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.
Rays Promote Rodney Linares To Bench Coach
The Rays have named third base coach Rodney Linares as the team’s new bench coach, according to Jon Morosi of the MLB Network (Twitter link). Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times recently reported that Linares was expected to take over bench coach duties from Matt Quatraro, who was hired as the Royals’ new manager.
The 45-year-old Linares has been the Rays’ third base coach for the last four seasons, coming to Tampa after a long stint in the Astros organization that saw his coaching career begin at age 21. Starting off as a coach and instructor at that young age, Linares got his first managerial assignment in 2007, and worked his way up the minor league ladder to manage all of Houston’s rookie ball, A-ball, high-A, Double-A, and Triple-A affiliates from 2007-18.
Linares will also have a high-profile managerial role during the World Baseball Classic in March, as he’ll man the dugout for the Dominican Republic’s national team. As Morosi notes, Linares is viewed by many as a candidate to eventually manage a Major League club, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him receive interviews during the next round of managerial openings. Quatraro and Charlie Montoyo both moved from the Tampa bench coach job to become a manager elsewhere, as rival teams frequently target the Rays for managerial, coaching staff, and front office hires.
Rays Hire Rodney Linares As Third-Base Coach
The Rays announced today that they have hired Rodney Linares as their third-base coach. He’ll step in for Matt Quatraro, who slid over to bench coach when Charlie Montoyo left to become the new Blue Jays manager.
With the move, Linares will conclude a lengthy tenure with the Astros organization. Long a presence in the Houston organization’s minor-league system, he functioned as the Triple-A skipper in 2018 but has not yet served on a MLB staff.
It appears that Linares will still be accompanied by one other new addition to the staff of skipper Kevin Cash. With Rocco Baldelli also departing to take the helm of a new club, in his case the Twins, there’s still another opening.