The Arizona Fall League is giving teams a chance to test more than prospects in Phoenix. It’s also a showcase for coaches, the kind of staffers who can bring a different voice, a different background, and a different way of teaching. For the Mariners, that’s the lane worth watching as they continue looking beyond the organization for new ideas.
Seattle has its own people in the mix already. Jordan Cowan, a long-tenured Mariner, is serving as the hitting coach for the Peoria Javelinas, while Dylan Gargas is the pitching coach. Those two are worth tracking later in the week, but the broader point is bigger than Seattle’s own delegation: the AFL keeps putting coaching candidates in front of decision-makers, and several current big-league managers once passed through this same setting.
Kevin Cash, AJ Hinch, Torey Lovullo, Derek Shelton, and Warren Schaeffer have all managed AFL teams at some point. There’s usually another step between the Fall League and a major league dugout, but the pipeline is real.
Schaeffer, for example, managed the Salt River Rafters in 2022 before becoming interim manager of the Rockies in 2025. With that in mind, here are a few names that fit the Mariners’ stated interest in fresh voices.
Billy Facteau is one of the more intriguing ones, even if his age drew more than a little attention. He is the bench coach for the Peoria Javelinas and currently works as a development coach for the Norfolk Tides, Baltimore’s Triple-A club.
His background includes more than five years as a development coach for the Orioles, plus college baseball at Lynn University. He also worked as a tech coordinator intern with Baltimore, which gives him a feel for tools like BlastMotion and Rapsodo and, just as important, how to turn that information into something players can actually use.
The source also notes that he has a special interest in coaching the outfield, an area the Mariners system may not be as deep in as others.
Jeff Livesey brings the opposite kind of profile: plenty of seasoning, maybe not the same sense of a fresh angle. The 60-year-old is the hitting coach for the Reading Fightin’ Phils, Philadelphia’s Double-A club, and he has a long track record that includes playing professionally, more than five years as a minor league hitting coach with Washington and Pittsburgh, two years as a bench coach in NPB, and a season as a Marlins assistant hitting coach.
Reading finished first in its division in the second half and led the Northeast division of the Eastern League in runs scored. Livesey also has a quote from his Marlins days that sums up his approach:
“Sometimes with young hitters you get pitched tough, and guys get in-between pitches, and get kind of careful, We want to get to the point, we hunt our pitches. Good hitters hunt what they want to hit.
When they get it, they take aggressive swings. That’s what we want to work towards.
If they make two good pitches on us, we still have got something we can go to with two strikes. We can battle, and still be tough outs.”
Toby Nagel is another coach with a strong teaching reputation, especially on the pitching side. He is the pitching coach for the Glendale Desert Dogs and also works for the Miami Blue Wahoos at Double-A.
His background includes Driveline and Inspiration Academy, and he stands out for the way he explains pitching tech to players. The source points to the short videos he has made on TikTok breaking down pitching technology and how to use it.
Omar Neda, the manager of the ACL Brewers, is 38 and brings a bilingual background after being born in Mexico and playing at New Mexico. He has spent more than five years playing professionally and more than five years managing the ACL Brewers.
Under his watch, the ACL Brewers have reached the playoffs twice and won the ACL championship in 2023. Neda is described as deeply connected to the organization he played for professionally, and as a player he was a true utility type who handled spots all over the diamond, catcher included.
At UNM, he was named to the Johnny Bench Award watchlist, and his coach called him the best catcher in the country for his work on and off the field.
Ted Tom, who manages the Salt River Rafters and also leads the Wilmington Blue Rocks, is the veteran college voice in this group. His coaching résumé stretches across more than 20 years at the college level.
He has worked with future big leaguers there, including Dodgers player Alex Freeland, and he has a Mariners connection through Dylan Moore, whom he coached at UCF. Tom helped produce six all-conference selections at UCF, and after moving into the hitting coach role in 2019, he helped the program reach the NCAA tournament.
The source also highlights his thoughts in podcast interviews, including his line: “You need to fall in love with the monotony of every day”
Danny Worth rounds out the list as a first-year MLB coach with the Padres, where he serves as an infield coordinator. He is 41 and has eight-plus years of pro playing experience, plus time in the KBO, and he also coached at Pepperdine before moving into MLB.
Worth worked with current Tigers prospect John Peck at Pepperdine, helping with both swing mechanics and infield play. He also mentored the 2018 WCC Player of the Year, Jordan Qsar, and coached five MLB Draft picks from the positions he handled.
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