The Cincinnati Reds promoted Falconian José Moreno to lead their AA affiliate, the Chattanooga Lookouts club, of the South League in the 2022 season.
Moreno, 53, is in his third year with the Scarlet organization, having worked nineteen seasons in the Seattle Mariners’ branch system. In the Venezuelan professional ball, he was for several years on the technical staff of Cardenales, a club he managed for three seasons between October 2017 and January 2021.
He attended three finals and was proclaimed champion against Caracas in the 2018-19 competition. In the current tournament he was coach of the La Guaira Sharks and he was laid off in November along with the manager Dennis Malavé.
Last year with the Dayton Dragons club, the Reds affiliate in the “A-strong” rated Central League, he topped the east division with a record of 65-55. In 2020, he was hired as the manager of the rookie branch of the Reds in Arizona.
Moreno led various teams in the Marineros farm system for nearly two decades. Last was the “A-weak” club Everett AquaSox in the Northwest League during the 2018 campaign.
Joining Moreno in the Chattanooga saff will be pitching coach Rob Wooten and Eric Richardson as hitting coach.
The former native receiver of Punto Fijo, will be the second Venezuelan manager of the Lookouts. Carlos Subero was in charge of that club for three years (2010-12), at the time they were a subsidiary of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Other Creole technicians
The Reds will have two other Venezuelan managers in their minor league branches in 2022. The Barinese Julio Morillo will make his debut as manager in the Arizona rookie affiliate and the Guaireño Gustavo Molina will debut with the organization as manager of the rookie team in the Dominican Republic.
Morillo is in his third year in the organization’s development department. Between 2009 and 2015 he played as a catcher in the minors and in 2016 he was a translator with the big team. Molina had MLB experience (2007-11) and in 2020 he headed the Dominican affiliate in Atlanta.
