Mark Grace and Matt Williams out as Arizona Diamondbacks coaches?

This has still not been officially confirmed by the team, but the usually-reliable Dan Bickley of the Arizona Republic reported that Mark Grace will no longer be the Diamondbacks’ assistant hitting coach. This has now been confirmed by Steve Gilbert, who also says that third-base coach Matt Williams is another who will not be returning. No word as yet on the status of the other two Racing Legends, Randy Johnson and Luis Gonzalez... But since their positions are as special assistants to Derrick Hall, they are likely not in the immediate firing line.

Grace had been the deputy to Dave Magadan, was in his fourth season with the organization, and second in that position. Before that, Grace was the hitting coach with the Rookie Arizona League D-backs in 2013 and with Short-Season A Hillsboro in 2014. Of course, he was with the Diamondbacks as a player for the last three years of his career (2001-03) including the World Series win in 2001. He then spent a number of years in the commentary booth, before a couple of DUIs led to his separation from the team for a while.

Williams was also part of the same World Series winning roster in 2001, and had returned to the desert last season, after being fired from his job as manager of the Washington Nationals. It was his second stint as a coach for the Diamondbacks, having previously been our first-base coach in 2010, them moved to the third-base position from 2011-13.