Jacque Jones Hired to Be Padres Minor League Hitting Coach

Jacque Jones, a very solid outfielder in his day, has been hired by Padres Single-A affiliate Fort Wayne TinCaps.  Jones accepted the job, his first coaching pitching and will join manager Jose Valentin in helping develop the Padres’ minor leaguers.

Jones hit .277/.326/.448 in a career that spanned 10 seasons.  He never developed the base-stealing ability many hoped he would.  He never really hit for power.  But Jones surely contributed during his time.  He compiled 9.7 WAR in his career, and he had a 4.9 WAR year in his best season, 2002.  That year, Jones hit .300/.341/.511 with 27 home runs.

Jones will be taking over a club that carries the Padres’ number 2, 4, 6, and 10th rated prospects.  Four players ranked in the top ten according to Baseball America.  It will be Jones’ job to make sure these players continue to grow and develop.  At the start of next season some may be promoted to the next level, but Jones will have plenty of young, raw talent to work with.

Now for the answers to all your burning questions about the TinCaps.  I’ll make up the questions so you don’t have to trouble yourselves with asking:

What’s a TinCap?

According to Wikipedia, the name TinCaps which was chosen after the 2008 season is in reference to Fort Wayne native John Chapman who wore a tin cap in his Disney portrayal of Johnny Appleseed.

Where is Fort Wayne?

Fort Wayne is in eastern Indiana, south east of South Bend and northeast of Indianapolis.

Who’s played there?

Jake Peavy, Will Venable, Torii Hunter, Sean Burroughs, and Josh Barfield.

Are they any good?

The TinCaps won the Midwest League Championship in 2009.  They finished second last year.

Read about Jones and his new job with the TinCaps here.

For all the minor league news you can handle, check out our friends at Seedlings to Stars.