Poldberg Back As Naturals Manager

Saturday, December 8, 2012

—  Brian Poldberg will return as the Northwest Arkansas Naturals manager in 2013, but the only skipper the franchise has known will have two new faces in the dugout.

Northwest Arkansas is the Double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals.

Larry Carter was the Naturals’ pitching coach the first five seasons the team were in Springdale, but he will coach at Triple-A Omaha next season. Carter will be replaced by Jim Bower, who spent the last two seasons at Class A Kane County.

The Naturals’ new hitting coach will be Nelson Liriano, who will be in his 13th season in the Royals organization. He played 11 seasons in Major League Baseball with five different clubs.

Springdale resident Vance Wilson will begin his second season as the manager of the Royals Class A-Advanced affiliate in Wilmington. Wilson was a catcher for both the Detroit Tigers and New York Mets during his professional career.