CLEVELAND — Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona has brought up Rigo Beltrán to be the AL Central champions' new bullpen coach, replacing Brian Sweeney, who was recently named Kansas City's pitching coach.
Beltrán spent the past four seasons as the pitching coach for Triple-A Columbus and has been with Cleveland's organization since 2014. The 53-year-old Beltrán pitched 16 seasons in the majors, spending time with St. Louis, the New York Mets, Colorado and Montreal.
The Guardians also named Jason Esposito as run production coordinator and Hasani Torres as assistant strength and conditioning coach.
Esposito was the hitting coach for Columbus the past two seasons. The Clippers led the International League in runs in 2022.
Torres has been with the Guardians organization since 2013, working in the Dominican Republic at the club's academy.
Guardians Say Goodbye to Hedges
Late last week, the Pittsburgh Pirates and veteran catcher Austin Hedges agreed to a $5 million, one-year contract on Saturday, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the move is pending a physical.
The 30-year-old Hedges played for Cleveland last season, batting .163 with seven homers and 30 RBIs in 105 games. Hedges helped the Guardians win the AL Central.
Pittsburgh went 62-100 this year in its fourth consecutive losing season.
Hedges was selected by San Diego in the second round of the 2011 amateur draft. He set career highs with 18 homers and 55 RBIs in 120 games for the Padres in 2017.
He is a .189 hitter with 66 homers and 207 RBIs in 605 career games for San Diego and Cleveland.