What will Marlins' staff look like next year?

PHILADELPHIA -- For the past four seasons, Tim Wallach has been a staple on the Marlins’ staff, serving as bench coach to manager Don Mattingly. Before that, they were together for five seasons with the Dodgers.

As bench coach, Wallach has been a sounding board for Mattingly, and in many ways, a second skipper in the dugout. But after the Marlins’ 2019 season comes to a close on Sunday against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, Mattingly will be in the market for a new bench coach.

Wallach, who turned 62 on Sept. 14, recently informed Mattingly and the organization that his desire was to be closer to his family in California. So he is stepping away from Miami’s staff, leaving at least one coaching vacancy the Marlins must address in the offseason.

“He's taught me so much, and helped me so much,” Mattingly said. “When you have a guy like that who has been with you for so long, you're always on the same page.”

Wallach, like the rest of Mattingly’s staff, has been on a one-year contract.

Overall, there has been staff uncertainty, because the four-year contract Mattingly signed with the Marlins after the 2015 season was expiring. But recently, Miami announced Mattingly’s deal has been extended two more years, with an option for a third.

With Mattingly’s situation resolved, the focus in the upcoming days and weeks is resolving the rest of the staff.

Bench coach is among the top priorities, because it is a position that works side-by-side with the manager. When a skipper is ejected from a game, the bench coach is the logical fill-in. If the manager must miss a game for any reason, the bench coach takes over.

On a daily basis, the bench coach assists in filling out the lineups and organizational activities of the day. The impact is huge in Spring Training in terms of organizing and scheduling.

Above all work duties, a bench coach has to be on the same page with the skipper. That’s the quality Mattingly will look for in finding a replacement.

“You’re looking for a person you’re hopefully on the same page [with],” Mattingly said. “So you’re kind of in tune during the game. They are really an extension in all different ways, from your prep work and everything you’re doing getting ready for a game. But also getting ready for Spring Training and what we’re trying to accomplish. It’s really like having another manager right there with you.”

Wallach’s replacement might already be on the current staff. Trey Hillman, the club's first-base/infield coach this season, was Mattingly’s bench coach with the Dodgers from 2011-13.

But even if he is not, Hillman is a strong candidate to return in some capacity.

“I started with Trey, and 'Wally' came in, and it just felt good knowing that somebody has got your back all the time, and not letting you just sit there,” Mattingly said.

Hillman was a big league manager with the Royals, from 2008 through part of '10.

Third-base coach Fredi González is another possibility to be bench coach, having previous big league managerial experience with the Marlins (2007-10) and the Braves (2011-16).

The Marlins are currently meeting with all their staff, just to give it a heads-up about the process after the season ends.

Decisions also need to be made with pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr., interim hitting coach Jeff Livesey, assistant hitting coach Eric Duncan, catching coach Brian Schneider, bullpen coach Dean Treanor and bullpen coordinator Rob Flippo.

Wallach, who notes that he is not retiring and is open to being in the game in some capacity, believes the Marlins are headed in the right direction.

“That's going to be the hard part, not seeing this come to fruition, and I think it will. I think it's going to start coming fast,” Wallach said. “There is no question I will be paying attention, watching and rooting for them. There's a lot of good kids in here who have worked hard, and there's a lot more coming.

“Competition is what this is all about, and if you can't hold up to the competition, you're going to get passed up. This is a tough game. It always has been. That's what it's all about.”

Worth noting
• For Sunday's season finale, shortstop Miguel Rojas will serve as the Marlins' special player manager. It's a custom Mattingly has done on Closing Day in each of his four seasons with Miami, where a player manages the last game. Rojas' bench coach will be Starlin Castro, who is scheduled to get one at-bat and then be replaced. That would mean Castro plays in all 162 games this season.

• Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill said prospects Jazz Chisholm and Monte Harrison will play winter ball in Puerto Rico.