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Yesterday evening, Kyle Boddy, the founder of Driveline, informed the public that the Angels had hired numerous baseball coaches from unorthodox backgrounds to join the organization’s player development staff.
I regret to inform you that the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have hired not one, not two, but three - yes, three - baseball coaches from twitter dot com with little to no previous pro experience, and none currently coaching pro baseball.@TJeskeLAA was first to go public. pic.twitter.com/pkWaD3uo7b
— Kyle Boddy (@drivelinebases) November 20, 2018
Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic broke the news that those two are Tyler Jeske, a Director of Baseball Operations at Missouri State, and Derek Florko, a “former manager of hitting at Axe bat”.
Sources confirm what @drivelinebases' tweet: The Angels have hired Tyler Jeske and Derek Florko to join org. Neither were with a pro org. in 2018. Both brought on by Donnie Ecker, who briefly served as hitting coordinator before leaving to become Reds assistant hitting coach.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) November 20, 2018
The Angels made a similar move last offseason, bringing in Brian Garman in to be a minor league pitching coach with a similar track record. Club going out of the box with hires from non-traditional baseball avenues to boost their player development.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) November 20, 2018
While we don’t know how these hires will play out, it is encouraging to see more individuals begin to be hired with unique backgrounds and perspectives, a stark change from baseball’s traditional hiring tendencies.