The Pittsburgh Pirates announced several changes among their baseball operations on Wednesday morning. The most notable change is that Dave Jauss has been named the bench coach for 2016. He has been on the coaching staff since October 31, 2012 and he’s currently in his 29th season in pro ball. He began his career as a manager in the Gulf Coast League in 1988 for the Montreal Expos. On top of the pro experience, he also spent six years managing in college baseball. The Pirates went without an official bench coach last year after Jeff Banister left.
Other changes include Kevan Graves being promoted from Director of Baseball Operations to Assistant General Manager. He was originally promoted to Assistant Director of Baseball Operations back in 2009, receiving the promotion to Director in 2011.
Will Lawton takes over as Assistant Direction of Baseball Operations, adding the Director part to his job title. He originally started with the Pirates out of college in 2010 on an internship.
Sean Kelly is now a Baseball Operations Assistant, taking over Lawton’s old job. Kelly’s job title before was “Fellow”, which Baseball Prospectus explained in detail here, though his specific jobs with the Pirates in 2015 may have differed slightly.
One non-change was also announced, as Brad Fischer returns as Major League Coach.