The Texas Rangers announced the hiring of Luis Ortiz to be the hitting coach on new manager Chris Woodward’s staff. Ortiz spent the 2018 season as the co-assistant hitting coach of the Los Angeles Dodgers, along with Brant Brown.
Ortiz played four Major League seasons as a third baseman, spending two of them with the Rangers, so he is returning to an franchise he is very familiar with. He also was a coach in the Rangers organization from 2009-12.
The Dodgers’ coaching staff and front office have lost a number of members this offseason, starting with the departure of Woodward, who served as their third base and infield coach since the 2016 season.
Hitting coach Turner Ward is also no longer with the organization as he took the same position with the Cincinnati Reds to be closer to family and his ailing wife in Alabama. Both Ortiz and Brown were viewed as candidates to replace Ward, perhaps in a dual role like they did in 2018, but that is obviously no longer the case with Ortiz headed to Texas.
Other changes this offseason for the Dodgers include losing Minor League hitting coordinator Paco Figueroa to the Philadelphia Phillies, game planning/communications coach Danny Lehmann as well as a couple of losses in their Research and Development department.
Perhaps the biggest departure of them all was general manager Farhan Zaidi, who is now the president of baseball operations with the rival San Francisco Giants.
The Dodgers have not yet announced any replacements, but that is likely at the top of the offseason to-do list for president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman in addition to possible changes on the player personnel side.
