Chad Pinder recalled a message he often received from manager Bob Melvin during his time as an outfielder/infielder with Oakland.

“Bob Melvin would always jokingly say, ‘You’re going to manage one day,’” Pinder said during a videoconference call Thursday. “And in my head I was like, ‘I don’t want to do that.’”

After his playing days ended in 2023, Pinder pondered his next step.

“I tried a few different things, I started grad school,” Pinder, 33, said. “And ultimately my wife (Taylor) was like, ‘Why don’t you try to go back on the other side.’ She kind of gave me that push and it ended up working out to where I was able to go out to instruct with the (Chicago White) Sox and then (director of player development) Paul (Janish) offered me the job in (Class A) Kannapolis. So here I am now.”

Pinder is taking the leap from Class A to Triple A in the Sox organization after being announced as the manager for the Charlotte Knights on Thursday.

“We’re fired up and excited about him being in Charlotte,” Janish said during Thursday’s videoconference call. “He got to the big leagues and hung around because of who he is and how hard he worked. It’s a super-valuable trait. His accountability level is extremely high, and I think the players are going to feel that.”

Pinder played professionally for 13 seasons (2011-23), including parts of seven in the major leagues with the Athletics (2016-22). Last season was his first as a manager at Kannapolis. He’s thrilled for the next challenge.

“I firmly believe in development, it doesn’t stop,” Pinder said. “It doesn’t stop when you get into the big leagues. We’re here in Charlotte, we can continue to develop, and we can continue to get better and prepare ourselves for the next level. To have the crop of players that are coming in with the staff that they’ve put together here, I’m extremely excited to iron out some of those things.

“Ultimately I just want the guys to be ready and I want them to be able to play free — from stress, or from excuses, from assumptions. To give them the clarity, the direction of what the organization thinks and wants of them. Just prepare them so at 7 o’clock, all they have to worry about is go out and play baseball.”

The Sox on Thursday announced their entire 2026 player development staff. The list includes Patrick Leyland managing at Double-A Birmingham, Guillermo Quiroz at High A Winston-Salem, Jayson Nix at Kannapolis and Daniel González for the Arizona Complex League White Sox.

Leyland spent last season managing Winston-Salem. Quiroz, who led Birmingham to the Southern League title in 2025, is in his 10th season in the Sox system. González is back for his fourth consecutive season as manager of the ACL White Sox.

Nix is in his first year as a manager in the Sox system. He played seven seasons in the majors (2008-14), including parts of two years with the Sox (2009-10).

“The type of player that (Nix) was, I can sympathize with — he earned everything he got as a player,” Janish said. “There’s an edge to Jayson that I think is going to benefit our players.”

Here’s the full list of Thursday’s announcement.

Player development staff

Director, Player Development: Paul Janish
Director, Minor League Administration: Kathy Potoski
Senior Adviser to Pitching: Brian Bannister
Director of Hitting: Ryan Fuller
Director, Pitching Strategy: Rod Larson
Assistant Director, International Scouting/Latin America Operations: Louis Silverio
Manager, Player Development/International Operations: Grant Flick
Education Coordinator: Haley Poole
Special Assistant, Player Development: Phil Nevin
Special Assistant to the Executive Vice President/General Manager: Doug Sisson
Arizona Facility Manager: Joe Lachcik
Director, Clubhouse Staff: Dan Flood
Charlotte Clubhouse Manager: Bryant Biasotti
Assistant Charlotte Clubhouse Manager: Corbin Balzer
Birmingham Clubhouse Manager: Chance Miller
Winston-Salem Clubhouse Manager: Sean Thomas
Kannapolis Clubhouse Manager: Eli Fugitt

Player development instructors/rovers

Field/Infield Coordinator: Ryan Newman
Pitching Coordinator: Matt Zaleski
Assistant Pitching Coordinator: Curt Hasler
Lower-Level Pitching Coordinator: Hiram Burgos
Pitching Consultant: Zach McAllister
Hitting Coordinator: Sherman Johnson
Assistant Hitting Coordinator: Danny Santin
Catching Coordinator: Ross Steedley
Rehab Pitching Coach: Garvin Alston
Sports Science Coordinator: Joe D’Amato
Player Development Biomechanist: Motoki Sakurai
Player Development Analyst: Ethan Bain
Player Development Analyst: Zubin Srivastava
Nutritionist: Sarah Walsh
Mental Performance: Cristian Guzman

Medical Staff

Medical Coordinator: Kevin Pillifant
Physical Therapist: Cheyenne Conger
Physical Therapist: Melissa Tighe
Performance Coordinator: Sergio Rojas
Assistant Performance Coordinator: John Perry
Medical Administrator: Scott Takao

Triple-A Charlotte

Manager: Chad Pinder
Pitching Coach: Scott Aldred
Hitting Coach: Cam Seitzer
Bench Coach: Pat Listach
Catching/Development Coach: Ángel Rosario
Trainer: Carson Wooten
Performance Coach: George Timke

Double-A Birmingham

Manager: Pat Leyland
Pitching Coach: John Kovalik
Hitting Coach: Aaron Bray
Bench Coach: Daniel Millwee
Trainer: AJ Smith
Performance Coach: Juan Maldonado

Class High A Winston-Salem

Manager: Guillermo Quiroz
Pitching Coach: Jacob Dorris
Hitting Coach: Adam Sinkoe
Bench Coach: Tyler Coolbaugh
Trainer: Austin Smith
Performance Coach: Logan Jones

Class A Kannapolis

Manager: Jayson Nix
Pitching Coach: Rob Hardy
Hitting Coach: Charlie Romero
Bench Coach: Xavier Fernandez
Trainer: Kira Felise
Performance Coach: Rodain Delus

Arizona Complex League White Sox

Manager: Daniel González
Pitching Coach: Anders Dzurak
Hitting Coach: Gerardo Olivares
Bench Coach: Mike Gellinger
Development Coach: Miguel Gonzalez
Trainer: Abby McGurrin
Performance Coach: Max Huberman

Dominican Republic Academy | DSL White Sox

Manager, Complex Operations: Wellington Morrobel
Manager, Administration: Carolina Santos
Manager: Anthony Núñez
Pitching Coach: JC Sanner
Pitching Coach: Carlos Chavez
Infield Coach: Guillermo Reyes
Hitting Coach: Moisés Núñez
Development Coach: Rigaberto Silverio
Trainer: Gustavo De La Cruz
Assistant Trainer: Neftali Diaz
Performance Coach: Fran Batista
Assistant Performance Coach: Carlos Javier
Video Coordinator: Miguel Pérez
Lead Educator: Pablo Frías
Education Assistant: Rubén Benavides