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The Dodgers could lose another member of their coaching staff, with hitting coach Mark McGwire a "strong candidate" to be the new bench coach for the Padres, per Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune and Scott Miller of Bleacher Report also reported the possibility, with McGwire and San Diego at the "talking stage" right now.
McGwire has been the hitting coach for the Dodgers for the last three seasons, and like the rest of the coaching staff had his contract expire at the end of the season. The Dodgers have already lost two coaches, with Davey Lopes now coaching first base in Washington and Ron Roenicke coaching third base in Anaheim.
The bench coach position is open in San Diego because of the departure of Dave Roberts, who is one of two reported finalists for the Dodgers' managerial opening, which is expected to be filled in the next few days.
McGwire came to Los Angeles after three years as the hitting coach in St. Louis to be closer to his Irvine home. San Diego would satisfy that close-to-home requirement, it seems. Lin has more:
While nothing has been made official, one source suggested McGwire is a very strong candidate for the job, one that would keep him close to home. McGwire recently was under consideration for the Arizona Diamondbacks’ hitting-coach position, but sources said the Irvine resident pulled himself out of the running.
Though he has never been a bench coach, McGwire, 52, would bring considerable clout to San Diego. Under rookie big-league manager Andy Green, the Padres recently hired Alan Zinter as hitting coach. Sources said one possible scenario is McGwire assisting both Green and Zinter.
"Hey, that's a great name," Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale said of McGwire on Nov. 13, per Steve Gilbert of MLB.com. "I'm sure his name would be at the forefront of any list that we're making for hitting guy."
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In other Dodgers coaching news, Lorenzo Bundy was fired on Friday as manager of the Mayos de Navajoa, where he managed for the last three years in the Mexican Winter League during the MLB offseason, replaced by Enrique Reyes.