While the Los Angeles Dodgers have not been able to add any players to their Major League roster during the MLB lockout, they have continued to make changes in the front office, coaching staff and player development.
Their most notable move was Brandon Gomes being promoted to general manager, while Alex Slater also received a promotion to vice president and assistant general manager, and Damon Jones was hired as vice president, assistant general manager and baseball legal counsel.
In addition, Brandon McDaniel was promoted to vice president of player performance while Thomas Albert was promoted to head athletic trainer.
The Dodgers also made one move that was unannounced as they hired former Seattle Mariners hitting coach Tim Laker their Minor League hitting coordinator, according to Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic:
The “baseball guy” was former major-league catcher Tim Laker, who was between jobs as the Mariners’ hitting coach and Dodgers’ minor-league hitting coordinator.
The Mariners originally hired Laker as their hitting coach for the 2019 season but last November, he declined the club’s offer to return.
After leaving the Mariners, Laker briefly worked as a private hitting instructor with hitting guru Craig Wallenbrock and helped St. Louis Cardinals free agent Matt Carpenter re-work his swing, according to Rosenthal.
Laker previously worked for the Arizona Diamondbacks as their assistant hitting coach from 2017-18 and he has experience managing with affiliates of the Cleveland Guardians and Mariners.
He first started working as a hitting coach in 2011 in the Chicago White Sox organization and stayed in similar roles through 2016.
Laker has spent parts of 11 seasons at the Major League level, which began in 1992 with the Montreal Expos and ended in 2006 with the Cleveland Indians.
The Encino, Calif. native spent most of his career as a backup catcher and posted a career slash line of .226/.276/.326.
Bob Geren sees ‘parallels’ between baseball and car racing
From the Dodgers coaching staff led by manager Dave Roberts and bench coach Bob Geren to their scouting and player development system, all the parts of their organization work together to create an organization that wins more often than any other team.
The Dodgers strategy is similar to a racing team, where the owner, manager, driver, crew chief and pit crew all need to be on the same page to have success. If one part fails, then the rest of the group will end up failing or struggling.
The comparisons don’t end there though as Geren considers managing and preparing for an MLB game as similar to the process for a race.
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
