P-Nats' manager promoted to Syracuse

Trent Jewett spent his first season in the Washington Nationals' organization managing the Potomac Nationals. He'll spend his second year managing Washington's Triple-A team, the Syracuse Chiefs.

Washington assistant general manager and vice president of player development Bob Boone confirmed Jewett's promotion on Friday.

Washington has not said when a replacement will be announced for High-A Potomac.

Jewett replaces Tim Foli, who led Syracuse to a 76-68 mark in 2009. Foli is still in the organization but has yet to be assigned a position for the 2010 season. He joined interim manager Jim Riggleman's staff after the Chiefs' season ended on Labor Day.

Potomac went 79-58 this year, good for second place in the Northern Division in the first and second halves.

"There are a lot of things I liked about being at Potomac," Jewett said. "The group of players that came through was terrific. They were nothing but good kids, I loved working with [general manager Jonathan Griffith]. He and his staff gave us everything we needed.

"The travel was spectacular. It was easy. To watch the players grow, I had a terrific staff. [Pitching coach] Paul [Menhart] and [hitting coach Jerry Browne] were tremendous. I felt the season went well. We could have done a little better, but I felt we did alright."

Jewett spent 11 seasons managing the Pittsburgh Pirates' Triple-A affiliates in Indianapolis and Nashville.

His final season in the Pirates system came in 2008 when he managed Indianapolis to a 68-76 record.

Jewett also filled the role of Pirates third base coach in 2000 and remained in that function in 2001 and 2002.

"It would be a smooth transition," back to Triple-A, Jewett said. "I'm familiar with a lot of faces in the organization.

"There's a certain freshness with Mike [Rizzo] getting the general manager's job and moving forward and bringing in people he trusts. Hopefully the trend continues at the same pattern and there's an upward trend in the transition that I look forward to being part of."

Jewett's 2009 season was marked by his 1,000th win on April 30 against Wilmington in game two of a doubleheader.

He also installed an aggressive base-running mentality, which paid off. The Nationals stole 186 bases in 274 attempts. Potomac also was third in the league with a .258 batting average and had three Carolina League All-Stars in pitchers Jeff Mandel and Brad Meyers and right fielder Michael Burgess.

"We thought he did a great job for us at Potomac," Boone said. "We couldn't have been more pleased."

NOTE: Griffith has had the title of vice president added to his duties. Griffith recently completed his third season with Potomac after holding jobs with the Richmond Braves and Carolina League's Kinston Indians.

Staff writer Robert Daski can be reached at 703-878-8049.