Thomas Andrew Nieto (born October 27, 1960) is an American former professional baseball catcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Montreal Expos, Minnesota Twins, and Philadelphia Phillies. Nieto is formerly the manager of the Minor League Baseball (MiLB) Rochester Red Wings, the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate. He previously served in various coaching capacities for the New York Yankees and New York Mets. A native of Artesia, California, Nieto attended Gahr High School then went on to Oral Roberts University.
Playing career
The St. Louis Cardinals drafted Nieto in the third round of the 1981 amateur draft. He played for the Cardinals in and , the Montreal Expos in , the Twins in and and the Philadelphia Phillies in and . He played in the World Series with the Cardinals in 1985.
Coaching career
From to , Nieto worked with the New York Yankees, serving as the major league catching coach in and . He managed the Palm Beach Cardinals of the Florida State League in and . When Willie Randolph was named manager of the New York Mets following the season, he named Nieto as his catching instructor on November 26, . In , Nieto switched from catching instructor to first base coach. On June 17, 2008, the Mets fired Nieto, manager Willie Randolph and pitching coach Rick Peterson.
Nieto joined the Minnesota Twins organization in as the manager of the Double-A New Britain Rock Cats. In his first and only season in New Britain, he led the Rock Cats to a 72–69 record and a playoff berth. On October 20, 2009, Nieto was named as the new manager of the Rochester Red Wings, Minnesota's Triple-A affiliate. He replaced Stan Cliburn, whose contract was not renewed by the Twins following the 2009 season. On October 29, 2010, the Twins announced Nieto and his coaching staff would return to manage the Red Wings for the 2011 season. Following the 2011 season, Nieto was let go by the Twins organization. Nieto managed the GCL Yankees for the 2012 and 2013 seasons.