More than a week into the new year and about a month before major league spring training camps, now is about the time when minor league coaching staffs get finalized and/or announced. On Thursday, the Tulsa Drillers announced that Eric Wedge will return to manage the Dodgers’ Double-A affiliate in the Texas League.
Wedge managed the Drillers in 2025 as well. The soon-to-be 58-year-old managed in the majors for 10 years, piloting Cleveland from 2003-09 and the Seattle Mariners from 2011-13. Wedge made
one postseason appearance as a major league manager, reaching the ALCS with Cleveland in 2007.
Tulsa last year made its first playoff appearance since 2022 under Wedge. Consensus top-100 prospects Josue De Paula and Zyhir Hope joined the Drillers in the final week of the regular season and into the playoffs, and are expected to start the 2026 season in Tulsa’s outfield.
“It is great to have Eric back for a second season in charge of our squad,” Brian Carroll, Tulsa’s vice president of baseball operations said in a statement. “His past experience and success speak for themselves. The progress and development that he and his staff produced from last year’s team was obvious, and it sets us up for and exciting 2026 campaign.”
The Drillers begin their Texas League season on Thursday, April 2, exactly one week after the Dodgers open their major league schedule in Los Angeles.
