Royals Hire Paul Hoover As Bench Coach
November 14: The Royals have made it official, announcing that Hoover has been added to Quatraro’s staff.
November 13: The Royals are hiring Paul Hoover as their new bench coach, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports (Twitter link). Hoover has spent the last four seasons on the Rays staff as their Major League field coordinator, so with former Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro now taking over as Kansas City’s manager, it makes sense that Quatraro would want a familiar face as his top lieutenant.
Filling in the holes on the Tampa coaching staff, Topkin reports that minor league catching coordinator Tomas Francisco is joining the big league staff. Triple-A manager Brady Williams is also becoming the new third base coach, as Topkin reported last week that Williams was being promoted to a then-unknown role for his first job on a Major League staff.
Hoover is a veteran of 40 Major League games, during a playing career that stretched over seven MLB seasons and 14 professional seasons in total. He began his post-playing career in 2012 as a manager for the Rays’ Gulf Coast League affiliate, and then six seasons as a catching coordinator working at all levels of Tampa Bay’s farm system before receiving a promotion to the MLB staff.
The 46-year-old Hoover replaces Pedro Grifol in the bench coach job, after Grifol left the Royals to become the new White Sox manager. It seems likely that some other changes might some to the K.C. staff, and one vacancy has yet to be filled as the Royals are looking for a new pitching coach.
The Rays often promote from within for coaching vacancies, and the 34-year-old Francisco will get his first opportunity on the big league staff. Francisco played in the Rays’ farm system from 2007-2010, and then moved onto such roles as manager of the Rays’ GCL and Dominican Summer League teams, as well as his catching coordinator position.
AL Notes: Verdugo, Mike Maddux, Rays’ Coaching Shuffle
Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com has floated Alex Verdugo‘s name as a potential trade candidate this offseason. Verdugo, age-26, is coming off a season in which he regressed on all fronts of his game. From 2021 to 2022, Verdugo’s wRC+ dipped from 107 to 103, all of the figures in his slash decreased (.289/.351/.426 to .280/.328/.405), he lost .2 ft/s in sprint speed, and went from +1 DRS in 2021 to -4 DRS in 2022. Cotillo adds that according to a source, Red Sox brass were frustrated with his decision to bulk up in the offseason, a choice Verdugo made with the intention of hitting for more power. As evident by his decreased slugging and the fact that his weight has seemingly slowed him down on the bases and in the outfield, the choice to get bigger appears to have hindered Verdugo’s development more than it has helped him.
Speculation regarding a potential Verdugo trade comes as the Red Sox are in need of some help in the outfield. As currently constructed, Verdugo and Kiké Hernandez are Boston’s only outfield locks. Rob Refsnyder and Jarren Duran are decent depth options, but don’t provide as much thump as external options perhaps would, and a Verdugo-Hernandez-Refsnyder/Duran combo would leave Boston’s outfield lacking in offensive firepower. If the Red Sox do trade Verdugo, it would probably come after Boston goes out and gets someone on the free agent market or via trade to lock down a corner outfield spot. Verdugo could fetch the Sox a decent return, and may be flipped to improve Boston’s bullpen, which struggled in 2022. With Verdugo set for a pay raise in his second year of arbitration, it will not be entirely surprising if Chaim Bloom decides to move on from one of the centerpieces of Boston’s return from the Mookie Betts trade.
Some other news from around the AL:
- Mike Maddux is interested in rejoining the Rangers as their pitching coach, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The Rangers fired Doug Mathis and re-assigned Brendan Sagara, who had served as co-pitching coaches for 2022, less than twenty-four hours after the end of the 2023 season. Maddux previously served as Rangers pitching coach from 2009 to 2015, and recently left his post as pitching coach of the Cardinals. Grant notes that Maddux lives in the Dallas area, adding that the Rangers could pair a veteran coach, like Maddux, with someone else who is “more in tune with biomechanics and the art of pitch design” to co-lead the Rangers staff.
- Brady Williams, manager of Triple-A Durham for the Rays, will be promoted to big league staff as part of the fall out from the Royals’ managerial hiring of former Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. With Quatraro out, third base coach Rodney Linares is expected to become the new bench coach. It is unclear as to what role Williams will assume with the Rays in what will be his first opportunity to coach in the big leagues. Williams has spent his entire coaching career within the Rays organization, managing at Short-Season Hudson Valley, Single-A Bowling Green, Advanced-A Charlotte, and Double-A Montgomery, as well as Durham before getting the call to the majors.