Tigers offseason moves that already have led to one coach’s departure, Anthony Iapoce from the big-league club, have extended to Detroit’s farm system.
Andrew Graham, a 15-year Tigers farm manager who last season headed a playoff-making Double A Erie club, will not return in 2026, according to those familiar with the Tigers minor-league operations and who requested anonymity ahead of the club’s formal announcements.
Also exiting are Ollie Kadey, pitching coach at Lakeland; Jeff Branson, a roving minor-league hitting instructor; minor-league outfield coach Tim Garland; and Angel Berroa, the Tigers’ infield coordinator in Latin America.
Among the group, Graham is the highest-profile, and most surprising, of those not returning after Erie had an 84-54 record and made the semifinals of the Eastern League playoffs.
Graham, 43, is a Sydney, Australia, native who was drafted by the Tigers as a catcher (19th round, 2003) and spent five years on the Tigers farm before turning to managing. He has been a skipper at various farm levels for the Tigers: Erie (twice), Lakeland, West Michigan, and initially at Connecticut when the Tigers had a New York-Penn League affiliate.
He is considered an intense, ultra-prepared professional with a particular gift for pushing his players on the basepaths. His catching experience and fervor for detail made him a possible candidate, in the mind of most observers, for steady managerial promotion.
But baseball’s world of objective and subjective appraisals would not have made Graham exempt from realities that each year tend to claim minor-league staffers throughout MLB’s galaxy, and, most years, uproot at least one manager from the Tigers farm.
It is not known how the departure of Iapoce, as manager AJ Hinch’s first-base coach, might affect Tigers farm staffing.
Iapoce had been manager at Triple A Toledo before being promoted to the big-league club ahead of 2024.
Alvarez, who had been at Erie from 2022-24, moved to Toledo at the start of the 2025 season and – for now – remains Mud Hens manager. It is believed the Tigers will be hiring from within the organization. Alvarez, who earlier had been a strong candidate for a job on Hinch’s staff, figured to re-emerge as a replacement for Iapoce.
But there has been no such announcement as Alvarez manages the Yaquis de Ciudad Obregon in the winter Mexican Pacific League.
Tony Cappuccilli, who last year managed the high-A West Michigan Whitecaps to a stunning 92-39 record, would be the natural choice to replace Graham at Erie.
Rene Rivera, who last season managed low-A Lakeland, is currently skippering the Scottsdale Scorpions and seven Tigers prospects in the Arizona Fall League. He, likewise, could be headed for promotion as the Tigers farm-chain’s managerial lineup for 2026 finalizes.
Lynn Henning is a freelance writer and former Detroit News sports reporter.