Whereas the Los Angeles Dodgers largely kept their roster, coaching staff and front office intact after losing to the Houston Astros in Game 7 of the 2017 World Series, falling in a second consecutive trip to the Fall Classic has brought about plenty of change.
Former Dodgers third base and infield coach Chris Woodward was named manager of the Texas Rangers. Turner Ward accepting a role with the Cincinnati Reds as hitting coach, the Philadelphia Phillies hired Minor League hitting coordinator Paco Figueroa, and former general manager Farhan Zaidi is now the head of the San Francisco Giants front office.
Departures from the Dodgers organization have also extended to their Research and Development department. The Houston Astros recently plucked senior analyst Ehsan Bokhari and hired him as director of R&D.
Now the Dodgers face the prospect of finding a replacement for the head their Research and Development team, J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group confirmed Doug Fearing is leaving the organization as well:
As @Chris_Camello mentioned, the Dodgers are losing their talented and friendly R&D director, Doug Fearing. I'm told his next stop is TBD.
— J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) November 14, 2018
Fearing was instrumental to the Dodgers building out their analytics department. He holds a PH.D from MIT.
Fearing had a prior relationship with Andrew Friedman during their time together with the Tampa Bay Rays, and he made the move to Los Angeles as a full-time staff member in 2015. Fearing was an analytics advisor during his five seasons with the Rays.
Along with needing to fill voids in his front office, Friedman is also working on a contract extension with manager Dave Roberts that he’s expressed optimism would be completed, yet continues to be delayed.
