Only three members of Lovullo’s staff will return in their current capacity: first base coach Dave McKay, third base coach Tony Perezchica and bullpen coach Mike Fetters. Bench coach Luis Urueta has been reassigned within the organization; Matt Herges is out as pitching coach but could return to the organization in some other capacity; catching coach Robby Hammock will not be brought back.

Urueta has been on Lovullo’s staff since the end of 2017, serving as bench coach for the past couple seasons. He drew some consideration in the Red Sox’s managerial search last winter but remained in Arizona after Boston re-hired Alex Cora. Herges was hired leading up to the 2020 season, his first stint as a big league pitching coach. The former big leaguer had previously served as the Giants’ bullpen coach.

The D-Backs were already expected to search for new hitting instruction after firing hitting coaches Darnell Coles and Eric Hisnke in June. Rick Short and Drew Hedman had been promoted to serve as interim co-hitting coaches, but they won’t return in that capacity. Buchanan notes, however, that Arizona is considering some form of nontraditional hitting coaching — as evidenced by their atypical co-coach setup this summer — that could see Short and Heyman return in some other role.

8:00AM: Diamondbacks starter Merrill Kelly has tested positive for COVID-19, per Zach Buchanan of The Athletic. He will now have to go on the IL and quarantine for at least 10 days.

The Diamondbacks have been one of the teams hardest hit by the pandemic, with multiple players going onto the COVID IL since early July. The club currently has the worst record in baseball at 38-80, and the lost of Kelly certainly won’t help, as he’s been one of the few bright spots for the team during this trying season.

Kelly has logged 142 1/3 innings this year, the seventh-most in all of baseball, with an ERA of 4.30. His strikeout rate is below average at 19.8%, but his walk rate is an excellent 5.5%. All told, he has accrued 2.5 fWAR on the year thus far, good enough for the team lead.

The Snakes have Zac Gallen starting today and then on off-day on Monday. Kelly was in line to start Tuesday’s game. So, the club has a couple of days to figure out how to juggle their rotation in his absence. Speculatively speaking, Humberto Castellanos could be an option. He was called up a few days ago and hasn’t seen action since. Prior to that, he’d been stretched out and starting in the minors.

• A lot was made of Gerrit Cole beginning to get warm in the bullpen during the 5th inning of the World Series’ clinching game, but apparently that was nothing more than a bit of self-direction of Cole’s part, per A.J. Hinch in an interview with The Athletic’s Jake Kaplan. Hinch did have Cole up and warming in the 7th, as the plan was for Will Harris to escape the inning and Cole to start the 8th with a 2-1 lead. Best-laid plans, in this case, never got Cole into the ballgame. Still, Hinch stands by his decision to go with Harris at that point, as well as Roberto Osuna and Joe Smith following. Frankly, all four were legitimate options in those spots, though the results ultimately make any defense of Hinch’s decisions, like the game itself, a losing battle.
• Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro remains in the running for managerial openings with the Giants and Pirates, tweets John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. He was not specifically identified within a group of favorites that included Gabe Kapler, Pedro Grifol, and Joe Espada, but he did interview at least once with San Francisco, and there’s still a chance he becomes the third Rays staffer to land a managing gig in as many years.

Herges will join the staff of skipper Torey Lovullo after a pair of seasons as the Giants’ bullpen coach. The former MLB hurler replaces Mike Butcher in guiding the Arizona pitching staff.

Wotus has been on the San Francisco staff for two decades, most of it as the bench coach. He has filled that job under three different managers, in fact, and has often been cited as a managerial candidate himself. Now, though, he’ll cede the job to Meulens, who (per the announcement) will “take over the day-to-day administration and participate more directly with Bruce Bochy’s in-game strategy.”

In other moves, the Giants have added Matt Herges as bullpen coach and decided to keep Jose Alguacil (first base coach) and Shawon Dunston (replay/on-field instructor) in their current roles. The club bid adieu to Phil Nevin, who had functioned as the third base coach.

Additionally, the Giants have reassigned the rest of the pitching and hitting staff members. Long-time pitching coach Dave Righetti will move into the front office as a special assistant to GM Bobby Evans, with last year’s bullpen coach Mark Gardner taking on a “special assignment” role. Assistant hitting coach Steve Decker will become a baseball ops “special assistant,” per the club.

Evans explained the moves, which are fairly notable but perhaps aren’t all that surprising after a miserable 2017 campaign, as driven by a need to maintain the team’s “edge” in a highly competitive industry. It’s necessary, he says, “to constantly infuse new ideas and energy at every level of the organization, on the field and in the front office.”

There will be a few new voices in the dugout, too, though their identities remain undetermined at this point. In the wake of today’s announcement, the Giants still need to hire a pitching coach, hitting coach, and assistant hitting coach. The club says it is still conducting interviews for those jobs.

• Many familiar names have been granted free agency, including Ian Snell, Cla Meredith, Micah Owings, Fernando Nieve, Dan Meyer, Ryan Garko, Mike Jacobs, and Jason Bergmann.
• The Royals released reliever Matt Herges. Herges didn't reach the majors this season, but had a solid year in 2009, recording a 3.38 ERA in 30 games between Cleveland and Colorado.
• Yordany Ramirez, a long-time minor league outfielder, was re-signed by the Astros. After struggling as a hitter in three Triple-A seasons, the 26-year-old is being converted to pitching.

Herges is one of a slew of minor league signings made by Royals GM Dayton Moore so far this offseason.  Check out the full list here.

• Jason Marquis has said he wants to sign with the Mets and likely won't be back in Colorado.
• There's a good chance that lefty Alan Embree will retire.
• Jose Contreras is interested in returning in a middle relief capacity, but Matt Belisle is a younger option for the team in that role.
• The club would like to retain Rafael Betancourt, but his contract would have to be reworked. Betancourt has a $5.4MM club option for 2010.
• Behind the plate, Chris Iannetta will be back as the starter. Yorvit Torrealba could return as Ianetta's backup, but probably not for more than $1MM.
• The team may not have room for Jason Giambi, instead opting to use his roster spot on a right-handed hitter who can play both infield corners.
• Righty relievers Juan Rincon and Matt Herges could receive minor-league invites.

The Rockies were quick to re-up Herges after he helped them reach the World Series in '07.  Though his controllable skills didn't change much in '08, his ERA was 5.04 and the team chose to decline his '09 option.

Herges had been effective for the Tribe, pitching to a 3.55 ERA in 25.1 innings, allowing fewer hits than innings pitched.

Herges’ ERA went up significantly this year, but his component skills didn’t change much.  His strikeouts and walks are both up a touch, but the big difference was the rate at which batted balls fell for hits.

Torrealba has been on Marlins radar and there’s continuing speculation that they will be buyers come July 31st. 

Meanwhile, St. Louis inquired on pitcher Matt Herges to provide a veteran pressence in their bullpen.