Dodgers reach $630,000, 1-year deal with Garcia, hire staff
LOS ANGELES (AP) Right-hander Yimi Garcia and the Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to a $630,000, one-year contract that avoided salary arbitration.
The 27-year-old Garcia didn't pitch in the majors last season for the NL champions while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He earned $550,000 last season.
Garcia was among five Dodgers relievers eligible for arbitration along with Luis Avilan, Pedro Baez, Tony Cingrani and Josh Fields.
Also Friday, the team promoted Brandon Gomes to director of player development to replace Gabe Kapler and hired Tampa Bay Rays trainer Ron Porterfield as director of player health.
Gomes, 33, joined the Dodgers last year as pitching coordinator, performance, after a five-year big league pitching career with the Rays, where he worked for Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. He pitched in 19 games for the Cubs' Triple-A affiliate last year before being released. Kapler was hired to manage the Phillies.
Porterfield, 52, will oversee the athletic training and rehab staffs on the major and minor league levels. He will be based at the team's Camelback Ranch spring training complex in Glendale, Arizona, after 21 years with the Rays, where he also worked for Friedman.
The Dodgers announced Brant Brown and Luis Ortiz both will work in dual positions serving as assistant hitting coach and minor league hitting coordinator. They replace assistant hitting coach Tim Hyers, who left to be Boston's hitting coach, and Triple-A hitting coach Shawn Wooten, who was let go.
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