Blue Jays lose member of coaching staff to another team
The Toronto Blue Jays’ sweeping changes throughout their coaching staff continue this offseason.
According to TSN’s Scott Mitchell, the organization will see assistant hitting coach Matt Hague depart the organization to take a promotion as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ hitting coach.
Hague is relatively young as far as MLB coaches go, having turned 39 this year.
A former MLB player himself for a total of 43 games, Hague ended his MLB career with the Blue Jays, picking up 15 plate appearances with them in the 2015 season.
He had been with the Toronto organization as a coach since 2020, working his way up through the minor league system. On his road to the majors, Hague had stops in Single-A Dunedin, Double-A New Hampshire, and Triple-A Buffalo before getting the call to the majors this past season.
Hague’s departure isn’t exactly unexpected, given how many role changes there have been inside of the Toronto dugout since the season ended.
The Jays also announced on Wednesday that they’d promoted Marc Tramuta to the director of amateur scouting, following the departure of Shane Farrell.
Whoever replaces Hague will also have a new boss for the 2025 season: David Popkins took over as the team’s hitting coach for Guillermo Martinez, who the Blue Jays organization let go earlier in the offseason after six seasons in the role. Martinez had been in the Jays organization in various minor league roles since 2012, while Popkins had spent the past four years as the Minnesota Twins hitting coach.
Toronto’s offence will also see Don Mattingly move from the title of offensive coordinator to a “traditional role of a bench coach,” as per Jays general manager Ross Atkins earlier this offseason. Field coordinator Gil Kim and assistant pitching coach Jeff Ware were also removed from the team’s MLB staff, though it seems they will transition into different roles in the minor leagues for next season.
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