Tigers announce contract extension for manager AJ Hinch

The sample size was small, and of course pre-selected for the wisest and most knowledgeable fans of the Detroit Tigers fans by virtue of it being a Bless You Boys poll, but by and large opinions of manager AJ Hinch proved very positive in our recent polling. That’s good, because he’s here for the long haul.

On Monday evening, the Detroit Tigers announced that they had signed Hinch to a long-term contract extension. His previous deal ran through 2025, and as reported by Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic, the new deal was actually completed the week after the 2023 season ended.

We noted the other day that Hinch recently indicated that he would be around for at least three more seasons when he answered “absolutely” when asked on the Foul Territory podcast if he would reach his 1000th managerial win with the Tigers. That was about as much detail as we’ve ever heard from Hinch or the Tigers for that matter, in regards to his contract status. Perhaps the chatter around that appearance sparked the announcement today.

One would guess he’s locked in for at least the next four or five seasons at this point.

The Tigers also announced the full major league coaching staff for the 2024 season on Monday from the Winter Meetings in Nashville. Anthony Iapoce, the 2023 Toledo Mud Hens manager, was recently announced to be taking over as first base coach from Alfredo Amezaga, while Joey Cora was hired a few weeks back as third base coach. Ryan Sienko was promoted to major league catching coach after Brayan Pena was announced to take over Sienko’s previous role as minor league catching coordinator.

The other new hire is Lance Zawadzki, who will succeed James Rowsom as assistant hitting coach under Keith Beauregard and Michael Brdar. Rowsom was only with the Tigers a season before the New York Yankees hired him as their head hitting coach.

The 38-year-old Zawadski was a switch-hitting middle infielder who played briefly for the San Diego Padres before getting into coaching. He’s been a hitting instructor in the Boston Red Sox farm system since 2018. This is his first major league coaching assignment.

Otherwise, the coaching staff is intact. Gary Jones moves to the dugout from third base, but he’s still on staff. Chris Fetter and his assistants, Robin Lund and Juan Nieves return. And finally, George Lombard remains bench coach for another year despite some ongoing interest in him for major league managerial vacancies.