2:45pm: The Dodgers have announced the hiring of Roenicke as their new third base coach. Bundy will officially stay on as the team’s outfield coordinator, per the press release.
2:33pm: The Dodgers will hire former Brewers manager Ron Roenicke to join their coaching staff, according to Scott Miller of Bleacher Report (Twitter links). Roenicke will become the team’s new third base coach, according to Miller. Current third base coach Lorenzo Bundy is believed to be staying with the organization, he adds, but he’ll move to a yet unknown role. Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times tweets that Bundy will remain in charge of the outfield defense.
The 58-year-old Roenicke was dismissed as the Brewers’ manager in favor of Craig Counsell back on May 3. He spent parts of five seasons at the helm in Milwaukee and finished with a winning record (342-331) despite the club’s woes dating back to late in the 2014 season. Roenicke also had an eight-year playing career as an outfielder back in the 1980s. This will be his second stint coaching with the Dodgers, as he began his coaching career in L.A. back in 1992 and remained there through the ’93 season before embarking on a minor league managerial career. Roenicke also served as a coach on Mike Scioscia’s staff with the Angels from 2000 through 2010.
blake
hmmm, perhaps a strategically placed move in order to reunite Scioscia with the Dodgers?
inkstainedscribe
Rumors about Mattingly’s ouster begin in 3 … 2 …
BlueSkyLA
They’d need to stop for at least five minutes before they could begin again.
thecoffinnail
Agreed.. I am not all that familiar with the Dodgers organization, but you seen to be pretty knowledgeable about them, Blue.. Going from the numbers and the talent level given to Mattingly, I don’t think his job will be there next season if he doesn’t at least get to the NL championship series.. What do you think about Mattingly’s job performance and how safe do you think his job is?
BlueSkyLA
A mixed bag, but my own theory is that managing a ball club is like an iceberg. Most of what matters is below the waterline. And also let’s not forget that ownership brought in a new FO who performed a major roster reconstruction on a 94-game winning team. They should be on trial here at least as much as Mattingly. It was they who decided that the Dodgers didn’t need another front-line starter and they who also decided to gamble on the readiness of Joc Pederson. Still if it doesn’t work, Mattingly will probably take the fall. That’s just the way it work in baseball.
treday
I’m with ya on this one, Mattingly seems to take an absurd amount of undue criticism. Not saying he’s a perfect manager, but I for one think he’s done a good job with the flawed rosters he’s been given. That said, I have trouble seeing Donnie get the boot unless we somehow choke and miss the playoffs. Friedman had the opportunity to go out and get Maddon, and when he decided that Mattingly was his guy, it spoke volumes.
BlueSkyLA
As fans we get to see a manager’s work for at most three hours a day, but we know managers don’t work three-hour days. Apparently the FO feels for now at least that his work altogether is what they want. As fans we have every right to be frustrated with a team that though they are in first place seem to sleepwalk their way through too many games. Is that Mattingly’s fault? Hard to say, but much easier to say that if ownership thought so, he’d be gone already, because clearly they are not afraid to make dramatic moves.
hamelin4mvp
Good for you, Ronny.
Sage
Gonna be honest with you, I’m surprised it took this long for him to find another major league job. I had some problems with some of his decision-making with us, but he’s a good guy and at least a decent manager. He’ll get another shot as a manager somewhere, be it with the Dodgers or elsewhere.
tstokes97
He’s qualified but I’m not surprised he took this long to get a new job, he clearly wanted a major league coaching job and not many changes like that are made mid season.
Vandals Took The Handles
He was still being paid. He was not out there pleading for a job. He could wait till he got a situation he liked.
tstokes97
Certainly which is why he didn’t take a minor league job, he wanted an mlb job. Normally though he wouldn’t have gotten one until the offseason.
daveineg
Roenicke led the Brewers to their two worst months in 46 years of franchise history, May 2013 and April 2015 sabotaging both seasons, Considering much of that time, they had much worse rosters than they had under Roenicke, that’s quite a feat.
Roenicke lost the Brewer clubhouse long before he was fired.
daveineg
Disagree with you Sage. Roenicke has no clue how to lead, allows same mistakes to happen over and over with no repercussions, and lacks the ability to get the best of his players when times get tough.