TRENTON — Shawn Chacon’s fourth season in the MLB Draft League will come as a manager. The Thunder announced on Tuesday that Chacon, the team’s pitching coach for the last three seasons, will take over as skipper this summer. “I want to thank the Trenton Thunder front office and the MLB Draf t League for the opportunity, and I look forward to another fun and productive season,” Chacon said. “It’s an honor to be named the new skipper, but this league is all about the players and helping them get an opportunity to play affiliated baseball. We’ve had a lot of success to this point and my job is to keep that ball rolling.” Chacon takes over for Adonis Smith, who was hired as a minor league instructor by the Baltimore Orioles. Chacon, 47, spent 8 years pitching at the Major League level for the Colorado Rockies, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates,and Houston Astros. He was an All-Star in 2003 with the Rockies. In 2006, he tossed five inning in a rehab appearance appearance for the Thunder. During his three seasons as pitching coach, Chacon helped produce 17 pitchers who earned MLB Draft selections, including a team high seven arms selected in the 2023 MLB Draft. In 2024, Shawn saw five of his pitchers selected in the draft and another three signing with MLB organizations as free agents. Also returning to the Thunder staff as the hitting coach for his second consecutive season is Ron Perodin, after servingin the same role two seasons ago with the Williamsport Crosscutters. In his first year in Trenton, Perodin guided the Thunder to the league lead in hits with 652, while also holding the least amount of strikeouts for any team. The Thunder open the 2025 season on June 4 at  7 p.m. against the Williamsport Crosscutters. ...read more read less