The Texas Rangers today announced five members of the club's 2019 major league coaching staff for new manager Chris Woodward:
 
•   Luis Ortiz hired as hitting coach
•   Don Wakamatsu returns as bench coach
•   Jayce Tingler named major league player development field coordinator
•   Tony Beasley returns as third base coach
•   Hector Ortiz returns as first base coach after serving as bullpen coach in 2018
 
Former first base coach Steve Buechele has been appointed Special Assistant, Baseball Operations, a role in which he will assist the department at both the major and minor league levels. The contracts of pitching coach Doug Brocail and assistant pitching coach Dan Warthen were not renewed. The remainder of the Rangers' 2019 coaching staff will be announced in the near future.
 
Luis Ortiz, 48, returns to the Rangers organization as the major league hitting coach. The North Richland Hills resident began his coaching career with various hitting instructor roles in the Texas system from 2008-12. He spent one season as assistant hitting coach with the Dodgers in 2018, where he was on the same staff as Woodward. Ortiz previously had a stint as the Padres field and hitting coordinator (2015-17), and also served as assistant field coordinator and cultural development coordinator in the Cleveland Indians player development system (2013-14). Ortiz's 14-year professional playing career included major league stints with the Red Sox (1993-94) and Rangers (1995-96).
 
Wakamatsu will be in his second season as Rangers bench coach, his second stint on the staff after spending five years with the club as bench coach (2003-06) and third base coach (2007).
 
Tingler, 37, has spent 12 seasons with the Texas organization, including the past two years as Assistant General Manager, fulfilling duties that involved oversight of the club's player development system. He returns to the big league staff, where he served as Field Coordinator and outfield and baserunning coach in 2015-16. Tingler spent eight years as a minor league manager and coach in the Rangers system after joining the club in 2007, including a three-year stint as Minor League Field Coordinator in 2012-14.
 
Beasley and Hector Ortiz are both entering their fifth season on the coaching staff, the longest tenured returnees. Beasley has been third base coach for his entire stint with Texas, which began in 2015. Hector Ortiz returns to a first base coaching role he held from 2015-17 after serving as bullpen coach in 2018.
 
Buechele, a former Rangers player and longtime Metroplex resident, spent four seasons on the major league coaching staff as bench coach and first base coach after six seasons (2009-14) as a manager in the club's farm system. Brocail served as pitching coach for three seasons from 2016-18, and Warthen spent one season as assistant pitching coach.
 
MINOR LEAGUE SIGNINGS: The club has re-signed OF Eliezer Alvarez, INF Christian Lopes, RHP Richelson Pena, and RHP Walker Weickel to minor league contracts…team has also signed free agent C Jett Bandy.
 
WINTER BALL UPDATE: LHP Yohander Méndez (Magallanes) made his Venezuelan Winter League debut in the Navegantes' 3-2 win on Sunday (4.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R-ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 1 HR, 63 pitches/42 strikes)…RHP Emerson Martinez (Anzoategui) has gone 3-1 with a 2.70 ERA (5 ER/16.2 IP) over 9 relief appearances in the VWL…in the Arizona Fall League, RHP Joe Barlow (Surprise) has compiled a 3.00 ERA (3 ER/9.0 IP) with 10 strikeouts over his last 9 relief outings…Barlow's teammate RHP Demarcus Evans has whiffed 13 of 33 batters faced in his last 7 appearances.