<Esposito, 43, joins the Major League coaching staff as catching coach for his second season in the organization after joining the Padres in 2022 as manager of Single-A Fort Wayne. The Staten Island, N.Y. native spent the previous nine seasons (2013-21) in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, most recently as manager for Triple-A Indianapolis from 2018-19 and ‘21, while spending ‘20 at the Pirates Alternate Training site in Altoona, Pa. He spent two years (2015-16) as manager for Single-A West Virginia, highlighted by a club-record 87 wins in ’15, after managing Single-A Jamestown in 2014 and serving as a player/coach in the Pirates farm system in 2013. He was originally selected by the Boston Red Sox in the fifth round of the 2000 First-Year Player Draft and played 13 seasons in the minor league systems of Boston, Anaheim, Texas, St. Louis, Colorado, Houston and Chicago (NL). He made 688 minor league appearances at catcher, 22 as a pitcher, 14 at first base and one each at third base and in left field. He made his Major League debut as a defensive replacement behind the plate with St. Louis on June 2, 2007 and made two appearances with the Astros in 2009. He played collegiate ball at the University of Connecticut, where he was voted team MVP in 1999.>