Former Brewers hitting coach resurfaces with team that might make it hurt

In addition to the start of the MLB offseason providing excitement in the form of contract options decisions and end-of-the-season awards, it is also the time of year when many coaching hires occur. Teams who moved on from members of their coaching staff during the season generally fill those positions before they start making changes to their roster in an effort to establish the new culture of the club prior to finding players who fit it.

For the Milwaukee Brewers, not much is expected to change in regard to their coaching staff, which is a change from recent years. Back in 2023, the team's then-manager Craig Counsell notably departed for the North Side of Chicago where he became the highest-paid manager in baseball at the time, before Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers snatched that title with an extension after the 2024 season. Then an offseason later, first-base coach Quintin Berry, who was integral to the Brewers' excellent baserunning game, followed Counsell to become the Chicago Cubs' third base coach.

However, Berry wasn't the only departure from the Brewers coaching staff a season ago. Co-hitting coach Ozzie Timmons parted ways with Milwaukee last winter, with the team bringing on Al LaBoef and Eric Theisen to replace him. Now, a season later, Timmons is back on a big-league coaching staff, and re-joining an organization that is known to make other teams pay for their mistakes.

Former Brewers co-hitting coach Ozzie Timmons named assistant hitting coach for the Tampa Bay Rays

There's a very unwritten rule in baseball that you don't do business with the Tampa Bay Rays. For years, the Rays have made a habit of turning seemingly modest trade returns into fleeces that make fans question what their trade partner was thinking. Given the Brewers’ recent success of doing the same thing, it's fair to think of the Rays as their American League counterpart. In the same way that neutral fans take note of the moves that the Brewers' front office makes, wondering if it's their latest instance of uncovering a diamond in the rough, the league also takes notice of even the small moves that the Rays make.

Therefore, when the Rays named Timmons their assistant hitting coach, Brewers fans took a moment to consider whether or not they were the latest victim of Tampa Bay's opportunistic ways. However, the situation is much different in Timmons' case, as he's returning to Tampa Bay after the Brewers stole him from the Rays back in 2021. Timmons had been the Rays' first-base coach for four seasons before the Brewers offered him a promotion to co-hitting coach.

Now, after a season as a special assistant in coaching development in the Rays' organization, Timmons is back on a big-league coaching staff and ready to serve as Tampa Bay's assistant hitting coach. He joins the Rays' long-time hitting coach, Chad Mottola, in trying to turn around a Tampa Bay offense that was rather pedestrian in 2025. Meanwhile, the Brewers are in a good spot with LaBoef, Theisen, and Connor Dawson running their hitting department, so any success that Timmons enjoys in Tampa Bay should be met with praise from Milwaukee fans rather than frustration that the Rays once again pulled off a savvy under-the-radar move.