The Washington Nationals are adding a pair of former MLB players to player development roles. Longtime MLB players Coco Crisp and Bill Mueller are joining Dave Martinez’s staff, according to The Washington Post’s Jesse Dougherty.
Crisp, 42, played 15 seasons in the majors. He played for Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Kansas City Royals and Oakland Athletics. His final 20 games were played where his MLB career started in Cleveland.
He brings a great deal of experience, having played in 1,586 games in the majors. Coincidentally, his professional career began with the St. Louis Cardinals organization, who at the time used the Potomac Cannons as their Class-A minor league affiliate. The team now, re-branded as the Fredericksburg Nationals, are now part of the Nationals organization.
Crisp was inducted into the Cannons Hall of Fame in 2018.
Since last playing in the MLB, Crisp was a high school baseball head coach in California. He also coached at Cerritos College in California and was the manager in the MLB Draft League. He also spent time as an analyst on the Athletics’ radio network.
Mueller, 50, played 11 seasons from 1996-2006 with four different MLB teams. Mueller had two stints with the San Francisco Giants. He also played with the Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Mueller had a career .291 batting average in 1,216 games. He has the more extensive coaching background between Crisp and he. Among Mueller’s coaching resume, he was the Cubs hitting coach for one season. He also was the Cardinals assistant hitting coach 2015-2018.
