José Carlos Montoyo Díaz (born October 17, 1965) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball second baseman, manager and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Montreal Expos, managed the Toronto Blue Jays and coached for the Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago White Sox.

Charlie Montoyo
Montoyo with the White Sox in 2023
Second baseman / Manager
Born: (1965-10-17) October 17, 1965 (age 59)
Florida, Puerto Rico
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 7, 1993, for the Montreal Expos
Last MLB appearance
September 29, 1993, for the Montreal Expos
MLB statistics
Batting average.400
Home runs0
Runs batted in3
Managerial record236–236
Winning %.500
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Managerial record at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams
As player
As manager
As coach

After eight seasons as manager of the minor league Durham Bulls, the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays (20072014), Montoyo was among the candidates for the Rays' 2015 vacant managerial position and was ultimately hired as the team's third base coach.[1] After the 2017 season, he became the Rays’ bench coach.[2] On October 25, 2018, Montoyo was hired by the Toronto Blue Jays as their new manager,[3] replacing John Gibbons. On July 13, 2022 Montoyo was fired by the Blue Jays. On November 3, 2022, Montoyo was named bench coach of the Chicago White Sox.

Playing career

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Montoyo threw and batted right-handed. During his playing days, he stood 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) tall, weighing 170 pounds (77 kg). Montoyo appeared in four games for the Montreal Expos, during the 1993 season, as a second baseman and pinch hitter.

After playing college baseball at Louisiana Tech University, Montoyo was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the sixth round of the 1987 amateur draft, and then traded to Montreal on January 20, 1993. During his brief MLB career, that September, he singled in his first big-league at bat off Gary Wayne of the Colorado Rockies. All told, Montoyo had two hits in five at bats, with three runs batted in (RBI).

Montoyo played in 1,028 minor league games and retired at the end of the 1996 season. In ten years in the minors, he batted .266, with 38 home runs, and 400 RBI.

Managing career

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Tampa Bay organization

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Montoyo with the Rays in 2017

In 1997, Montoyo joined the Tampa Bay Devil Rays' organization – the year before the expansion team played its first Major League game – as manager of the Rookie-level Princeton Devil Rays.

After leading Princeton to a 39–30 win–loss record in 1997, Montoyo managed the 1998 Short Season-A Hudson Valley Renegades, where he won his first division title. In 1999–2000, he managed the Charleston RiverDogs, leading them to their first winning season. He then was the pilot of the Bakersfield Blaze of the High Class A California League in 2001–2002. For the next four years, he served as the manager of Tampa Bay's Double-A clubs, the Orlando Rays (2003) and Montgomery Biscuits (2004–2006), where he won the Southern League championship in 2006.

In 2007, Montoyo became manager of Tampa Bay's top farm team, the Durham Bulls. Under his leadership, Durham had only one losing season and exceeded 80 wins five times in his first seven years. In 2010, the Bulls set a franchise Triple-A record for wins with 92. In both 2009 and 2013, they won the Governors' Cup, emblematic of the championship of the International League. Through 2015, his career minor-league managing record was 1,341–1,211 (.525).

Montoyo was a coach for the Puerto Rican 2009 World Baseball Classic team. Also, he was selected to serve as a coach for World Team in the 2010 and 2011 All-Star Futures Game.

He won the 2009 Mike Coolbaugh Award[4] and 2010 and 2013 International League Manager of the Year Award.[5][6]

On July 21, 2014, Montoyo surpassed Bill Evers as the Bulls' all-time winningest manager with his 614th victory at the helm of the Rays' Triple-A affiliate. At the time of his promotion to the Rays, Montoyo had notched 633 wins in a Bulls' uniform.[7]

On October 19, 2015, Montoyo interviewed for the Seattle Mariners vacant managerial position.

On October 24, 2015, the Rays hired Matt Quatraro as their new third base coach and Montoyo became the bench coach, replacing Tom Foley.

