A’s bring back Chip Hale as new third base coach

Last week, the Oakland Athletics lost a vital part of its coaching staff when third base coach and defensive guru Ron Washington departed for Atlanta.

Former Arizona Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale has been named as his replacement, the team announced Monday.

Hale, who managed the D’Backs from 2015 to 2016, served as bench coach under Manager Bob Melvin with the A’s from 2012 to 2014. He also coached under Melvin from 2007 to 2009 with the Diamondbacks in the same role he fills now.

A’s General Manager David Forst said via press release:

“We’re thrilled to bring Chip back to the organization and to retain the rest of our coaching staff. Bob and his staff have done an outstanding job with our core group of young players, and keeping them together was an important step for us as we look towards 2017. Under Bob’s leadership, we’re confident that we have the right staff in place to continue our club’s growth and development.”

Washington joined the Braves coaching staff in the same position he held for two stints in Oakland — third base and infielders coach.

The team also announced that Jeff Collins, who has spent the past 19 years working with the organization’s minor league affiliates, has been tabbed as the replacement to recently retired Assistant Athletic Trainer Walt Horn. Josh Cuffe has also been upped to the big leagues, after spending five seasons as the A’s minor league strength and conditioning coach.

Kalama Hines is SFBay’s Oakland Athletics beat writer. Follow @SFBay and @HineSight_2020 on Twitter and at SFBay.ca for full coverage of A’s baseball.