KC Royals losing hitting guru Tosar and infield coordinator Rodriguez to White Sox

Former Kansas City Royals bench coach Pedro Grifol has plucked a pair of coaches from the organization to join his coaching staff with the AL Central Division rival Chicago White Sox.

Grifol, hired by the White Sox for his first managerial post earlier this offseason, will have Mike Tosar on his staff as the major league field coordinator, and Eddie Rodriguez will serve as the third base coach.

Tosar, 54, had been the Royals’ special assignment hitting coach for the past three years. Prior to that, he’d worked as a hitting coach for slugger Jorge Soler and record-setting catcher Salvador Perez in the offseasons in Miami.

The Royals hired Tosar three years ago. He’d worked primarily in the minor leagues, but he joined the major-league coaching staff last May after a shakeup of the hitting staff that included the ousting of former hitting coach Terry Bradshaw, as well as Alec Zumwalt’s move from player development into the major-league dugout as the interim hitting coach.

On Tuesday, the Cincinnati Reds announced that Bradshaw had been hired as an assistant hitting coach on their staff under manager David Bell and hitting coach Joel McKeithan.

Tosar’s background includes stops as special assignment hitting coach with the Los Angeles Dodgers, multiple positions in scouting and coaching with the Seattle Mariners, serving as a hitting coach in the Minnesota Twins organization, as a scout for the Florida Marlins and as a coach for the Tampa Bay Rays.

Tosar and Grifol have professional relationship that dates back to prior to their time working together with the Royals. His move to join Grifol’s staff was not unexpected.

Rodriguez, 63, has spent 40 years as a coach in professional baseball. He had two separate stints with the Royals. He most recently served as the minor-league infield coordinator for the past six seasons.

Rodriguez’s coaching resume includes several stops as a member of major-league staffs with the Royals as third base coach (2011-13), Seattle Mariners first base coach, bench coach for the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals, Arizona Diamondbacks (first base coach, third base coach) and third base coach for the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Royals still have not finalized their major-league coaching staff under first-year manager Matt Quatraro, though they’ve hired former Tampa Bay Rays major-league field coordinator Paul Hoover as Quatraro’s bench coach.

They have not yet hired a pitching coach.