Chili Davis Archives - River Avenue Blues

Coaching Staff Notes: Mattingly, Hinske, Shelton, Davis, Colbrunn, Long, Kelleher

October 25, 2014 by Mike 313 Comments

Long-time manager Joe Maddon opted out of his contract with the Rays yesterday, and a few hours later new Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman released a statement saying Don Mattingly will remain the team’s manager in 2015. I think they should quit screwing around and just hire Maddon, otherwise it’s going to be hanging over the team all season. We all know how this movie is going to end.

Anyway, with Mattingly supposedly staying put, he remains a non-option for the Yankees and their hitting coach job. We don’t even know if he would have interest in the gig, but it’s the Yankees and Mattingly. They’ll be connected forever. Here are some other miscellaneous coaching staff notes, courtesy of George King, Nick Cafardo, Buster Olney, Erik Boland, Mark Feinsand, and Sweeny Murti.

The Yankees reached out to Eric Hinske to see if he had interest in their hitting coach job, but he said no. Hinske was the Cubs first base coach last year and he will be their assistant hitting coach next year. If nothing else, the interest in Hinske shows the Yankees are not prioritizing experience.
With Maddon gone, the Yankees could show interest in Rays hitting coach Derek Shelton for their hitting coach position. He managed in the team’s farm system from 2000-02 and is said to be close with Joe Girardi and new VP of Baseball Ops Gary Denbo.
The Red Sox gave new hitting coach Chili Davis a three-year contract because it “was the only way Davis could be kept from signing with the Yankees.” After earning $155k annually with the A’s, Davis will make $400k per year with Boston.
Greg Colbrunn has rejoined the organization as Low-A Charleston’s hitting coach, a position he held from 2007-12. He was the Red Sox hitting coach from 2013-14 before leaving the team a few weeks ago so he could be closer to home. I thought maybe the Yankees would interview him for the MLB hitting coach position, but I guess not.
As you probably know, ex-hitting coach Kevin Long has been hired by the Mets. The Yankees owe him $750k next season and whatever the Mets pay him will be subtracted from that, so the Bombers will save some cash.
And finally, ex-first base coach Mick Kelleher has decided to retire and will not pursue another coaching job. He spent 46 years in baseball, including 16 as a coach with the Yankees. I had no idea Kelleher was 67. I would have guessed 50-something.

Bradford: Red Sox hire Yankees hitting coach candidate Chili Davis

October 19, 2014 by Mike 110 Comments

Via Rob Bradford: The Red Sox are hiring Athletics hitting coach Chili Davis to be their new hitting coach. The Yankees interviewed Davis for the same role last week, so this takes him out of the running. New York also interviewed Rangers hitting coach Dave Magadan as well as some other unnamed candidates. They could name a new hitting coach as soon as Tuesday.

Update: Yankees to interview Davis, Magadan about hitting coach job

October 15, 2014 by Mike 182 Comments

Wednesday: The Yankees will indeed interview Magadan for the hitting coach job, according to King. He was scheduled to be in New York today for the interview. It’s unclear when Davis will interview for the position.

Tuesday: According to John Hickey, the Yankees will interview Athletics hitting coach Chili Davis for their vacant hitting coach position. Davis confirmed he’ll soon travel to New York for the interview. He was mentioned as a candidate for the job recently. The 54-year-old Davis has been Oakland’s hitting coach since 2012, and before that he was a minor league hitting instructor with the Dodgers and Red Sox. He played 19 years in the big leagues and finished his career with the Yankees from 1998-99.

The Yankees are also talking to Rangers hitting coach Dave Magadan about the position, according to George King and Joel Sherman. “I have been called about that, it’s in the preliminary stages and that’s all I can say about it,” he said. Magadan, 52, has been Texas’ hitting coach since 2012. He held the same job with the Padres (2003-06) and Red Sox (2007-11) in the past. Magadan played 16 years in the show, including his first seven with the Mets. Both he and Davis are well-regarded around the game and that’s pretty much all I know about their coaching skills.

