Gateway Grizzlies peg 2019 Frontier League Manager of the Year to replace Warren
Two months before the Gateway Grizzlies are set to return to Frontier League action for the first time since 2019, the team has named its manager.
Cameron Roth, who in 2019 was the Frontier League Manager of the Year while at the helm of the Lake Erie Crushers, was named the fifth manager in team history.
Roth replaces Phil Warren, who spent 13 seasons as the team’s manager before being promoted recently to vice president of baseball operations.
“”There has always been one away stand that I particularly looked forward to visiting each season, and it just so happens to be the one in Sauget, Illinois,” Roth said in a statement issued by the team. “I am excited and humbled to be joining the Gateway Grizzlies as their manager.”
Said Grizzlies general manager Steve Gomric, “I am thrilled to have Cam Roth leading our team this season. He is a bright young baseball mind with tremendous potential. He has a history of winning.
“Cam brings intensity to the playing field and professionalism to the clubhouse, not to mention the fantastic success his pitching staffs have had in the Frontier League that will be invaluable to us in a hitter-friendly ballpark.”
Roth, who turns 32 on April 6, was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 29th round of the 2010 MLB amateur draft. He spent two seasons in the Baltimore organization, reaching the A-ball level with Delmarva (Maryland) in 2011.
He then pitched one season for the Frontier League’s Schaumburg Boomers and was named the manager of Lake Erie in 2017.
Bobby Brown (hitting coach and director of player personnel) and James Keller (catching coordinator and third base coach) will also join the field staff, with Roth coaching the team’s pitchers.
Warren, 42, is one of the most significant figures in Grizzlies franchise history. He played three seasons with the team from 2003 to 2005 and was named manager in 2007.
In that role, he became the third-winningest manager in Frontier League history, according to figures provided by the team.
In a release, Warren said, “I’ve been doing this for 13 years as a manager — life kind of told me that it was time.
“As I move into the second half of my life, I realized it was time for me to give more of my attention and energy to my family and other areas of my life at home, which the travel and demands of professional baseball make difficult.”
“Phil Warren is interwoven throughout the history of the Gateway Grizzlies,” Grizzlies managing partner Rich Sauget Sr. said. “The level of stability, continuity, and professionalism that Phil brought to the playing field is rare at any level of professional baseball and we are thankful for his service as both a player and manager.”
Warren’s new duties with the club will include, in part, assisting with the operation of the Grizzlies Baseball Academy, which offers instruction to players from youth through collegiate levels.
Start to season, alternate site for Cardinals
The Grizzlies return to action May 27 with a two-game home series against the Florence (Kentucky) Y’alls.
Prior to the start of the Frontier League schedule, Gateway’s home park in Sauget, GCS Credit Union Ballpark, will serve as the alternate site location for the St. Louis Cardinals. The Grizzlies will host some of the Cardinals’ top prospects and the coaching staff of Triple-A Memphis prior to the scheduled start of the Triple-A season May 4.
