Why Wotus turned down Bochy’s offer to join Rangers staff originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
It will be strange for Giants fans to witness Bruce Bochy donning a Texas Rangers uniform next summer, especially when the manager’s new club visits Oracle Park in August.
Ron Wotus, the longest-tenured coach in Giants history, had a chance to join Bochy in Texas but opted to return for his 36th year with the organization.
“I was honored that [Bochy] reached out to me for his bench coach position,” Wotus said Monday on KNBR, before revealing he declined Bochy’s offer.
Wotus just wrapped up his first year as a Giants special assistant to baseball operations. He had previously served as the team’s third-base coach in 1998, bench coach from 1999-2017 and manned the third-base line again from 2018-21. Before that, Wotus was a manager in the Giants’ farm system.
Although Wotus enjoyed his 13 seasons on Bochy’s staff in San Francisco — 11 of those as bench coach — he is appreciating a newfound bird’s-eye view of the game.
“I just stepped away last year from being on the field to have a bit more balance in my life,” Wotus said. “It’s worked out well for me. As much as I would love to go to Texas and be a bench coach, and help Boch win another World Series, my heart is in San Francisco. I’ve been with this organization my whole career. I’ve had a chance to leave a number of times, and I’ve always chosen to stay.
“I’m happy with my role. I’m going to stay here in San Francisco and continue to do what I’m doing.”
However, Wotus, who will turn 62 years old next March, did not rule out making a return to the dugout one day.
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“Absolutely, I would think about it,” Wotus said when asked if he would consider filling a future vacancy as a manager. “You never know. At this point in my life, I’m just taking it a year at a time. But I wouldn’t shut all doors and say I would never go back.
“But at this point in time, I want to remain here in San Francisco.”
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