TORONTO - Former Seattle Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu will serve as bench coach to new manager John Farrell as the Toronto Blue Jays filled out their coaching staff Monday.
Hitting coach Dwayne Murphy joins third base coach Brian Butterfield and pitching coach Bruce Walton as the only returnees from the 2010 staff.
Wakamatsu joins two fellow newcomers, first base coach Torey Lovullo, who managed Boston's triple-A affiliate in Pawtucket last year, and bullpen coach Pat Hentgen, who had been club ambassador and special assistant to the president and CEO for the Blue Jays.
Wakamatsu, 47, offers Farrell an experienced sounding board in the dugout. He was fired as Mariners manager in August amid a dismal season that began with high expectations following a strong 2009 in Seattle.
Murphy, 55, returns for a third season as hitting coach, a move that will make the players happy. He guided the club to a franchise record 257 home runs last season.
Lovullo, 46, has nine seasons as a minor-league manager, most recently with Pawtucket.
Hentgen, 41, will move from the front office to the dugout after working with some of the club's minor-leaguers last summer. In 1996, he became the first Blue Jays pitcher to win the Cy Young Award.
