Coaches and Staff

Cardoza gets the bump to Double-A Frisco in 2023 after managing with High-A Hickory in 2022 and Low-A Down East in 2021. The Puerto Rico native piloted the Crawdads to a 66-65 record last season and has amassed a 312-207 (.601) total over his six seasons as a skipper. With Down East, he took the Wood Ducks to the Low-A East Championship Series before falling to Charleston.

Prior to his time in Down East, he managed the Arizona League Rangers (2019), winning the AZL Championship, and Dominican Summer League Rangers (2016-2019), twice reaching the championship series. Hired on by the Rangers in 2015, Cardoza was the head coach at his alma mater, Decatur High School, in Georgia for two years. As a player, Cardoza spent two seasons at Georgia State University and two years at Armstrong Atlantic State, where he was a gold glove second baseman and All-Peach Belt Conference selection.

Goebel starts his second season in the Rangers organization in 2023 after serving as the pitching coach for High-A Hickory in 2022. Prior to his time in the Texas system, the Illinois native was the head coach (2019-2021) and the pitching coach (2014-2018) for Division II Parkland College in Champaign, Ill.

Taking over as head coach in the fall of 2018, Goebel guided the Cobras to a 82-39 (.678) record over the team’s next three seasons. During his tenure as pitching coach, the program sent 21 pitchers to either the MLB Draft or an NCAA Division I program, and twice led the NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) in strikeouts (2017, 2018). He was also a member of the

2009-10 Parkland coaching staff that guided the Cobras to the NJCAA World Series, where they finished in fifth place. That team featured Major Leaguers Kevin Kiermaier (Toronto Blue Jays), Nick Wittgren (Kansas City Royals) and Dan Winkler (most recently, Chicago White Sox).

A right-handed pitcher when he played, Goebel began his collegiate career at St. Louis Community College - Forest Park before returning to his native Illinois to pitch at Bradley University for two seasons (2007-08). He was an Honorable Mention for the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete award in 2007. Goebel played high school baseball at Edwardsville (Ill.) High School, where he posted an 11-1 record and 0.69 ERA during his senior season.

Tuntland, like Cardoza and Emsley-Pai, will head to Frisco from the 2022 Hickory staff. Starting his third season with the Rangers organization, Tuntland was the hitting coach for Hickory in 2022 after serving as the hitting coach for the Arizona Complex League Rangers in 2021. From 2016 to 2018, the Illinois native coached in the collegiate ranks at Oakton CC, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and West Virginia, his alma mater. Tuntland was drafted in the 29th round of the 2013 draft by San Francisco, hitting .227/.345/.338/.683 over his two seasons.

A veteran of baseball, Keister comes to the Rangers organization after spending the last eight seasons with the Washington Nationals organization. He managed Double-A Harrisburg over the last two seasons and served as the manager for High-A Potomac (now Fredericksburg) from 2015-2019. Drafted by the Mets in the 1992 33rd round out of the University of Delaware, Keister played four seasons of Minor League Baseball, topping out with Double-A Binghamton.

Takizawa begins his second season with the RoughRiders and his sixth in the Rangers organization in 2023. The native of Hokkaido, Japan spent 2021 with the High-A Hickory Crawdads. Takizawa holds degrees from HOSEI University in Japan and Southern Arkansas University.

Nazarko joins the Frisco staff for his second season while he will enter his fourth in the Texas organization. Prior to his time in professional baseball, Nazarko worked for his alma mater, the University of Rhode Island, for four years as the primary strength coach for baseball, women's basketball and men's and women's soccer. As a student-athlete for the Rams, he played both baseball and basketball.