Dodgers Reportedly Name Two Coaches

The Dodgers figured out their manager situation and are now making moves for the rest of their coaching staff.

During Dave Roberts‘ introductory press conference, the Dodgers made it clear that they were hoping to have a coaching staff in place in the coming week.

When former manager Don Mattingly left, the rest of the coaching staff was up in the air. All of their contracts were up, and the Dodgers told them they were free to explore other options. Tim Wallach appeared to be a managerial candidate, but didn’t make it past the first round of cuts and will likely join Mattingly in Miami. Mark McGwire is expected to become the Padres’ bench coach, and Ron Roenicke and Davey Lopes took the positions elsewhere.

While it’s not official, it appears that Rick Honeycutt will be the only returning coach at the major league level, returning as the Dodgers pitching coach for a couple more seasons before being ushered into an administrative role.

If sources are correct, the Dodgers seem to be filling out their staff pretty quickly. Bob Geren was interviewed as a manager and him taking over as bench coach makes sense, as the Dodgers expressed a desire to have someone with managerial experience next to Roberts, who has one game of interim managing experience under his belt.

Feb 19, 2014; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks hitting coach Turner Ward poses for a portrait during photo day at Salt River Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Geren is, for the most part, highly regarded around baseball and many people were hoping he would become the Dodger manager. He doesn’t exactly have great letters of recommendation from at least two former players, as relievers Brian Fuentes and Huston Street were quite outspoken about Geren. Geren managed the A’s from 2007-2011, when he was fired after a nine-game losing streak in June.

Here’s an excerpt from a Sporting News article from May 2011, in which Street and Fuentes had some not-so-kind things to say about Geren.

"Colorado Rockies closer Huston Street told San Francisco Chronicle that Geren is the “least favorite person I have ever encountered in sports.”That jab comes on the heels of A’s closer Brian Fuentes comments about Geren’s “unorthodox managing” style, claims that he was handled “pretty poorly” and complaints about “zero” communication. Fuentes, who has struggled mightily recently, was demoted from closer to a setup role earlier this week, prompting his harsh criticism of Geren."

Those comments are old and hopefully outdated, but it’s the main reason I was against him being manager. Hopefully Street and Fuentes were outliers.

Their other coaching addition, Turner Ward, had been the Diamondback’ hitting coach for the last eight years. Not sure if it’s his hitting coach powers or being given A.J. Pollock and Paul Goldschmidt, but the Diamondbacks offense hasn’t been their problem in the last couple years. Last year, the Diamondbacks had the eighth best team batting average, on base percentage and slugging percentage in all of baseball.

Ward has a bit of history with the Dodgers, as his role in the Dodgers Diamondbacks brawl in 2013 is still plenty fresh in the minds of Dodger fans.

It’s going to be very interesting seeing their first interaction.

In other Dodger news, with David Price out of the mix, it seems like Zack Greinke or bust. They probably have some backup plans that involve trades nobody sees coming, but I don’t think anyone here wants to see Greinke in a different uniform next year (especially in orange and black). Recent reports have the Dodgers willing to go up to six years/$210M, which is an insane number for a 32 year old. That contract will more than likely look horrible in four years, but overpaying in the back end of the contract for a great three-four years is probably what the Dodgers will have to do to retain him.

Next: Dodgers Introduce Dave Roberts

The Dodgers are also reportedly attached to Ben Zobrist, which makes a lot of sense considering Andrew Friedman’s history with him. Zobrist is 34 and reportedly seeking a four-year deal, which frightens me. He’s essentially an older, more proven Enrique Hernandez, so depending on the price he could be a great addition.