(Detroit) The Detroit Tigers signed manager A.J. Hinch to a contract extension on Monday and added four coaches to their staff to support him, including Joey Cora at third base.
Hinch has managed the Tigers for the past three seasons after managing the Houston Astros for five years. He led Texas to the World Series in 2017, but received a one-year suspension for his role in the stolen signals scandal.
The Astors had also fired him for this reason in 2020.
“We’re not going to give out the details of the contract,” Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said. But we are very happy to be able to count on Hinch as manager for a long time. »
The Tigers finished second in the AFC Central this year with a 78-84 record – their seventh straight losing record.
In addition to Cora, Anthony Iapoce joins Hinch’s staff as a new first cushion instructor. Ryan Sienko will be the catching coach and Lance Zawadzki will be the assistant hitting coach.
Cora spent the last two seasons in the same role with the New York Mets, as well as between 2017 and 2021 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He played 11 seasons with the San Diego Padres, Chicago White Sox, Seattle Mariners and Cleveland Guardians.
Iapoce was promoted after managing the Tigers’ AAA-level farm club this year. He served as the hitting coordinator for the Boston Red Sox in 2022 and as a hitting instructor with the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers previously.
Sienko has held various positions in the Tigers organization over the past two seasons, while Zawadski has spent the past two years as hitting coordinator in the Red Sox developmental system.
