ’19 as an infield coordinator and lower-level defensive coordinator in Arizona. In ‘20, he joined San Francisco’s coaching staff as its Major League bench coach. He also served as interim manager of the Giants over the final three games of the ’23 season.

Albernaz, who was originally hired as the Major League field coordinator for the Guardians before Vogt was hired, will now move to bench coach, as former bench coach DeMarlo Hale took an associate manager role with the Blue Jays. Albernaz was the Giants' bullpen coach for the past four seasons.

“To have Craig step up and take that spot, I think it’s the most important relationship because he’s going to push me,” Vogt said. “He’s going to challenge me in a lot of ways. He’s going to support me, but it’s not always going to be easy.”