LA Angels new bench coach is an old friend, Josh Paul

The LA Angels had a vacancy to fill when Ron Roenicke left the team to become a bench coach in Boston for the Red Sox.  The Angels looked for a blast from the past hiring former catcher Josh Paul.

Josh Paul is a former colleague of LA Angels general manager Billy Eppler as Paul worked for the New York Yankees as a catching coordinator over the past three seasons.  Before that he was a scout for that for the Yankees as well as being a minor league manager.

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Paul will replace Dino Ebel as the Angels bench coach as Ebel will move back to being the Angels third base coach, a role he previously held for nine seasons from 2005 to 2013.  Why did Ebel move back to being a third base coach from being the bench coach?  That is an interesting question one that I’m sure Mike Scioscia will not answer other than to say that there was a need for a third base coach after Roenicke left and Ebel was the most capable person on the staff to fill it.

Bench coaches are usually considered to be managers in-waiting so moving back to being a third base could be considered a demotion for Ebel.  However, Ebel was very effective as a third base coach known for his aggressive style of coaching.  We will see if this helps the Angels anemic offense.

As for Josh Paul he brings a lot of major league experience playing nine seasons in the majors including playing two years for the Angels in 2004 and 2005.  Both of those years the Angels were Western Division Champions.  Like Mike Scioscia and newly hired special assistant to the general manger Brad Ausmus, Paul is a catcher.

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Paul batted .244 in 321 games hitting 10 homers driving in 73 runs as mostly a back-up catcher playing for four team teams including the Chicago Cubs, and the White Sox, as well as the Tampa Bay Rays and the Angels.

Next: Brad Ausmus hired as special assistant to Billy Eppler

Paul will be the fourth bench coach in the Mike Scioscia era with current Cubs manager Joe Maddon being the first followed by Rob Piccolo, and Ebel.  Paul is the first former player of Scioscia to be hired to his staff.  Let’s see how much things will help.