Headlines

  • Angels Acquire LaMonte Wade Jr.
  • Braves Designate Craig Kimbrel For Assignment
  • Corbin Burnes To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
  • Braves Select Craig Kimbrel
  • Jerry Reinsdorf, Justin Ishbia Reach Agreement For Ishbia To Obtain Future Majority Stake In White Sox
  • White Sox To Promote Kyle Teel
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2024-25 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2024-25 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2025
    • Free Agent Contest Leaderboard
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Chris Holt

Red Sox To Name Chris Holt Bullpen Coach

By Steve Adams | November 13, 2024 at 1:00pm CDT

Former Orioles pitching director Chris Holt has reached an agreement to become the Red Sox’ new bullpen coach, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Holt has already received a formal offer, and the hiring could become official next week, per Kubatko.

Holt departed Baltimore’s staff at the end of the season as the organization underwent a coaching overhaul in the wake of a limp to the finish line and a second consecutive quick postseason exit. He was one of several coaches/instructors to be replaced, joining hitting coaches Ryan Fuller and Matt Borgschulte.

Baltimore general manager Mike Elias was familiar with Holt from the pair’s time together in the Astros organization. He hired Holt away as the Orioles’ new minor league pitching coordinator in 2019. Holt rose to the title of major league pitching coach and was eventually bumped up even further, being tasked with overseeing the entire organization’s pitching practice. Holt held those roles concurrently in an effort to form a cohesive top-down vision throughout the team’s big league staff and pitching development efforts.

Holt will join the Red Sox staff with a narrower focus in his responsibilities. He’ll join a revamped pitching practice in Boston that began when Craig Breslow, a former big league reliever who’s entering his second season as the team’s chief baseball officer, hired former Sox reliever Andrew Bailey away from the Giants to serve as the club’s new pitching coach. Holt will also work closely with another Breslow hire from last offseason: Red Sox director of pitching Justin Willard (the same role Holt held in Baltimore and that Breslow himself held with the Cubs before landing the top job in Boston).

Holt fills a role that was vacated when the Sox dismissed six coaches, including bullpen coach Kevin Walker, at season’s end. Walker had been in place since being hired by former chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom back in 2020.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Baltimore Orioles Boston Red Sox Chris Holt

44 comments

Managerial/Coaching Notes: Thomson, Counsell, Guardians, Orioles

By Mark Polishuk | October 29, 2023 at 4:48pm CDT

There haven’t yet been any talks between the Phillies and manager Rob Thomson about a contract extension, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters (including the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Alex Coffey) this week.  Thomson was named interim manager during the 2022 season after Joe Girardi was fired, and after the Phillies’ run to the World Series, Thomson was given a new two-year pact as the club’s new full-time skipper.  No club options were attached to the deal, so the 60-year-old Thomson is only locked up through the 2024 campaign.

Despite the relative lack of contractual stability, it doesn’t appear as though Thomson is going anywhere, given how successful the Fightins have been under his watch.  With still plenty of time left for an extension to be negotiated, it wouldn’t at all be surprising to see a new contract for Thomson announced prior to Opening Day.  Though Thomson had been planning to retire from baseball heading into the 2022 season, his first run as a big league manager has re-energized his spirits.  “I love this city, this organization, this team.  I have never had as much fun in my life as I have the last couple of years.  So yeah, I can envision [managing beyond 2024,” Thomson told Coffey and company.

More on other dugout situations around baseball….

  • The Guardians are set to interview Craig Counsell after being granted permission by the Brewers earlier this week, creating speculation that the Guards might be able to find another experienced, successful manager to replace Terry Francona.  However, a Counsell/Cleveland pairing looks to be “a long shot,” as a source tells Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.  Pluto feels Counsell will ultimately end up staying in Milwaukee, though he thinks “the Guardians should go hard after Counsell” by giving him a deal akin to Francona’s past status as the highest-paid manager in baseball.  Of course, this wouldn’t stop the Brewers from also offering Counsell a raise, or the deep-pocketed Mets (who are also pursuing Counsell) from going overboard in a bidding war.
  • The Orioles’ coaching changes earlier this week could be “akin to the principal becoming the headmaster of a school and a new principal coming in beneath him to handle the day to day,” The Baltimore Banner’s Jon Meoli writes.  Chris Holt will remain the club’s director of pitching, even if he will no longer be acting as the Orioles’ pitching coach and quite so intimately involved in game-day operations.  Odds are that the Orioles will fill the pitching coach role from within, though Meoli feels an outside hire would represent some alteration in Baltimore’s approach in managing and developing their hurlers.
Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Baltimore Orioles Cleveland Guardians Milwaukee Brewers Notes Philadelphia Phillies Chris Holt Craig Counsell Rob Thomson

