Trey Hillman was the Dodgers’ bench coach from 2011-2013. (Getty Images)
Trey Hillman, the Dodgers’ bench coach since 2011, will not return in 2014.
Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti delivered the news Tuesday morning. According to multiple reports, Hillman could return to the Dodgers in some capacity.
As bench coach, Hillman was manager Don Mattingly‘s right-hand man for decisions before, during and after games.
Before coming to the Dodgers, Hillman managed the Kansas City Royals from 2008-10 and the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan’s top league from 2003-07. He is a longtime ally of Mattingly, going back 23 years to their days in the Yankees organization.
Both reports indicate that another Mattingly ally, advance scout Wade Taylor, won’t be coming back. Taylor was a teammate of Mattingly’s with the New York Yankees in 1991 and was hired by the Dodgers in 2010. The 48-year-old also served as an advance scout for the Yankees under Joe Torre while Mattingly was a Yankees coach.
Update (4 p.m.): Hillman told host Kevin Kennedy, on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM, that his parting with the Dodgers was amicable if not fully complete:
“Ned (Colletti) was very gracious. I want to make that point. Ned was exceptionally professional to me this morning. And it was a painful process for Ned to let me go. He did tell me that there was definitely a possibility of me having a job within the organization if I so chose. And I told him that things were kind of coming and crashing down on me pretty quick so I asked for some time to think about that. But I told him that it was definitely something that I would consider and I would definitely not write it off as something that I didn’t even want to discuss. At the appropriate time I think we’ll discuss. I’ve been blessed with couple of teams calling me already and I’ve listened to what they had to say. My first objective is to try to get a Major League coaching position and do what I love doing and that’s teaching at the highest level. So we’ll see if that happens. And if the Dodgers are gracious enough to give me an opportunity to do something with them if that doesn’t work out, I appreciate that.”
