Tampa, FL (SportsNetwork.com) – The Tampa Bay Rays finalized their coaching
staff for the 2015 season on Friday, naming Tom Foley as bench coach for new
manager Kevin Cash.
Foley had spent the past 13 seasons as the Rays’ third base coach. Charlie
Montoyo will take over as third base coach and former Rays star Rocco Baldelli
will be the club’s new first base coach.
George Hendrick, who had been the first base coach, has accepted a role as the
special advisor to baseball operations.
The remainder of the coaching staff will remain intact, as Jim Hickey returns
for a ninth season as pitching coach and Derek Shelton enters his sixth year
as hitting coach. Stan Boroski will remain the bullpen coach and Jamie Nelson
will stay on as major league coach.
“I feel very fortunate to have inherited a staff that is both respected
throughout baseball and knowledgeable of our players and the culture,” said
Cash in a statement Friday. “I am thrilled to have Tom as our bench coach. I
have great respect for the role he has played in the organization from its
inception and will lean on him for his experience and judgment. In adding
Charlie and Rocco, we have two men who combined have more than 30 years
invested in this organization at many different levels and have great
familiarity with our players. Both have meant a great deal to the Rays, and I
am grateful they will be joining Jim, Derek, Jamie and Stan for what I feel is
a great team.”
Cash was named the Rays’ new manager earlier this month, replacing Joe Maddon,
who stepped down in October after baseball operations head Andrew Friedman
also left. Friedman went to the Los Angeles Dodgers and Maddon quickly found a
home as the skipper of the Chicago Cubs.