47 comments

Chris Holt Not Continuing As Orioles’ Pitching Coach, Remains Director Of Pitching

By Anthony Franco | October 25, 2023 at 7:25pm CDT

Chris Holt will not return to the Orioles’ MLB staff as pitching coach, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. He will remain in the organization as its director of pitching, a position he has held concurrently with the pitching coach title for a few seasons. Assistant pitching coach Darren Holmes is departing the organization entirely, Kubatko adds. The rest of Brandon Hyde’s staff is expected to return for what’ll be the manager’s sixth season.

Holt, 44, has been with Baltimore since 2019. He had previously worked with the Astros, following former Houston executive Mike Elias to Baltimore when the latter was hired as general manager. Holt was named to the MLB staff going into 2021. The O’s apparently prefer to allow him to focus more consistently on the overhead role that allows him to work with MLB and minor league arms alike.

Holmes joined Baltimore going into the 2020 season as bullpen coach. He was bumped to assistant pitching coach a year later. The 57-year-old had a 13-year big league playing career and had previously spent a half-decade as bullpen coach of the Rockies.

The O’s are likely to add two new coaches to fill the vacancies on the pitching side. Otherwise, they seem set to run with the same group they had in 2023. Fredi González is the bench coach, while Matt Borgschulte and Ryan Fuller serve as co-hitting coaches.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Baltimore Orioles Chris Holt Darren Holmes

0 comments

Coaching Notes: Reds, Orioles

By TC Zencka | January 6, 2021 at 12:59pm CDT

The Reds have named Bryan Conger their new minor league pitching coordinator, per Bobby Nightengale of the Enquirer (via Twitter). Conger himself announced his hiring on Twitter. Conger spent the last two seasons coaching in the Rangers’ organization. The former head coach at Tarleton State, Conger has a history of data-driven innovation that fits the Reds’ ethos. J.J. Cooper of Baseball America wrote this about Conger when the Rangers initially hired him in January of 2019: “Individualization has been a key part of Conger’s approach. Each pitcher at Tarleton State had an individualized throwing program designed specifically for that pitcher. Conger viewed it as his job to use data as much as possible to help customize everything they did for each pitcher.” As the minor league pitching coordinator, Conger will have a broader scope at his fingertips than back in his Division II days, but the Reds no doubt value his personal approach.

  • Conger joines the Driveline/Reds family that also includes 25-year-old assistant pitching coach Eric Jagers. The former University of Iowa southpaw found his way to Driveline as an amateur pitcher struggling to stay healthy. Thoracic Outlet Syndrome further stymied his pitching career, importuning Jagers to commit early to a career in coaching, writes Bobby Nightengale of The Enquirer. Writes Nightengale, “The result was a meteoric rise through the sport. In three years, Jagers went from an injured college pitcher to the Cincinnati Reds’ Assistant Pitching Coach. At 25 years old, he’s one of the youngest coaches on any Major League staff.” Jagers takes over for Caleb Cotham – just 33-years-old himself – who was named the Phillies’ pitching coach this offseason.
  • In Baltimore, Chris Holt attempted to clarify his role for the upcoming season during a recent Zoom call, notes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (via Twitter). Holt has been the Orioles’ Director of Pitching, but he will slide into the dugout this year as manager Brandon Hyde’s pitching coach. He’s keeping his original title, however, which presumably puts an awful lot on Holt’s plate. Holt has been preparing for this role switch for years, with the organization hoping that Holt could form a cohesive organizational philosophy that he himself would usher to the big leagues as some of their developing hurlers made it to the Show. That’s presumably where they are now, with a number of young pitchers like Dean Kremer, Keegan Akin, Bruce Zimmermann, Hunter Harvey, Michael Baumann, Zac Lowther, and Alexander Wells already on the 40-man roster. Top prospects Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall are both approaching the bigs as well, though both are likely to start 2021 in Double-A.

