Righetti out as pitching coach
He started in 2000 and had served under 3 managers
There were no embraces more emotional in the final weekend of the Giants’ disastrous season than the ones between Matt Cain and Dave Righetti.
Cain was retiring after 13 seasons and expressed nothing but love and respect for his only big-league pitching coach.
As it turned out, Righetti was out the door, too.
The Giants announced Saturday that Righetti, the pitching coach since 2000 who served under three managers, was relieved of his duties and accepted a front-office role as special assistant to the general manager.
General manager Bobby Evans said he first met with Righetti in September about a change and followed up with two or three phone conversations after the season.
“Ultimately, a change for us in the clubhouse is really an opportunity to put a new voice with our pitching staff and try to keep pushing to the heights we aspire to as an organization and club,” Evans said in a conference call. “Changes sometimes are needed as much for the sake of that new voice as anything, and that was really the priority here.”
Also, bullpen coach Mark Gardner was reassigned to a special assignment role (pitching evaluations), and assistant hitting coach Steve Decker was reassigned to special assistant in baseball operations.
Righetti could be a pitchingcoach candidate elsewhere. He turns 59 next month and was instrumental in developing pitchers who led the Giants to championships in 2010, 2012 and 2014. His staff threw five no-hitters including Cain’s perfect game, Tim Lincecum won two Cy Young Awards and Madison Bumgarner has the lowest World Series ERA in
history.
It was hardly Righetti’s fault the Giants’ staff fell apart in 2017, considering Bumgarner’s dirt-bike accident, injuries to Johnny Cueto and Mark Melancon, Matt Moore’s epic struggles and a bullpen that never measured up to relief corps of championships past.
“His heartbeat is in uniform as a coach,” said Evans, adding Righetti relayed to him he still wants to make an impact with the organization and is open to the new role. “I’m sure it’s still hard to imagine even for us Dave not in uniform, but at the same time there’s so much he can offer in this new role that I’m excited about.”
Evans said he spoke with Righetti about using his expertise and approach throughout the organization and “seeing the congruence between what we’re doing at the big-league level and minor-league level.”
Righetti’s 18 years on the job were the longest in Giants history for a pitching coach. The only coach with a longer stint: Ron Wotus, 20 years.
More coaching dismissals could be coming. Evans wouldn’t speculate on the security of the rest of the staff because third-base coach Phil Nevin, hitting coach Hensley Meulens and Wotus, the bench coach, were mentioned as managerial candidates.
The Giants said manager Bruce Bochy still is returning in 2018.
Evans said he has interviewed possible hitting coaches even though no announcement has been made on Meulens,
though there’s an opening as assistant with Decker’s reassignment. Evans also interviewed candidates for Righetti’s old job.
“There are parts of the game that continue to change and continue to evolve,” said Evans. “We need to be open to leverage opportunities to take advantage of all the information that’s available to us.
“It is very hard to make a change. But ultimately, change can be for the good of both your staff and your players. This is certainly not going to eliminate Dave Righetti’s voice in this organization. In some ways, it may even enlarge his voice.
“But it gives the players a daily perspective on perhaps new ways to approach the game or new ways to approach their work. At some level, you can enliven their focus and hopefully ultimately get the best out of them with new people working with them.”
Saturday’s announcement came a day after the Giants said they hired David Bell as vice president of player development, replacing longtime employee Shane Turner, who was reassigned to player operations.