Dodgers first base coach leaving to work with AJ Hinch feels like betrayal

Edwin Rios, Los Angeles Dodgers. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)
Edwin Rios, Los Angeles Dodgers. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)

The Tigers hired former Dodgers 1B coach George Lombard to be their bench coach.

Some viewed former Los Angeles Dodgers first base coach George Lombard as a potential managerial candidate this offseason due to the work he’s done since 2015. It’s no secret the organization has a tremendous pipeline in just about every aspect of the game.

In short, Dodgers fans in the know expected him to leave. However, they didn’t expect him to depart for the enemy. Last month, it kind of flew under the radar that Lombard left the Dodgers to become the bench coach for the Detroit Tigers

… Under manager AJ Hinch, who was instrumental in screwing the Dodgers out of the 2017 World Series when he was with the Houston Astros. This one’s gotta hurt for some fans because, if we’re being honest, Hinch shouldn’t be back in the game of baseball this quickly.

A promotion is a promotion, so we can’t knock Lombard for seeking out another opportunity, but to work for Hinch? It’s not like Lombard was a new member of the Dodgers organization who was looking for a quick change of scenery. He was there in 2017! He spent six years with the team!

It just feels like betrayal, especially after the Dodgers won the World Series, and it seems like a bad look, too. Hinch, many expected, was supposed to be some sort of black sheep in the game of baseball. Now, he has former coaches from teams that he conned along the way during the Astros’ cheating scandal joining him a year later?

How is he managing to do this?

Anyway, a few days ago the Dodgers announced their coaching staff for the 2021 season. Manager Dave Roberts will be back, regardless if you’re happy about that or not. And Clayton McCullough will fill in for Lombard after spending time as the Dodgers’ minor league field coordinator.

Dodgers fans can only hope Lombard has a grander plan in mind to unseat Hinch somehow and take his job as manager. Or perhaps this is a one-year springboard-type job to help get him interviews for a managerial position come 2022. Yeah, we’ll look at it that way. It feels better.

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