LOS ANGELES (AP) - While the Los Angeles Dodgers figure to have several new faces on the playing field next season, the coaching staff will remain the same.
The NL West champions announced Friday that all eight coaches who finished the year working under manager Joe Torre will be back, including Manny Mota, who returns for his 30th season as a coach with the Dodgers and his 40th in the organization.Pitching coach Rick Honeycutt and first base coach Mariano Duncan will return for their fourth season in Los Angeles, while third base coach Larry Bowa, hitting coach Don Mattingly, bullpen coach Ken Howell, instructor Jeff Pentland and bench coach Bob Schaefer will all be back for their second season.
Next season will be Bowa's 44th in baseball as a player, coach or manager. He was the third base coach for the New York Yankees under Torre for two years before accompanying the manager to Los Angeles last year.
Mattingly, hired as the hitting coach last November, stepped down from his role before last season began for personal reasons, but he joined the Dodgers in a full-time capacity at the All-Star break. The Dodgers hit .279 in 67 games after the break to rank second in the NL. They batted .253 (810-for-3197) in 95 games before the break to rank 12th in the NL.
Pentland also joined the Dodgers at the All-Star break as a roving hitting instructor.
The Dodgers have a major league-leading 14 players eligible for free agency after the World Series including Manny Ramirez, Derek Lowe, Casey Blake, Rafael Furcal, Nomar Garciaparra and Jeff Kent.
