Mariners hire Dave Hansen as hitting coach

[Slats]

It's hard to say that hitting coaches have that much of an influence. The Dodgers stunk at hitting with Hansen as hitting coach so lets see how this pans out.




The Seattle Mariners announced this afternoon that Dave Hansen has been hired to fill the vacant hitting coach position for the 2013 season.

“I’m really excited to be back,” Hansen said via conference call. “I loved it (Seattle) as a player. Safeco Field is first class, as well as the organization.”

Hansen, who had a brief stints with the Mariners in 2004 and 2005 as a third baseman/bench player, replaces Chris Chambliss, who was let go after the 2012 season after two years at the position.

“I think Dave will be a good addition to our big league staff,” Mariners manager Eric Wedge said in a press release. “He’s had success as both a coach and a player, and has a clear vision of how to help prepare our hitters to be successful.”

Read more here: http://blog.thenewstribune.com/mariners ... rylink=cpy

[Sweezo]

Hooray for news! I remember when Hansen was sort of a pinch-hitter extraordinaire for M's about a decade or so ago. I don't how much credit or blame one can give to a bench coach, but the lack of development for Ackley/Smoak coupled with Saunders' finding success by hiring his own hitting coach in the offseason makes me think it can't get much worse than it did with Chambliss.

The organization needs to figure out what their approach is and stick with it. Do you continue to squawk about being aggressive and reward hackers like Miguel Olivo with plate appearances and roster spots? Or do you can the faux machismo and acknowledge the benefit of a batter who can work a count?