 

Share 0 Retweet 3 Send via email0

Baltimore Orioles Cincinnati Reds Notes Chris Holt

4 comments

Orioles Name Chris Holt Pitching Coach

By Steve Adams | November 2, 2020 at 2:55pm CDT

2:55pm: Holmes has actually been promoted to assistant pitching coach, tweets Kubatko.

2:20pm: The Orioles are promoting Chris Holt to their vacant pitching coach position, general manager Mike Elias announced to reporters this afternoon (Twitter link via Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com). He’ll take over for former big league righty Doug Brocail, who had held the post for the past two seasons but wasn’t retained for a third year on the job.

Holt initially came to the Baltimore organization from the Astros. He’d previously served as the Houston’s assistant director of pitching, where he worked with Elias when Elias as an assistant general manager. Holt’s first title with the O’s was minor league pitching coordinator, but he was promoted to director of pitching last offseason — a role in which he had a more direct connection with Brocail and the staff. Holt will retain that director of pitching title but will now see his duties expand into the big league dugout.

Holt has previously worked to develop individualized pitching plans for the Orioles’ pitchers at both the minor league and big league levels. MLB.com’s Joe Trezza wrote recently that Holt was the internal favorite to take over the pitching coach role and has drawn praise for his “fluency” in analytic principles and his ability to communicate that information to players who aren’t as familiar with the data. He worked closely with many of the club’s young arms at the alternate training site in 2020, Trezza notes, including Keegan Akin and Dean Kremer.

Elias added that bullpen coach Darren Holmes will return for a second season as the club’s bullpen coach and work with Holt to oversee the staff as a whole. The Orioles hired Holmes last December after a five-year stint as the Rockies’ bullpen coach.

Share 0 Retweet 8 Send via email0

Baltimore Orioles Chris Holt Darren Holmes

7 comments
Show all

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Angels Acquire LaMonte Wade Jr.

    Braves Designate Craig Kimbrel For Assignment

    Corbin Burnes To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Braves Select Craig Kimbrel

    Jerry Reinsdorf, Justin Ishbia Reach Agreement For Ishbia To Obtain Future Majority Stake In White Sox

    White Sox To Promote Kyle Teel

    Sign Up For Trade Rumors Front Office Now And Lock In Savings!

    Pablo Lopez To Miss Multiple Months With Teres Major Strain

    MLB To Propose Automatic Ball-Strike Challenge System For 2026

    Giants Designate LaMonte Wade Jr., Sign Dominic Smith

    Reds Sign Wade Miley, Place Hunter Greene On Injured List

    Padres Interested In Jarren Duran

    Royals Promote Jac Caglianone

    Mariners Promote Cole Young, Activate Bryce Miller

    2025-26 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings: May Edition

    Evan Phillips To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    AJ Smith-Shawver Diagnosed With Torn UCL

    Reds Trade Alexis Díaz To Dodgers

    Rockies Sign Orlando Arcia

    Ronel Blanco To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Recent

    Angels Acquire LaMonte Wade Jr.

    Blue Jays Recall Spencer Turnbull For Season Debut

    Orioles Notes: Westburg, Mullins, O’Neill

    Tigers Notes: Vierling, Olson, Urquidy, Boyd

    Twins Place Zebby Matthews On 15-Day IL, Reinstate Danny Coulombe

    Yankees Claim CJ Alexander

    Phillies Claim Ryan Cusick, Designate Kyle Tyler

    Brewers Claim Drew Avans

    White Sox Sign Tyler Alexander, Place Jared Shuster On 15-Day IL

    Orioles Designate Matt Bowman For Assignment

    ad: 300x250_5_side_mlb

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • 2024-25 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • Nolan Arenado Rumors
    • Dylan Cease Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Marcus Stroman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • 2024-25 Offseason Outlook Series
    • 2025 Arbitration Projections
    • 2024-25 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version