Chris Gimenez gets novel coaching job with Dodgers

Chris Gimenez, veteran major league catcher who was with the Rangers in 2014 and 2015, and spent a brief time with Frisco in 2016, has been hired by the Los Angeles Dodgers as the teams “game planning coach,” it was announced today.

Gimenez spent parts of 10 seasons in the majors, and got some attention last offseason when he signed with the Chicago Cubs in a move that some suggested was part of the Cubs’ effort to woo Yu Darvish, given Gimenez’s close relationship with Darvish and his reputation as the Yu Whisperer. Gimenez ended up being traded during the 2018 season to the Minnesota Twins for fellow former Ranger catcher Bobby Wilson, and is apparently now hanging up his mitt to take on a coaching role.

I had not heard of a major league game planning coach before, but Dodgers blogger Eric Stephen informs me that Danny Lehmann had that role with the club last year. It sounds like it involves incorporating the scouting and video work the team does into defensive and game-calling strategies before and during the games.

Gimenez was well-liked and had a great reputation while in Texas, and he’s joining a forward-thinking organization in his first post-playing-career gig. Keep an eye on him...he could be someone getting managerial interviews down the road...