The A's have named Ryan Christenson as bench coach under manager Bob Melvin for the 2018 season. Chip Hale, who was the club's third-base coach before moving to the bench coach role in June, will return as third-base coach.
Christenson, 43, has been managing in the A's farm system for the past five seasons. He managed the Triple-A Nashville Sounds in 2017. Prior to that, he managed at Class A Beloit in 2013 and Class A Advanced Stockton in '14, and he led Double-A Midland to back-to-back Texas League titles in '15 and '16. Overall, Christenson's Minor League teams went 391-307 (.561).
Christenson was a Major League outfielder from 1998-2003, playing for the A's, D-backs, Brewers and Rangers. He hit .222 with 16 homers in 452 career games. He was originally drafted out of Pepperdine University in the 10th round of the 1995 Draft by the A's.
Oakland's remaining coaching staff will remain the same, with Mike Aldrete as first-base coach, Garvin Alston as bullpen coach, Darren Bush as hitting coach, Scott Emerson as pitching coach and Marcus Jensen as assistant hitting/catching coach.