Washington Nationals hiring Jacque Jones as Assistant Hitting Coach

In an MLB Network Radio interview last week, new Washington Nationals' skipper Dusty Baker said Rick Schu was returning to the nation's capital though he did not confirm that Schu would be the Nats' hitting coach. Baker also said there were other roles that still needed to be filled.

"We're trying to decide between who the third base coach and the bench coach is," Baker explained. "Chris Speier is going to fill one of those voids," and, "we need to try to come up with a bullpen guy [and] a catching guy."

"We've also got to come up with an assistant batting coach," he added.

FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal reported last week that former major league outfielder Jacque Jones was being considered for that last role (assistant hitting/batting coach) on Baker's staff:

Sources: Jacque Jones candidate for #Nationals’ asst hitting coach. Played for Baker with #Cubs. #Padres AAA hitting coach start of ’14.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 14, 2015

Nationals' GM Mike Rizzo confirmed this afternoon that Jones would be the Assistant Hitting Coach and Schu will indeed be back as the Nats' Hitting Coach, though whether Speier will serve as the third base or bench coach has still not been decided:

Mike Rizzo said Jacque Jones will be the Nats assistant hitting coach, to Rick Schu.

— James Wagner (@JamesWagnerWP) November 18, 2015

Rizzo says Rick Schu returning as hitting coach, Jacque Jones hired as asst. hitting coach. Still undecided if Chris Speier is 3B or bench.

— Mark Zuckerman (@ZuckermanCSN) November 18, 2015

Jones, 40, played under Baker in Chicago (NL) in 2006 after playing ten major league seasons and putting put up a .277/.326/.448 line for the Minnesota Twins (1999-2005), Cubs (2006-2007), Detroit Tigers (2008) and then-Florida Marlins (2008). He served as the hitting coach at Triple-A El Paso in the San Diego Padres' system in 2014.