New coaching staff for Mariners

SEATTLE – There will be one returning member of the original 2010 Mariners coaching staff – Mike Brumley, taking over at first base. Otherwise, it’s a brand new slate, with, Carl Willis taking over as pitching coach, Jaime Navarro as bullpen coach and Jeff Datz as third-base coach.

The Mariners announced the new coaching staff Thursday.

The hitting coach will be Chris Chambliss, the longtime Yankees star from the 1970s World Series winners, who beat out Milt Thompson and Leon Durham. Robby Thompson, the former San Francisco Giants second baseman from the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s will be the new bench coach.

First baseman Casey Kotchman elected to become a free agent after refusing an outright assignment to Tacoma.