The Oakland A’s named Chip Hale as third base coach on Bob Melvin’s coaching staff for the 2017 season, the club announced on Tuesday morning. The A’s also named Jeff Collins as Assistant Athletic Trainer and Josh Cuffe as Major League Strength and Conditioning Coach. The remainder of the A’s coaching staff will return in their same roles.
“We’re thrilled to bring Chip back to the organization and to retain the rest of our coaching staff,” said A’s General Manager David Forst. “Bob and his staff have done an outstanding job with our core group of young players, and keeping them together was an important step for us as we look towards 2017. Under Bob’s leadership, we’re confident that we have the right staff in place to continue our club’s growth and development.”
Hale returns to the A’s organization after spending two seasons as manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The D-backs finished 69-93 this year after going 79-83 in Hale’s first season as manager in 2015. Hale previously served as bench coach with the A’s under Bob Melvin from 2012-14. He joined his first Major League coaching staff in 2007 as the third base coach with Arizona. Hale spent three seasons with the Diamondbacks and two as the third base coach with the New York Mets before joining Oakland in 2012.
Hale replaces Ron Washington, who took a job as third base coach for the Atlanta Braves, and will also be responsible for infielders. The rest of the coaching staff remains the same, with Mike Aldrete as first base coach, Darren Bush as hitting coach, Scott Emerson as bullpen coach, Marcus Jensen as assistant hitting/catching coach, Mark Kotsay as bench coach and Curt Young as pitching coach.
Collins joins a Major League training staff for the first time after spending 19 seasons working with A’s minor leaguers. He joined the Oakland organization as an athletic trainer at Short-Season Southern Oregon (1998-99) and also served in the same capacity for Single-A Visalia (2000) and Short-Season Vancouver (2004). Collins has also spent 16 seasons as the A’s minor league medical coordinator. He replaces Walt Horn, who retired following the 2016 season.
Cuffe has spent the last five seasons as the A’s minor league strength and conditioning coordinator. He began his career with five seasons in the Arizona Diamondbacks farm system, serving as strength coach at South Bend (2007), Visalia (2008), Mobile (2009) and Reno (2010-11).
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