KANSAS CITY -- The Royals began firming up their coaching staff for 2018 and hitting coach Dale Sveum will switch roles and become the bench coach, general manager Dayton Moore said Wednesday.
Moore also indicated that Mitch Maier, who took over as first-base coach late in the season because of Rusty Kuntz's eye issues, will become the permanent first-base coach.
Kuntz will remain in the organization as either a roving instructor, a job he has coveted for years, or as the team's quality control coach, a position the team is creating. The quality control coach will act as a liaison between the front office/analytics department and the coaching staff.
The Royals at the end of the season parted ways with pitching coach Dave Eiland and bench coach Don Wakamatsu. Kansas City also did not renew the contract of bullpen coach Doug Henry, though Moore has left the door open for Henry to return if the new pitching coach wants him back.
Moore said there is no timetable for the hiring of a pitching coach or a hitting coach, and suggested at season's end that one or both positions could be filled internally.