SF Giants have golden chance to poach Dodgers hitting coach after surprise decision

After it was revealed yesterday that the SF Giants will need a new hitting coach after Hunter Mense was hired as an assistant hitting coach by the Kansas City Royals, there was some interesting timing on Friday as it was announced that Los Angeles Dodgers hitting coach Aaron Bates will be departing the organization.

Coincidence? Perhaps. Or maybe there is a poaching afoot.

Bates is a former MLB player who only had 12 plate appearances for the Boston Red Sox in 2009 but recorded four hits so he’s a career .364 hitter which isn’t too bad. He spent much of his career grinding in the minors and after ending his playing career with the Dodgers organization he was hired as a coach by LA.

He worked his way up as a coach in the minor leagues and then in 2019 was promoted to the big league staff as an assistant hitting coach. In 2023 he got promoted to co-hitting coach. It was a surprise that he departed LA’s staff and it’s been reported that he was offered a multi-year contract to stay but apparently he wanted out.

He’d make perfect sense for the Giants given his experience and the fact that he has ties to Northern California. While he was born in New York, he grew up in Santa Cruz and attended high school in San Jose. He also played some of his college ball at San Jose State so he’s more than familiar with the Bay Area. 

Hiring Bates wouldn't necessarily make the Giants better, but it's worth a shot

Of course, when hiring a coach from a team like the Dodgers, which has unquestionably been the most successful team of this decade, one has to wonder how much credit a coaching staff can really get when it is gifted with as many talented players as the Dodgers have on their roster.

No matter what, the Giants could certainly use a fresh voice on the coaching staff especially since the team needs to draw more walks next season. President of baseball operations Buster Posey has talked about how San Francisco really needs to limit walks on the pitching side, as they gave up the sixth-most walks as a team in 2026, and increase the amount of walks they draw on offense as they ranked dead-last in MLB while the Dodgers had the third-most walks.

Maybe Bates can help instill more patience and pitch selectivity on offense if they are able to hire him. Plus, bringing him aboard would have the added benefit of ticking off the Dodgers just a little bit by stealing away a coach from their staff. 

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