The Boston Red Sox announced Thursday that Billy McMillon will return for a second season as manager of their Double-A team, the Portland Sea Dogs.

But McMillon will have a new staff. Both hitting coach Rich Gedman and pitching coach Bob Kipper have been promoted to Triple-A Pawtucket.

Additional Images

Billy McMillon became the first former Sea Dog to manage the team, and he was selected as Manager of the Year last season after compiling an 88-73 record. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

Replacing them will be hitting coach Dave Joppie, returning to Portland after two years in Pawtucket, and pitching coach Kevin Walker, promoted from advanced Class A Salem.

McMillon, 43, the first former Sea Dogs player to manage in Portland, led the team to a franchise-best 88-73 record and the Eastern League’s East Division title. Portland lost in the first round of the playoffs, but McMillon was named Manager of the Year.

Joppie, 49, was the Sea Dogs hitting coach from 2008 to 2012 before moving on to Pawtucket. This is his 10th year in the Red Sox organization.

Walker, 49, a former major league pitcher with the Padres, Giants and White Sox, has been a coach with the Red Sox since 2009. He spent the past four seasons in Salem.

Gedman’s promotion to Triple-A was not unexpected, since he was considered a candidate for the Boston hitting coach position this offseason. A former catcher with Boston, Gedman, 55, managed in the independent leagues before joining the Red Sox organization as a coach in 2011. He was in Portland the past two years.

Kipper, 50, a former major league pitcher, has been with the Red Sox since 1999, including one season as the major league bullpen coach. He served two stints in Portland, 2003-04 and 2011-14.

Gedman and Kipper rejoin Manager Kevin Boles, who was promoted from Portland to Pawtucket after the 2013 season.

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