The Wilmington Blue Rocks will have a new manager in 2016.
The team’s parent club - the World Series champion Kansas City Royals - announced Thursday that Jamie Quirk will replace Brian Buchanan next season.
In his first and only season with Wilmington, Buchanan led the Rocks to the 2015 Carolina League Mills Cup championship series before losing to Myrtle Beach.
The 61-year-old Quirk played with 8 teams during an 18 season Major League career. He batted .2-0 with 43 homers, 247 RBIs in 984 games, and won a World Series with the Royals in 1985.
Since retiring in 1992, he’s coached at both the major and minor league levels. The past two seasons he’s been a minor league manager in the San Diego Padres’ organization.
"Jamie is an experienced baseball man and natural leader," said Royals vice president/assistant general manager J.J. Picollo in a statement. "We are looking forward to him working with and sharing his experiences with our players and are extremely fortunate to have someone with his vast experience on our coaching staff."
Quirk is 14th manager in Blue Rocks’ franchise history. The Royals will name the rest of this staff for 2016 later this offseason.
