Padres rival Dodgers lose a longtime coaching fixture in unexpected offseason split

We’ve watched several offseasons watching the Dodgers collect people. This time, someone Los Angeles wanted to keep is leaving. Hitting coach Aaron Bates is departing after 12 years in the Dodgers organization, according to Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors. Los Angeles offered him a multiyear deal, but the two sides could not agree to terms.

That attempted extension is the detail we can’t brush over. This is a guy the Dodgers wanted back. They were willing to commit multiple years to keeping him around. And now they have to replace a familiar voice who spent more than a decade learning how their organization works.

Aaron Bates leaves the Dodgers with continuity they have to replace

The easiest thing to notice about the Dodgers is the talent. It tends to announce itself loudly, usually with a contract figure that makes everyone else’s offseason budget look like a joke. The people supporting that talent don’t often get the attention, but this one deserves it.

Bates worked his way through the Dodgers’ minor league coaching ranks before reaching the major league staff. He served as assistant hitting coach from 2019 through 2022, then became a hitting coach in 2023. His tenure covered several stages of the organization’s development, giving him experience that stretched beyond the hitters in any one Opening Day lineup.

The results give that continuity some weight. During Bates’ four seasons as hitting coach or co-hitting coach, the Dodgers finished among MLB’s top four in runs scored every year.

Twelve years builds trust, shared expectations and relationships that help a coaching staff work. The Dodgers now have to replace someone who already had all of that.

That’s the disruption for LA. They’re losing an experienced participant in its daily work, someone the organization had already decided was worth retaining. The multiyear offer is a better indication of how the Dodgers viewed Bates than any attempt from the outside to assign him credit for individual hitters.

From San Diego, we’re familiar with the exhausting assumption that Los Angeles will have an answer for everything. Bates’ departure puts a dent in that presentation.

This departure alone gives us no reason to project a collapse in their offense. Robert Van Scoyoc has shared the hitting-coach responsibilities, and Bates leaves behind an established operation. Plus, the Dodgers are a machine. Losing Bates may hurt, but this is not a crippling loss. 

The Dodgers can hire another hitting coach. They’ll just have to earn the familiarity all over again.

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