The Dodgers are making a notable change to their hitting staff, parting ways with Aaron Bates after a postseason in which the offense again fell short of expectations.
The move comes as a surprise because president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman had recently said he expected no changes. At his end-of-season press conference, Friedman was asked about possible coaching turnover, especially on the hitting side, after the bats went quiet in October for a second straight year.
“I expect status quo,” Friedman said to Dodgers Nation and the media. “Still working through things, but expect status quo.”
Instead, the Dodgers are moving on from Bates, according to the reporting first broken by Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors and later confirmed by Jack Harris of the California Post and Katie Woo of The Athletic.
The exact reason for the split is not fully clear. Dierkes reported that the Dodgers made a multi-year offer to keep Bates, but the sides were unable to reach an agreement. Whether the decision was driven purely by contract talks or also influenced by performance remains uncertain.
That said, the Dodgers’ offense has been productive overall since 2023, ranking near the top in season-long production. Still, with the kind of talent and payroll the club carries, the postseason results have left fans wanting more.
Bates has been in the organization since 2015, when he retired and joined the Dodgers’ Arizona League affiliate as an assistant coach. His rise through the system was steady: he became hitting coach for the Single-A Great Lakes Loons in 2017, moved into a minor league coordinator role in 2018, and then joined the major league staff as an assistant hitting coach in 2019.
He received his current title as co-hitting coach in 2023 and has held that position alongside Robert Van Scoyoc.
What happens next on the staff is still unclear. It is not known whether Van Scoyoc will stay on as the main hitting coach, whether he could also depart, or whether the Dodgers will bring in another voice to work with him.
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