Wroad to Wrigley Wednesday - 2015 Tennessee Smokies

Last year on my road trip I picked up team sets at all of my minor league stops. I spread the 2015 Iowa Cubs team set out over four posts but I think I'm going to speed things up going forward.

The Tennessee Smokies are the Cubs Double A affiliate in the Southern League. They finished their 2015 season in third place in the North Division and just one game out of playoff contention.

The Management:

Buddy Bailey has been with the Cubs organization since 2006. He had managed the Smokies in a one-year stint in 2008 and from 2012-2015. He took over the Myrtle Beach Pelicans manager job for the 2016 season.

Desi Wilson has been in the Cubs organization since 2008 and is in his 4th year as the Smokies hitting coach.

Guillermo Martinez is in his third season with the Cubs but has become the hitting coach for the South Bend Cubs in 2016.

Storm Davis spent three seasons with the Cubs including two with the Smokies as their pitching coach. He is currently the pitching coach for the New Orleans Zephyrs for 2016.

Returning Smokies:

These eight players are currently still on the Smokies roster for 2016 as of this writing.

Moving on up:

The above nine players are movin' on up! They are with Triple A Iowa and are one step away from reaching Wrigley. Although to be fair, Carl Edwards made it there last year and and even had a brief taste as the 26th man callup for a double header this season.

Movin' on out: No longer on the Wroad to Wrigley

Anthony Giansanti very recently announced his retirement after beginning the season with the Smokies.

This quartet began the season as free agents and have yet to play in 2016.

Elliot Soto and Ivan Pineyro went the way of former pitching coach Storm Davis and headed to New Orleans to join the Zephyrs for 2016.

Last but not least:

The only guy that doesn't fit in any of these categories is Kyle Schwarber, currently on the 60-DL though he is actually lost for the whole season after an outfield collision with Dexter Fowler.

And that wraps up the 2015 Tennessee Smokies team set. Smokies Stadium is currently on the agenda for this season's Cubs road trip and I look forward to picking up this season's version of the set.