Throughout much of last season there were whispers claiming former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly made lineup and other decisions at the behest — or mercy — of president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and his front office.
There’s no denying Friedman and his group champions a forward-thinking approach that utilizes sabermetrics, while Mattingly, a former player, represented more of an “old school” feel.
Both sides often spoke of relying on and incorporating multiple view points; a sentiment that was reiterated when the Dodgers and Mattingly mutually agreed to part ways in October.
One month later, Dave Roberts was hired as the club’s next manager. Given that Roberts will be a rookie skipper in 2016, questions remained as to how much decision-making power he would hold.
It was a topic raised during Roberts’ introductory press conference, specifically how coaching staff hires would unfold. Both Friedman and Roberts said the search would be a collaborative effort, though Friedman added the manager would lead the process.
With the Dodgers having made their coaching staff hires official on Thursday, Roberts provided some details behind the search for coaches, via Jon Weisman of Dodger Insider:
“It’s one of those things where I was actually searching for names,” Roberts said. “This was my first time going through this process. I know a lot of people in the game, but a lot of times it’s a puzzle you’re trying to put together. I took a lot of input from people inside the organization and outside the organization, and used a lot of the resources … but ultimately I made those decisions.
Pitching coach Rick Honeycutt and Steve Yeager represent the lone holdoves from Mattingly’s staff. During his time with the Dodgers, Honeycutt has coached under Grady Little, Joe Torre and Mattingly.
Dodgers director of player development Gabe Kapler, who was a finalist along with Roberts for the managerial vacancy, will remain in his current role rather than coach first base as was previously reported. In total, the Dodgers’ coaching staff next season will feature seven new faces.
