Just to put together the information from various sources, fanshots, SnakeBytes, etc. Diamondbacks' Executive Vice President and General Manager Kevin Towers officially announced today, that the team have filled the remaining open positions for the 2011 season. The bench coach will be Alan Trammell, Don Baylor is the new hitting coach, Eric Young becomes the first-base coach and Charles Nagy will occupy the pitching coach's spot, all under manager Kirk Gibson. Here's what Towers had to say:
"I am really excited about the experience we added to Kirk Gibson's coaching staff for next season. The four coaches we added were all All-Stars during long and successful playing careers and will be great leaders for our players to work with. You can't go wrong by adding the previous managerial and coaching experience Alan Trammell and Don Baylor bring to the staff. Although this is the first time Eric Young and Charles Nagy will be on a Major League coaching staff, both were successful during minor league coaching stints and were great veterans during the playing career."
They join third-base coach Matt Williams and bullpen coach Glenn Sherlock. Details on the four men after the jump.
New bench coach Trammell served in the same position for the Chicago Cubs over the past four years. He also managed the Detroit Tigers for three seasons, from 2003-05, including their infamous 43-119 season in 2003. Ironically, at the time, Gibson served as his bench coach. He was also the San Diego Padres' first base coach from 2000-02, following one season as the Tigers hitting coach, in 1999. He spent his entire 20-year career in Detroit, picking up six All-Star appearances and four Gold Gloves during that time, finishing second in MVP voting in 1987, when he hit .343 with 28 home-runs.
Hitting coach Don Baylor comes to Arizona from Colorado, having been the Rockies' hitting coach for two seasons. He was also their first manager, holding the position from 1993-98, posting a 440-469 record and taking the team to its first post-season in 1995. Baylor also managed the Cubs from 2000-02, going 187-220. He has also been a hitting coach in Milwaukee (1990-91), St. Louis (1992), Atlanta (1999) and Seattle (2005), and a bench coach with the Mets (2003-04). He played for 19 years, and was the American League MVP in 1979 with the Angels: he hit 36 HR and drove in 139. He also holds the AL career record for HBPs (267), so perhaps can teach our hitters that.
Young and Nagy are, as Towers noted, both in their first major-league coaching position. Eric Young was a roving minor league instructor for the Astros this past season, focusing on outfield play and baserunning, but is probably best known as an analyst on Baseball Tonight from 2007-09. He hit .283 over a 15-year career, but stole 465 bases, trailing only Kenny Lofton over his time in the majors. He was named an All-Star in 1996, which was probably also his best season, as he hit .324 and stole a league-leading 53 bases for the Rockies.
Charles Nagy spent 2010 as the pitching coach for the Triple-A Indians' franchise in Columbus. He held the same position with Salt Lake, in the Angels organization, from 2006-07, and was a Special Assistant to Baseball Operations in Cleveland from 2004-05. He went 129-105 with a 4.51 ERA and 1,242 strikeouts during his 14-year Major League playing career, all but the last season with the Indians. He made three All-Star appearances, getting the start for the AL in 1996, a season he finished fourth in Cy Young voting. He can compare Olympic medals with Augie, as Nagy was a member of the 1988 US baseball team that won gold in Seoul, South Korea.