
SAN FRANCISCO -- In recent years, owners around MLB have raided Tampa Bay's front office. With his first major hire, Farhan Zaidi honed in on the Rays' coaching staff.
Zaidi and the Giants chose Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro as their replacement for Bruce Bochy, giving the organization a bit of a surprise choice after a search process that lasted over a month.
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Former Phillies manager Gabe Kapler was long considered the favorite and Astros coach Joe Espada and Royals coach Pedro Grifol emerged as strong candidates in late October, but the Giants ultimately settled on an up-and-coming candidate who comes from an organization that continually exceeds expectations.
Quatraro, 44, was Kevin Cash's bench coach for one season after serving as third base coach for a year. He spent the previous four seasons as the assistant hitting coach in Cleveland.
Quatraro was part of Tampa Bay's first class of draft picks and spent seven seasons in the organization as a catcher, first baseman and outfielder. He was the first Rays player to then stay in the organization as a coach, and he has minor league experience as a manager for four seasons.
The Giants have been focused on adding more hitting knowledge to the organization, and Quatraro was a minor league hitting coordinator for the Rays before leaving for his stint with the Indians. He now will be tasked with helping make the Giants lineup more competitive at Oracle Park.
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Quatraro was a dark horse throughout the process and was not a known candidate until mid-October. Kapler was thought to have the edge for several weeks and Espada became well-known as the Astros pushed for a World Series title, but ultimately ownership and Zaidi chose a man who has spent most of his career in Tampa Bay, where the Rays have been contenders despite a perennially low payroll. That continues a bit of a trend.
The Giants chose Zaidi over Chaim Bloom, then a Tampa Bay executive, last November. Bloom has since moved on to take over baseball operations in Boston. When Zaidi was in Los Angeles, he worked for Andrew Friedman, who came to the Dodgers from the Rays.