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With the 2024 Major League Baseball season underway and levels of minor league baseball getting started, several former Eastern Illinois Panthers are once again active as players and coaches at both levels of professional baseball.
 
Two Panthers begin the season playing at the Triple-A level in Trey Sweeney and Will Klein as the Triple-A season is already underway.
 
Sweeney, a former first-round selection of the New York Yankees, was part of a trade during the off-season between the Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers.  Sweeney begins the season with the Dodgers Triple-A affiliate the Oklahoma City Baseball Club.
 
Klein, a fifth round selection of the Kansas City Royals participated in the MLB Futures All-Star game last season while pitching in the Royals farm system.  He opens this season with the Triple-A affiliate, the Omaha Storm Chasers.
 
Hayden Birdsong moved up quickly in the San Francisco Giants farm system and is slated to open this season with the Giants Double-A affiliate the Richmond Flying Squirrels.
 
Jake Haberer closed last season pitching out of the bullpen for the Seattle Mariners Double-A affiliate, the Arkansas Travelers.  He is currently listed on their roster for the upcoming season.
 
Ryan Ignoffo was the latest Panther to get drafted after helping lead the Panthers to the NCAA Tournament last season.  Ignoffo is scheduled to be assigned to the Miami Marlins High-A affiliate the Beloit Sky Carp.
 
Tim Boger, the first base coach for the Washington Nationals for the past several seasons, will be back managing a team in the Minor Leagues this season.  Boger will serve as the manager for the Amarillo Sod Poodles, the Double-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
 
Three former Panthers return as position coaches with Major League teams as Kevin Seitzer returns as the hitting coach for the Atlanta Braves.  Andy Haines is the hitting coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Derek Johnson is the pitching coach for the Cincinnati Reds.  Kyle Haines begins another season as the San Francisco Giants Director of Player Development.