George Brett to return as Vice President - Baseball Operations

The Kansas City Royals today announced that George Brett will step down as interim hitting coach and Pedro Grifol will take over the duties of hitting coach. Brett, who accepted the coaching role on May 30, will return to his previous position of Vice President-Baseball Operations.

"George did an incredible job," said Dayton Moore, Royals' Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager. "His expertise as a baseball man and his passion to win will have an everlasting effect on our team. I'm thrilled that he will be more involved in all aspects of baseball operations."

"My lifelong passion after playing was not to be a hitting coach, but Dayton asked me if I would consider it, and I did, but only on the promise that it would be on an interim basis," said Brett. "There is a ton of talent here and doing this for almost two months has prepared me to be a better advisor to Dayton and his staff. This has been an unbelievable experience for me and now I'm energized to contribute more to this organization as I return to my non-uniformed role."