As expected the Blue Jays have officially announced that DeMarlo Hale has left his position as Orioles third base coach to become their new bench coach and Toronto also named Chad Mottola hitting coach.
Mottola was the fifth overall pick in the 1992 draft--one spot ahead of some guy named Derek Jeter--but played just 59 games in the majors and spent 16 seasons in the minors, the last of which was 2007. After retiring Mottola worked his way up from rookie-ball to Triple-A, serving as Las Vegas’ hitting coach in the Blue Jays’ farm system this year.
Baltimore had hoped to retain Hale as third base coach, but instead he’ll join manager John Gibbons’ staff two years after interviewing to become the Blue Jays manager during a search that ultimately ended in John Farrell getting the job.
Gibbons’ staff will also include Pete Walker as pitching coach, Dwayne Murphy as first base coach, and Luis Rivera as third base coach.