Dodgers add to front office depth with Pat Corrales

Hopefully among the many renovations at Dodger Stadium this offseason includes more room for the front office, as the Dodgers keep adding to their baseball operations staff. The team announced on Monday the hiring of Pat Corrales as a special assistant to general manager Ned Colletti.

Corrales has been in baseball for 53 years, including nine years as a manager from 1978-1987 with the Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies, and Cleveland Indians. He was the second manager of Mexican-American descent in major league history, after Ted Williams.

"We are very happy to have Pat join us," Colletti said in a statement. "His vast experience, especially from his years in Atlanta and Washington, will be a great strength to our organization. He will assist us in a variety of ways, including evaluating our player development system and helping us at the Major League level. I have known Pat for a long time and some of my early mentors, whom I respect very much, have worked side by side with him."

Corrales worked with Dodgers CEO Stan Kasten in both Atlanta and Washington, including nine years as a coach under Bobby Cox with the Braves.

I believe this makes eight special assistants under Colletti and/or baseball operations: Corrales, Toney Howell, Ken Bracey, Bill Mueller, Jose Vizcaino, Aaron Sele, Juan Castro, and Mickey Hatcher. Corrales is the third announced front office hire since the end of the season, joining senior advisor Gerry Hunsicker and international scouting director Bob Engle, and doesn't include Patrick Guerrero, who hasn't been announced but has been reportedly hired as Latin American coordinator.

The trio of Corrales, Engle, and Hunsicker has a combined 126 years of baseball experience.