LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Dodgers bench coach Bob Schaefer said after Sunday's season-ending, 3-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks that he doesn't plan to return for a fourth season with the team's staff next year.
"I think I'm probably going to investigate some other opportunities," Schaefer said. "I have had three good years here, and these guys need some other coaches."
Incoming manager Don Mattingly, who initially recommended Schaefer as bench coach three years ago because Schaefer had managed Mattingly years earlier in the minor leagues, is expected to name his own coaching staff sometime in the next month, to be chosen by Mattingly and general manager Ned Colletti. Some of the current coaches probably will stay, with pitching coach Rick Honeycutt, bullpen coach Ken Howell and first-base coach Mariano Duncan all strong candidates to do so. The Dodgers also probably will offer the hitting coach position Mattingly is vacating to Triple-A manager Tim Wallach if Wallach isn't hired as a major league manager or bench coach by another organization.
Third-base coach Larry Bowa also could return.
"It's time for somebody else to take over what I have been doing," Schaefer said. "I have been doing this for 12 years, and it was good working with Joe, but this is Donnie's team now. Donnie helped me get here, and I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him."
Mattingly and Colletti are expected to hire someone with extensive major league managing experience as bench coach because of Mattingly's lack of such experience. Schaefer's only major league managerial experience came during a pair of interim stints with the Kansas City Royals in 1991 (one game) and 2005 (17 games).
Bowa, who managed the San Diego Padres in 1987-88 and the Philadelphia Phillies in 2002-04, could be a candidate for bench coach.
Another bench coach candidate could be Willie Randolph, the Milwaukee Brewers' bench coach. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Sunday that the Brewers don't plan to exercise the option on manager Ken Macha for next season, meaning Randolph -- who previously managed the New York Mets, is a former teammate of Mattingly's with the New York Yankees and coached with Mattingly with the Yankees in 2004 -- could be available.
Tony Jackson covers the Dodgers for ESPNLosAngeles.com.