LAS VEGAS — The Dodgers are bringing Pedro Guerrero back to the organization as their hitting coach.
No, not that one.
It’s not the one who was a perennial All-Star and MVP candidate with the Dodgers in the 1980s. It’s the one who spent eight years toiling in the Dodgers’ farm system, from 2006-13, before embarking on a coaching career that included the last two years as the Miami Marlins’ lead hitting coach.
Guerrero, 37, helped the Marlins rank in the top 10 in the majors in on-base percentage, batting average and OPS. Prior to that, he spent three years as a major league hitting coach with the San Francisco Giants and four on the Philadelphia Phillies’ major league staff.
Guerrero replaces Aaron Bates, who had been a co-hitting coach with Robert Van Scoyoc for the past four seasons. He left this month when he couldn’t reach an agreement on a new contract.
Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes, speaking from MLB’s annual GM Meetings on Tuesday, said Guerrero checked all the boxes to get the job.
“Petey, we obviously have some familiarity with having been here before,” Gomes said. “We know he’s an amazing person, going to fit in great culturally. Has a lot of a lot of strengths that we think will complement our group. And as we talked to him, this is kind of something we’ve been talking about for a bit. It was independent of Aaron, to be honest. Thinking about how could we bring him on in some role. And then as things shaked out, figured we would make it official and bring him on board, and then kind of see where we’re at from there.”
The Dodgers finished the season in an offensive slump. They struggled for most of the second half, and in the postseason they hit .195 with a .590 OPS while averaging 3.1 runs per game.
Gomes said the Dodgers were not simply looking for a new hitting coach to be the solution.
“We certainly didn’t come in expecting this,” he said. “And no matter what, we were going to kind of take a step back to reevaluate and understand what are some of the things that we can do better? How can we message? Can we take a fresh look at some of our reports and how they’re being digested? So we were going to take a fresh look no matter what. The goal is to be better than we were the year before, and continuing to find ways to improve and get back to being a world champion.”
ANOTHER JAPANESE IMPORT?
While much of the focus this winter is on the Japanese players coming to the majors from Nippon Professional Baseball, the Dodgers are among the teams keeping an eye on Shoki Oda, an 18-year-old amateur.
A right-handed pitcher at Yokohama High, Oda has been meeting with MLB teams with the intention of coming directly to the United States instead of playing professionally in Japan first.
“He’s super talented, really projectable, fun to watch him throw,” Gomes said. “I know our international guys have watched him closely, and you know, I’m not sure how that all shakes out exactly. But we think really highly of him.”
When asked if the Dodgers had met with Oda, Gomes smiled and said: “Potentially.”
Oda is eligible to sign when the international signing window opens on Jan. 15, although the impending lockout could have an impact on the timing.
NOTES
As expected, Gomes said the Dodgers are planning to meet with Tarik Skubal’s camp, led by agent Scott Boras. Skubal finished the season with the Dodgers, who are one of the few teams with the financial might to sign the two-time Cy Young Award winner to what is expected to be a record-breaking deal. “I know that he enjoyed his time here,” Gomes said. “We loved having him, so I think that’s certainly helpful as far as these conversations go. And outside of that, he’s earned the right to be in this position and figure out what’s best for him and his family. So we’ll have those conversations as things go.” …
Gomes said the Dodgers still don’t have a firm plan on how they want to deploy Shohei Ohtani as a two-way player in 2027. He pitched at the end of the season in 2025, and the beginning in 2026. He hasn’t made it wire-to-wire as a two-way player yet with the Dodgers. Ohtani finished the season with several physical issues, so clearing those up will come first. “I think for Sho in particular, it’s like hey let’s get back to feeling 100%, have the normal offseason, like you’re going to have, and then have that conversation based on what our our team looks like and rotation and all of that,” Gomes said. …
Gomes acknowledged the Dodgers’ biggest needs this winter are improving the bench, including a replacement for retiring infielder Miguel Rojas, and upgrading the bullpen. “Bullpen is probably an opportunistic thing, and looking at who fits within our group,” Gomes said. “We have a lot of really young, talented guys that you could go out and give reps to and see who emerges. We didn’t expect Edgardo (Henriquez) to be on the team coming out of the season, but he pitched himself into a high-leverage role. So it’s balancing that, making sure you have enough depth, but also some opportunity for young guys to really emerge.”