Padres hire Matt Williams as 3B coach

December 20th, 2021

SAN DIEGO -- Bob Melvin's staff has officially been filled out, and the Padres brought in a familiar face to be their third-base coach, the team announced on Monday.

San Diego hired former Nationals manager Matt Williams as its third-base coach, while rounding out the staff with some other additions that were made official: Ryan Christenson as bench coach, Ruben Niebla as pitching coach, Michael Brdar as hitting coach, David Macias as first-base coach and outfield instructor, Francisco Cervelli as catching coach and Herberto Andrade as bullpen catcher.

Williams had served as Melvin's third-base coach in Oakland in 2018 and '19, before he departed to take over as manager of the Kia Tigers in the Korea Baseball Organization.

In San Diego, Williams is expected to take charge of the team's infielders along with his third-base coaching duties -- a similar role to that of Bobby Dickerson, the team's previous third-base and infielders coach.

A four-time Gold Glove Award winner at third base, Williams spent 17 seasons in the big leagues, racking up 1,878 hits and 378 home runs. He is the only player to homer for three teams in the World Series, having done so for San Francisco in 1989, Cleveland in 1997 and Arizona in 2001.

Upon his retirement in 2003, Williams served in an advisory capacity with the D-backs. His coaching tenure with Arizona began in '10, though that came after Melvin had departed the organization.

After four seasons on the D-backs' coaching staff, Williams was hired as manager in Washington, where he led the Nationals to the playoffs and was named NL Manager of the Year in 2014. But he was dismissed after the Nats failed to return to the postseason in '15.