Staff Updates: Mattingly, Tino, O’Neill, Davis, Harkey, Hillman, Eppler

October 13, 2014 by Mike 169 Comments

The Yankees fired hitting coach Kevin Long and first base coach Mick Kelleher late last week. Brian Cashman confirmed the rest of the staff will be retained — “If we choose to make any other changes we’ll let you know, otherwise everything is status quo until then,” he said — though there has been speculation bullpen coach Gary Tuck, third base coach Robbie Thomson, and bench coach Tony Pena could be moved into different roles. We’ll see. Here are a bunch of coaching and front office staff updates courtesy of Bob Klapisch, Erik Boland, Sweeny Murti, Chad Jennings, Susan Slusser, Bob Nightengale, Donnie Collins, Andrew Marchand, and George King.

Interesting comment from Cashman after the firings were announced (emphasis mine): “There are some individuals, I think, as we move forward (who) will bring more for the global perspective of the coaching staff … There are some more things that I want to add to the staff with Joe Girardi. And in my dialogue with Joe, we look forward to interviewing some personnel that can bring those things to the table.” Hmmm.
Dodgers manager Don Mattingly told reporters he is “assuming” he will return to the team next year after they were eliminated from the postseason last week, though nothing has been decided yet. If Mattingly does get canned, I have to think the Yankees will consider bringing him back as hitting coach, the role he held from 2004-06 before taking over as Joe Torre’s bench coach.
Tino Martinez is not a hitting coach candidate and Paul O’Neill gave a simple “no” when asked if he was interested in the job. Tino was the Marlins hitting coach in 2013 but resigned that July after word got out that he verbally abused players in the clubhouse and literally choked one player. So yeah, forget that.
Former Yankees DH and current Athletics hitting coach Chili Davis is “getting mentioned” as a hitting coach candidate. Davis has been Oakland’s hitting coach since the 2012 season and before that was a minor league coach with the Red Sox and Dodgers. There’s also speculation Dante Bichette could be a candidate for the job. He was the Rockies hitting coach in 2013 and is close with Girardi.
There’s also speculation current Diamondbacks pitching coach Mike Harkey could return as bullpen coach — Harkey was the Yankees bullpen coach from 2008-13 — with Tuck taking over as bench coach and Pena taking over as first base coach. (Tuck was Girardi’s bench coach with the Marlins in 2006.) The D’Backs just hired new GM Dave Stewart and fired manager Kirk Gibson, so other coaching staff changes are expected.
Triple-A Scranton hitting coach Butch Wynegar was let go after the season and third base coach Luis Sojo won’t return to the team next year. That doesn’t mean Sojo’s leaving the organization, it just means won’t be with the RailRiders in 2015. Double-A Trenton hitting coach Marcus Thames is well-regarded within the organization but is not a candidate for the MLB hitting coach job right now.
The Dodgers are reportedly mulling over the future of GM Ned Colletti, and Yankees assistant GM Billy Eppler is already getting consideration as a possible replacement. Eppler interviewed for the Padres GM job earlier this year.
Special assistant Trey Hillman may leave the Yankees to become new Astros manager A.J. Hinch’s bench coach. Hillman is considered a candidate to replace retiring VP of Baseball Ops Mark Newman as head of the farm system. He’s also a candidate to join the MLB coaching staff in some capacity.

And finally, I can’t help but wonder if the Yankees will adopt the two-hitting coach system many teams use nowadays. (Seventeen teams employ two hitting coaches right now.) They were reportedly considering hiring an assistant hitting coach two years ago but never did, and that “globe perspective” talk from Cashman makes me think Hideki Matsui will be considered for the staff. He’s always working with the team’s minor leaguers at the various parks. Anyway, that’s just me thinking out loud. If the Yankees were going to add an assistant hitting coach, now is the perfect time.