BRIDGEWATER, N.J. – There's a new manager at the helm of the Double-A minor league affiliate of the New York Yankees, and it's a familiar face of the Valiant family.
Once a standout on the diamond of Manhattanville Field,
Dan Fiorito '12 will now be calling TD Bank Ballpark his new place of business as the manager of the Somerset Patriots. Entering his sixth season as a member of the Yankees organization, Fiorito was named the fourth full-time manager in team history following his 2021 stint at the helm of the Yankees' High-A affiliate Hudson Valley Renegades.
"I'm excited to manage in Somerset," Fiorito said. "It's a special place to be and we'll have some of the best talent in our organization playing there. It's been amazing to have the support from the Manhattanville community over the past ten years. From as early as my playing days at Manhattanville I always knew I wanted to coach, and to now be the AA manager for the Yankees is a great honor."
Fiorito made his debut as a manager in 2019 with the GCL Yankees after spending the previous two seasons as a defensive coach for Single-A Charleston and Rookie-level Pulaski. The Yonkers, N.Y. native was positioned to manage the short-season affiliate Staten Island Yankees in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancelation of the season and Fiorito needing to wait one more season before getting the full chance to shine.
The realignment of Minor League Baseball ahead of the 2021 baseball season resulted in the Yankees beginning a new partnership with the Fishkill-based Hudson Valley Renegades as the team's new High-A minor league affiliate for the 2021 season. With a new affiliation and a brand-new High-A East league to compete in, Fiorito was appointed the team's first manager under the Yankees' leadership. Under Fiorito's tutelage, the Renegades thrived, going 71-49 and winning the league's North Division by 12.5 games. While the league's postseason structure had the two teams with the highest winning percentages compete for the championship and Hudson Valley's .592 percentage trailed behind a pair of teams from the South Division, Fiorito's success in his first season impressed the Yankee brass to promote him to manage the Patriots for the 2022 season.
Fiorito was signed by the Yankees in 2012 as an undrafted free agent, playing 322 games over three different levels of baseball. He spent a majority of his minor league career with the AA affiliate Trenton Thunder, and went on to play 25 total games with AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the highest level of minor league baseball. Across four seasons in the minors, Fiorito hit .240 with 98 RBI, 107 runs scored and seven home runs.
While at Manhattanville, Fiorito played three seasons for the Valiants. After missing his rookie season due to injury, he exploded onto the scenes as a sophomore in 2010. Fiorito became the program's first-ever All-American, an honor he would also receive following the conclusion of his senior campaign in 2012. Fiorito's name is found all over the program record book, ending his time at Manhattanville with the ninth-highest career batting average (.389), the fourth-most home runs (21), the tenth-most runs scored (116), the fourth-highest slugging percentage (.648), and the ninth-most total bases (258). Fiorito's 12 home runs and 111 total bases in his 2012 senior campaign still hold as program single-season records.
Fiorito will be joined by pitching coach Gerardo Casadiego and hitting coach Jacob Hirst in Somerset, with both coaches holding those positions on Fiorito's staff in Hudson Valley a season ago. The Patriots are scheduled to begin the season on the road for a three-game series at Reading against the Fightin' Phils on April 8 before Fiorito and company play their first home game on April 12 against the Erie SeaWolves at TD Bank Ballpark at 6:35 p.m.
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