Dodgers and hitting coach Aaron Bates part ways in shakeup to staff

For hitting coach Aaron Bates, the end of his 12 years with the Dodgers came suddenly and unexpectedly.

It had been a while since Bates, 42, had heard from the Dodgers on the status of his contract negotiations. So earlier this week, he reached out to general manager Brandon Gomes directly.

“Basically, they said, ‘I think we should go our separate ways,” Bates told The Times when reached by phone. “I was just very taken aback, in a sense, by that.”

Even after contract negotiations unraveled, Bates spoke glowingly about his time in the Dodgers organization and the people he worked alongside, some for over a decade.

Bates’ long tenure with the Dodgers included four seasons as a co-hitting coach with Robert Van Scoyoc, and four as an assistant hitting coach. Before joining the major-league staff, Bates served as a minor-league hitting director, assistant coordinator and coach.

“I’m proud of the relationships that we formed,” Bates said. “I talked to Will Smith on the phone after he was drafted [in 2016]. So it’s bittersweet when you’re working with someone for 11 years. But at the same time, people have different paths, and it’s unlikely that you’re going to work with the same team for your whole career.”

Just as Bates expected negotiations to play out differently, the Dodgers expected the coaching staff to remain “status quo,” as president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman put it during the end-of-season news conference last month.

The rest of the members of the Dodgers coaching staff, besides Bates, have now agreed to contracts through at least next season, according to people with knowledge of the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly.

Bates is now exploring free agency and fielding calls from other teams, and the Dodgers are exploring their options to replace him on manager Dave Roberts’ coaching staff.

Bates emphasized that he holds no ill-will toward the Dodgers.

“My kids grew up Dodgers, and I grew up a Dodger, as a coach,” he said. “It’s just unfortunate the way it’s worked out towards these last few days.”

Bates went into this year on an expiring deal, something he said he hadn’t done before. And, wanting to focus entirely on the job at hand during the postseason, Bates left negotiations up to his agent, Zack Scott. Bates praised Scott for his communication and understanding of the broader market.

After the Dodgers were eliminated from the postseason, continuing to delegate contract discussions to Scott also allowed Bates to focus on his family, which was especially important in the wake of a family member falling very ill.

Bates rejected the Dodgers’ first offer, which was for multiple years, as MLB Trade Rumors first reported. But Bates and his representation saw it as “not a competitive offer.” Gomes declined to comment on negotiations, as a general team policy, but wished “nothing but the best for Aaron and his family.”

Bates expected that initial back and forth to simply be a starting point. But instead, with the sides far apart, they did not exchange any more official offers.

“Processing it, I think that there’s always a time and a place, and I think that things run their course,” Bates said. “But I have nothing but amazing things to say about the Dodgers organization and people.”

In Bates’ four years as co-hitting coach, the Dodgers — with a lineup that includes future Hall of Famers like Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts — were the best offense in baseball (114 wRC+) and won back-to-back World Series.

This past season, the Dodgers’ star-studded but aging lineup ranked No. 2 in wRC+ (111), behind only the Cubs. But it also continued a trend of slumping in July and August, a two-year pattern the Dodgers are working to diagnose, and in the postseason went five for 43 with runners in scoring position.

Teams are working to finalize their coaching staffs soon, knowing that during the lockout this winter, which MLB team owners are expected to impose when the current CBA expires on Dec. 1, teams will be restricted from talking to their players. That’s a factor the Dodgers will also have to contend with as they work to replace Bates on staff.

So, what’s next for Bates?

“I’m talking to many different teams, and we’re kind of working through some things, and I’ll leave it at that for now,” he said. “But it’s exciting times in that sense.”