Former Chicago White Sox hitting coach Marcus Thames joins the division-rival Kansas City Royals after being let go following 2025.
The Chicago White Sox purged most of their coaching staff following the 2025 season, trying to wash away the stench of the 121-loss disaster in 2024 and move on from nearly everyone hired under Pedro Grifol.
Among those let go were hitting coach Marcus Thames and first base/outfield coach Jason Bourgeois.
It’s not surprising that both are already finding new jobs elsewhere — they’re experienced baseball men — but in Thames’ case, it's a bit shocking that he didn’t really take much of a step down in ranking.
While Bourgeois was hired by the Baltimore Orioles, Thames has joined the Kansas City Royals, an AL Central rival, as the club’s co-hitting coach for the 2026 season.
He’ll work alongside 32-year-old hitting coach Connor Dawson and report to senior director of hitting Alec Zumwalt.
Thames, a former MLB outfielder, played ten seasons from 2002 to 2011. His best year came in 2006 with the Detroit Tigers, when he hit 26 home runs with an .882 OPS and helped Detroit win its first pennant since 1984.
He transitioned into coaching with the New York Yankees in 2013, steadily climbing through the system before being promoted to major league hitting coach in 2018. When his contract wasn’t renewed after the 2021 season, he was hired by the Miami Marlins for 2022, then joined the Los Angeles Angels in 2023, and finally came to Chicago in 2024 to reunite with Grifol.
This will be Thames' fifth team as a major league hitting coach in six seasons. It's rare to see someone get that many chances.
Thames had a small case to stick around in Chicago. The 2024 season was a nightmare top to bottom, but the offensive progress made by several young players this past year gave the White Sox at least some reason for optimism.
Colson Montgomery and Kyle Teel both broke out as rookies and now look like cornerstone position players. Chase Meidroth and Edgar Quero showed flashes as first-year contributors, while Brooks Baldwin took a step forward in the second half of his second season.
Still, the memory of that 41–121 season is hard to erase, and Thames — fairly or not — was guilty by association, just like Grifol.
Was he the problem? Hard to say. But he certainly didn’t have many answers, either.
Andrew Vaughn’s career cratered under Thames’ watch before bouncing back the moment he left for Milwaukee. Luis Robert Jr. also endured his two worst seasons as a pro during Thames’ tenure.
Maybe Thames can help revive a Royals offense that fell from above-average in 2024 to bottom five in baseball in 2025. Or maybe he'll have a similar negative effect on one of Chicago's biggest rivals.
But the White Sox moved on for a reason — and they’ll be better for it.