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| December 9, 2017 12:00 AM

Holmberg named Indians manager

SPOKANE — The Texas Rangers announced the 2018 field staffs for their minor league affiliates, and the Spokane Indians will have a new manager for the second consecutive season.

Kenny Holmberg becomes the sixth manager for the Indians since Spokane became an affiliate of the Texas Rangers in 2003. Holmberg will be joined by Jared Goedert (hitting coach), and Jono Armold (pitching coach). Ed Yong (strength and conditioning coach) returns to Spokane for his 10th consecutive season while Bronson Santillan (trainer) will be in his first season with the Indians.

Holmberg replaces Matt Hagen, who led the Indians to the Northwest League playoffs in his lone season in Spokane. The Rangers assigned Hagen to manage the Low-A Hickory (N.C.) Crawdads this season, a step up from short-season class A Spokane.

Holmberg spent the last two seasons as the Rangers’ minor league infield coordinator. He will retain his responsibilities as the organization’s infield coordinator along with managing the Indians this summer.

Holmberg was selected in the 2005 MLB Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers and spent four years in the minor leagues before going into coaching. His father Dennis has been a longtime coach in the Toronto Blue Jays organization. This will be Kenny’s 10th season with the Texas Rangers, which includes previous managerial experience with the DSL Rangers in 2011 and the AZL Rangers from 2013-15.

Goedert returns to Spokane after serving as the Indians’ assistant coach during the 2016 season. He spent the 2017 season in the AZL as the Rangers’ hitting coach. The ninth-round pick in the 2006 MLB Draft had a nine-year minor league career in the Cleveland (2006-2012), Pittsburgh (2013), and Toronto (2014) organizations.

Armold pitched two years in the Milwaukee organization prior to starting his coaching career. Armold spent last season with Goedert on the AZL Rangers.