Former big leaguers Coco Crisp and Bill Mueller are taking on roles in the Nationals player development department, reports Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (on Twitter). Crisp is joining the organization as an outfield/baserunning coordinator, while Mueller will serve as the club’s quality control coordinator.
It’ll be the first affiliated ball post-playing gig for the 42-year-old Crisp. A switch-hitting outfielder, he suited up for the Indians, Red Sox, Royals and A’s over the course of a 15-year MLB playing career. He last appeared in the bigs with Cleveland during their 2016 pennant-winning season. The following July, Crisp signed on to coach high school baseball in Southern California, a role he’d hold for two seasons. He later worked on the A’s radio broadcast and managed in the inaugural season of the MLB draft league last year.
Mueller, meanwhile, played 11 seasons in the big leagues. He suited up with the Giants, Cubs, Red Sox and Dodgers between 1996-2006, claiming a Silver Slugger award and winning the American League batting title with Boston in 2003. In his post-playing days, he spent some time as a scout, hitting coach and front office assistant with a few organizations — most recently working as the Cardinals’ assistant hitting coach between 2015-18.
In the wake of last summer’s sell-off, Nationals’ brass has spoken about their desire to bolster the scouting and player development realms amidst an organizational reset. (Dougherty covered the situation in a full piece last month). To further that effort, general manager Mike Rizzo and his staff are bringing aboard a pair of well-known longtime major leaguers to work with the club’s prospects.
Coke and a mule to D.C.
Lol that’s funny
Manny you got robbed. Nothing against Mueller, but that batting title was slightly tainted. They both went into the final day of the regular season with a chance to win the batting title, and since they were teammates everyone expected them to get an equal chance in that final game.
But Manny had already won a batting title the previous season, and everyone assumed he would have several more opportunities in the future. With Bill it was totally different, he had never hit any better than .295 in his career (not counting his 55-game debut season) and it was likely he’d never get another chance to win a batting title.
So Red Sox management decided to bench Manny for that final game, not even letting him pinch hit in what turned out to be a 3-1 loss. Manny finished the season with a .325 average. If he had been given even just one more AB in that final game, a hit would have given him a .326 batting average. He should have been given that chance.
Meanwhile Mueller had a .327 average going into that game, and was given the chance to pinch hit for Ortiz. Management already knew if Mueller made an out, he’d still win the batting title with a .326 average because Manny wasn’t allowed to play at all in that game.
It’s unfortunate management decided to deprive both players and also the fans of what would have been a memorable competition between two teammates. Pretty sure Ted Williams wouldn’t have wanted to “win” a batting tile that way.
Alex Johnson.
That is a funny sentiment. Manny being robbed of something.
Manny was a fun player because he loved playing. After leaving MLB he was happy to play in Central America, Asia and even Australia (although the latter did not work out).
But robbed? No way.
1) He is STILL getting paid by the Red Sox for another four years (until 2026).
2) He was caught TWICE for juicing. Now maybe that year Ramirez, Ortiz, Mueller and Garciaparra were all juicing. I have no inside knowledge. Mueller was 32 that year and hit 19 home runs and he had never had more than ten in his previous seven seasons. But only Manny got caught twice. Not robbed. Lucky to play the game he loved, make millions, have fun, and even though he deservedly misses out on the hall of fame, if his internal organs were not too damaged by the steroids, then being the 2004 WS MVP (two time WS-winner) and an All-Star for eleven consecutive years (twelve overall) is a pretty good resume, even for a cheater.
Why don’t CC and BM get links to baseball reference?
@soxfan1
I think MLBTR are trusting us to type 10 – 15 characters in the correct order….
Unwisely.
soxfan – Coco should get a link to the Matrix movie poster. We all know why, that fantastic fight against James Shields and Tampa Bay.
Great names.
Names like these getting coaching jobs remind me that I’m getting old lol. It doesn’t seem that long ago to me that Bill Mueller was an underrated member of those fun, gritty Red Sox teams of the early-2000s who were so easy to root for.
There was once a concern that free agency and “big money” would make it difficult for teams to recruit former players as coaches post their playing careers. Why would someone want the grind of coaching for a few hundred thousand when they banked millions? For some that’s no doubt the case, but many others love the game and the challenge and want a purpose. (They also might need time away from the wife!) Coco Crisp made over $70M as a player, but now he’s an outfield/baserunning coordinator.
They might want to become managers someday. Most players are fairly competitive.
Yes. There will always be players who will want to remain close to the game for a variety of reasons.
Two thoughts-
1-Coco had about as good a defensive season with the RS as I have ever seen. I’d turn on ESPN, and they’d show him with a diving catch. I assumed it was a replay from the previous night, but usually, it was just another replay from that night. I also remember a lot of RS ‘fans’ whinging about the trade when we gave up “future HOF” Marte.
2-I remember when the LAD signed Mueller, the dude could barely walk. We got the #44 & #83 draft picks for him. Those were the Theo days. Get a guy cheap, and get draft picks for him when he leaves.
Joe – I totally agree with Coco, he was phenomenal in the outfield. I will never forget that one rocket line drive that went past him but he dove and was completely horizontal when he caught it.
And never forget, Trout was a Yankees draft pick that went to the Angels as compensation for Teixeira!
Joe – Totally agree. “Those were the Theo days. Get a guy cheap, and get draft picks for him when he leaves.”
The new version is “sign a free agent cheap to a one year contract with an option year and trade him for prospects”.
Billy Kryptonite – the type of hitter that is going extinct in MLB. That single up-the-middle? Thank you.
That inning was textbook on how to beat Mo. Lay off pitches that aren’t strikes. Take what the pitch in the strike zone gives you. Don’t try to do too much. A single is the silver bullet.
So true. Millar’s walk, Roberts SB … my favorite half-inning of baseball.
Saw Crisp crash into the wall and lose an earring at Camden Yards years back. Someone in the stands spotted it and pointed it out to one of the grounds crew guys and ended up buying it off him for $75. It looked like a diamond but could have been a CZ or something, who knows. My dad, who was at the game with me, postulated that maybe the grounds crew keep pockets full of costume jewelry for such occasions.
Just another reminder of how men have changed.Can you picture Joe D or Ted Williams or Mickey Mantle stopping a game to look for an earring. No I can’t either.
No one said anything about the player stopping the game…
Now we know why it is called a baseball diamond.