Mariners hire three new coaches
The Seattle Mariners passed on former New York Yankees pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre and instead gave Rafael Chaves his first major league job.
Chaves was hired Thursday as Seattle’s new pitching coach, replacing Bryan Price who left after last season. The Mariners also hired Jeff Pentland as their hitting coach and promoted Triple-A Tacoma manager Dan Rohn, who will become an administrative coach.
“There were quite a few guys available to us with really good experience. We had a lot of good names,” Seattle general manager Bill Bavasi said.
Chaves, 37, has been the pitching coach at Tacoma for the last two years and worked in the Mariners organization for eight seasons.
Pentland, 59, comes from Kansas City, where he was the Royals’ hitting coach from 2003 to 2005 but was fired in May.
World Series ratings hit all-time low
The Chicago White Sox’s first world championship in 88 years was also the lowest-rated World Series.
Chicago’s four-game sweep of the Houston Astros averaged an 11.1 national rating with a 19 share on Fox.
That’s down about 7 percent from the previous low, an 11.9 with a 20 share for the 2002 World Series between the Angels and the Giants.
Another name change for SBC Park
SBC Park, formerly PacBell Park, is likely to receive its third name since the home stadium of baseball’s San Francisco Giants opened five years ago.
SBC Communications Inc. plans to rename itself after federal regulators appear ready to approve the company’s $16 billion merger with AT&T. Executives at San Antonio-based SBC said the company will take on the much better-known and 120-year-old AT&T brand.
Clearing the bases
Ace right-hander Jason Schmidt and outfielder Randy Winn will return next season with the San Francisco Giants, who picked up both players’ contract options for 2006. Outfielder Moises Alou, second baseman Ray Durham and right-handed reliever LaTroy Hawkins also exercised their player options to return for next season. … Boston first baseman Kevin Millar and third baseman Bill Mueller filed for free agency. … The New York Mets declined reliever Danny Graves‘ $5-million option and elected to pay him a $500,000 buyout. … Former San Diego infielder Damian Jackson and former Baltimore infielder Bernie Castro signed one-year, free-agent contracts with the Washington Nationals. The moves were announced a few hours after general manager Jim Bowden‘s contract extension through the end of April, a deal that allows him to oversee off-season moves while new ownership is pending. … Reliever Mike DeJean signed a one-year contract that will keep him with Colorado. … Joe Vavra was hired as Minnesota’s hitting coach. He was the Twins’ minor league field coordinator for the past four years. … Tim McCleary was fired as assistant general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays.