Now it’s just a matter of signing ‘genius hitter’ Lee Jung-hoo (25, Kiwoom Heroes).
The Giants are moving quickly to reorganize their coaching staff under new manager Bob Melvin.
The Giants officially announced on Wednesday that they have added bench coach Ryan Christensen, third base coach Matt Williams, and hitting coach Pat Burrell to their coaching staff.
The most notable name is Williams. Coach Williams played for San Francisco from 1987-1996, leading the National League in RBIs in 1990 with a .277 batting average, 33 home runs and 122 RBIs, and leading the National League in home runs in 1994 with a .267 batting average, 43 home runs and 96 RBIs.
After playing in 1120 games and batting .264 with 247 home runs and 732 RBIs during his 10 years in San Francisco, Coach Williams played for the Cleveland Indians (now the Cleveland Cavaliers) in 1997, joined the upstart Arizona Diamondbacks in 1998, and was a member of their World Series-winning team in 2001 as the starting third baseman. His career numbers are .268 with 378 home runs and 1218 RBIs in 1866 games.
Williams went on to manage the Washington Nationals from 2014-2015, and in his first year in charge, he led the team to a 96-66 record, a first-place finish in the National League East, and was named National League Manager of the Year. However, he was shockingly eliminated in the Division Series in three games, and in 2015, the team finished second in the division with 83 wins and 79 losses, missing the postseason.
Williams took on a new challenge in 2020 when he was named manager of the Kia Tigers. However, the results were less than stellar. After breaking the .500 mark in 2020 with 73 wins and 71 losses but finishing sixth in the regular season, the Tigers parted ways with Williams in 2021 after finishing ninth with 58 wins, 76 losses, and 10 ties.굿모닝토토 도메인
After returning to the United States from coaching in South Korea, Williams served as the third base coach for the San Diego Padres this season. He was briefly sidelined for colon cancer surgery before the start of the regular season, but returned two weeks later to play a full season. And when Melvin left San Diego for San Francisco, he joined the Giants.
It is already known that the Giants are very interested in Lee. If Lee joins the Giants, he will have an easier time adjusting to the major leagues. The presence of Melvin, who helped develop Kim into a starting center fielder and has deep ties to major leaguers of Asian descent, and Williams, who has spent time as a manager in the KBO and knows Korean players better than most.
The Giants are in need of infield reinforcements. San Francisco President Farhan Zaidi recently said, “We have a pretty good pitching staff. We have one of the lowest strikeout rates and generate a lot of ground balls. To get the most out of our pitching staff, we need really good defense, both in the infield and outfield. The middle infield is going to be a priority for us,” he said, adding that the team is looking to add middle infielders.
This year, the Giants have used 11 different players in the middle infield, meaning they’ve struggled to find a starter. Luis Matos has played 438 innings in center field, Mike Jastrzemski 351⅓ innings, and Austin Slater 180⅔ innings.
“Matz hasn’t shown much in the way of defense, and Yastrzemski and Slater haven’t stayed healthy enough to play center field consistently,” MLB.com reported on Nov. 11, noting that “agent Scott Boras’ client Cody Bellinger and South Korean phenom Jung-Hoo Lee fit the bill for San Francisco, which is in need of a true center fielder,” and that the Giants could make an aggressive run at Lee.