Entire Blue Jays coaching staff to return in 2016

Blu Jays manager John Gibbons will have his entire staff back in 2016. (Nathan Denette/CP)

TORONTO – Manager John Gibbons will have his entire coaching staff back after all reached agreements with the Toronto Blue Jays on contracts for the 2016 season, according to multiple industry sources.

The return of bench coach DeMarlo Hale, pitching coach Pete Walker, hitting coach Brook Jacoby, assistant hitting coach Eric Owens, first base coach Tim Leiper, third base coach Luis Rivera and bullpen coach Dane Johnson is not unexpected, as during his introductory news conference president and CEO Mark Shapiro said all had been invited back.

In completing their deals, the Blue Jays are able to maintain continuity in the staff that helped guide the Blue Jays to an American League East championship, the club’s first since 1993.

Hale, Walker and Rivera have been in their current roles since the 2013 season, when Gibbons took over as manager. Leiper joined the crew in 2014, while Jacoby, Owens and Johnson were added in 2015.

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