Toronto Blue Jays

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Montoyo as manager of the Blue Jays in 2019

On October 25, 2018, Montoyo was hired as the manager of the Toronto Blue Jays for the 2019 season. He signed a three-year contract, with a club option for a fourth year.[3] He finished his first season with a record of 67 wins and 95 losses.[8]

After guiding the Blue Jays to the playoffs in the 2020 season, Montoyo was nominated for AL Manager of the Year award along with Kevin Cash of the Tampa Bay Rays and Rick Renteria of the Chicago White Sox.

On March 16, 2021, the Blue Jays exercised the fourth-year option on Montoyo's contract, tying him to the team through the 2022 season.[9] On April 1, 2022, Montoyo signed a contract extension through the 2023 season, and included team options for 2024 and 2025.[10] Montoyo was fired on July 13 after a 2–9 stretch, despite the team sitting in the third wild card spot.[11]

Chicago White Sox

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On November 3, 2022, Montoyo was named the bench coach of the Chicago White Sox, under new manager Pedro Grifol.

On August 8, 2024, Montoyo was fired by the White Sox.[12]

Managerial record

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Team Year Regular season Postseason
Games Won Lost Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result
TOR 2019 162 67 95 .414 4th in AL East
TOR 2020 60 32 28 .533 3rd in AL East 0 2 .000 Lost ALWC (TB)
TOR 2021 162 91 71 .562 4th in AL East
TOR 2022 88 46 42 .523 Fired
Total 472 236 236 .500 0 2 .000

Championships

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Montgomery Biscuits

Durham Bulls

Personal life

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Montoyo has a wife, Samantha, with whom he has two children.[13]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Topkin, Marc (December 19, 2014). "Rays add Charlie Montoyo, Rocco Baldelli to coaching staff". Tampa Bay Times. St. Petersburg, Florida. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  2. ^ Rebilas, Mark (October 24, 2017). "Rays hire Quatraro as third base coach to replace Charlie Montoyo". Fox Sports Florida. St. Petersburg, Florida.
  3. ^ a b Chisholm, Gregor (October 25, 2018). "Blue Jays hire Rays coach Montoyo as skipper". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  4. ^ "History: MiLB Major Award Winners". Minor League Baseball. Archived from the original on January 2, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2011.
  5. ^ "DURHAM'S JOHNSON NAMED 2010 IL MVP; HELLICKSON, FREEMAN, & MONTOYO ROUND OUT AWARD WINNERS" (PDF). MiLB.com (Press release). August 30, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 4, 2011. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  6. ^ "Martin, Montoyo Earn Pitcher, Manager of Year Awards".
  7. ^ "Durham Herald-Sun". Archived from the original on December 20, 2014. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  8. ^ "Charlie Montoyo". Baseball Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  9. ^ Matheson, Keegan. "Montoyo's '22 option picked up by Blue Jays". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
  10. ^ "Blue Jays extend Montoyo's contract through 2023, add two club options". TSN.ca. April 1, 2022. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  11. ^ Zucker, Joseph. "Charlie Montoyo Reportedly Fired as Blue Jays Manager Amid Team's Recent Struggles". Bleacher Report. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
  12. ^ "White Sox announce flurry of coaching moves after firing Pedro Grifol". nbcsportschicago.com. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
  13. ^ "A father's gift, a father's hope". espn.com. June 16, 2008. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
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Sporting positions
Preceded by Orlando Rays manager
2003
Succeeded by
Franchise relocated
Preceded by
Franchise established
Montgomery Biscuits manager
2004–2006
Succeeded by
Preceded by Durham Bulls manager
2007–2014
Succeeded by
Preceded by Tampa Bay Rays third base coach
2015–2017
Succeeded by
Preceded by Tampa Bay Rays bench coach
2018
Succeeded by
Preceded by Toronto Blue Jays manager
2019–2022
Succeeded by
John Schneider (interim)