Pirates Must Fill Coaching Vacancy in Minor Leagues
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates will make coaching changes this offseason, including finding a new coach for one of their minor league affiliates.
Isaac Azout of Fish on First reported that the Miami Marlins hired Greensboro Grasshoppers manager Blake Butler as their infield coach for 2026.
The Pirates must now fill that vacancy for their High-A affiliate as they head into next season.
Blake Butler's Success With Greensboro
Butler had two great seasons in charge of Greensboro, leading them to back-to-back playoff appearances, with a 77-55 record in 2024 and an 88-43 record in 2025, both the best overall records in the South Atlantic League North Division.
Greensboro hit the most home runs in the South Atlantic League last season (165) and ranked second most amongst High-A, while their ERA ranked fourth in the South Atlantic League.
The Pirates honored Butler and his fellow Greensboro coaches as their Staff of the Year in 2025, as their 88 wins tied for fourth most in minor league baseball and the most for Greensboro since 1982.
Butler praised his staff for their work on the award and that they did a great job with player development and building relationships with prospects throughout the season.
"...I really think the environment that the players were able to reap the rewards from comes from the staff. It’s not something that just a manager can create. It has to come from everybody. It takes buy-in from everybody. It takes commitment from everybody.
"You’re spending your off-days focusing on scouting reports from opposing teams so you can present well to your team. It takes a lot of time in the season. We’re already spending a lot of time away from our families. And we have to give an off-day away to improve a player or focus on strategy. Our group never batted an eye.
"Even in the dog days in August, they continued to work hard to the finish line. We fell a little short from a playoff perspective. But I think those development gains, hopefully you guys are seeing and writing about in Pittsburgh in the near term.
Butler's Tenure with Pirates
Butler spent the whole decade with the Pirates before his departure, working in different roles in the minor leagues.
His first assignment was coaching Double-A Altoona in 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the minor league season.
Butler served as a development coach for Greensboro in 2021 and then spent the next two seasons, 2022-23, with Altoona as their development coach, with the official title of Integrated Baseball Performance Coach.
He also got the chance to coach Konnor Griffin during his time at Greensboro this past season, helping him become the top prospect in baseball and play in the Futures Game. Griffin earned South Atlantic League Top MLB Propsect honors after the season too.
Butler also oversaw the breakout season that outfielder Esmerlyn Valdez had while with Greensboro and that propelled him to a spot on the Pirates 40-man roster this offseason.
Valdez slashed .303/.385/.592 for an OPS of .977 in 72 games, with 84 hits, 18 doubles, one triple, 20 home runs, 57 RBIs and 31 walks to his 77 strikeouts in Greensboro.
He led the South Atlantic League in a number of categories at the time of his promotion to Altoona on July 2, including hits, home runs, RBIs, batting average, slugging percentage and OPS, plus ranking tied for first in doubles and 11th in on-base percentage, which earned him South Atlantic League MVP honors.
How the Pirates Will Replace Butler
Minor league coaching positons change constantly year-by-year, as people find new jobs outside the organization or receive internal promotions.
Greensboro had a great staff last season, with the likes of pitching coach Matt Myers, hitting coaches in Jon Preito and Jonathan Roof, bench coach Phillip Wellman, development coach Steph Lombardo and others.
The Pirates could promote one of those members from the Greensboro coaching staff to manager or move someone else in the organization into that role.
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.