CHICAGO — Outfielder David DeJesus and the Chicago Cubs agreed to a $10 million, two-year contract.

The deal announced Wednesday includes a 2014 club option.

A.284 hitter in nine years with Kansas City and Oakland, DeJesus batted just .240 in his lone season with the Athletics.

Even so, he gives the Cubs versatility in the outfield and a reliable glove.

He brought a 241-game errorless streak into the 2011 season, the longest active streak among big league outfielders at the time. He made four errors in 250chances with Oakland, a .984 fielding percentage.

DeJesus began his career as a center fielder but has primarily played the corner outfield spots the past three seasons.

Former All-Star player and Pawtucket Red Sox hitting coach Chili Davis has been hired by the Oakland Athletics to serve as their hitting coach for next season

The Jamaican-born outfield and designated hitter worked last season as the Red Sox AAA hitting coach. On Saturday, Oakland announced that Davis had been hired to do the same for the Red Sox major league, west coast rival.

The 51-year-old switch hitter had a 19 year career in the major leagues, playing for the San Francisco Giants (1981-1987), California Angels (1988-1990 and 1993-1996), Minnesota Twins (1991-1992), Kansas City Royals (1997) and New York Yankees (1998-1999).

The new job will reunite Davis with former San Francisco Giants teammate Bob Melvin, who was recently hired to permanently manage the Athletics. Melvin was hired as the team’s interim manager in June.

Davis, a three-time All-Star, had a career batting average of .274, hit 350 home runs and batted in 1,372 runs.

Davis discussed his hitting technique in an article published on the Pawtucket Red Sox web site. In the article, Davis spoke about what it takes to be a great hitter.

“It’s about being a competitor in each at-bat,” Davis said. “You’re forcing pitchers to work — being offensive. Trying to get your philosophies across to players is to understand the players and their comfort zone and to try to work from there with them. There’s no one way to go about it with so many guys, and I think the biggest thing I learned in the last two years when you’re dealing with professional hitters, that one of the most important things is for them to see that you really care and you’re consistent with the things that you say to them, that you are really paying attention.”

The same article written by MLB.com reporter Jane Lee states that Davis will replace Gerald Perry, “whose contract was not renewed, and joins bench coach Chip Hale, pitching coach Curt Young, first-base coach Tye Waller, third-base coach Mike Gallego and bullpen coach Rick Rodriguez.”

SAGINAW – Former Arthur Hill and Central Michigan University star Curt Young is returning to the Oakland Athletics as their pitching coach after one year with the Boston Red Sox.

Young was the pitching coach for Oakland from 2004 to 2010, but left after the 2010 season to take a job with the Boston Red Sox.

After the season, however, Boston parted ways with manager Terry Francona and Oakland fired pitching coach Ron Romanick. Boston gave the Athletics permission to interview Young.

During Young’s time with Oakland, the Athletics had the league’s lowest ERA (4.03) and batting average allowed (.257).

According to the San Franciso Chronicle, the Red Sox will pay for a large part of the salary for Young, who had one year remaining on his Boston contract.

Young is familiar with just about all of the Oakland pitchers, including Gio Gonzalez, Trevor Cahill, Brett Anderson and Dallas Braden.

Young, a member of the Saginaw County Sports Hall of Fame, pitched for Oakland for 10 years and has spent 23 years in the organization.

sfgate.com: “I started with Curt. Why not continue with him?” Gonzalez said. “I think it’s a great thing. It feels like he just took a year off, took a vacation.”

“The roots run extremely deep,” Braden said. “His pedigree is Oakland all the way. He’s back in his element. He knows what wave to catch.”

OAKLAND, Calif. — Bob Melvin is bringing back a familiar face to guide the Athletics’ pitchers.

Pitching coach Curt Young is leaving the Boston Red Sox to return to Oakland and work under Melvin, who received a three-year deal in September to be the club’s permanent manager.

The A’s announced Friday that Young had signed a one-year deal to rejoin the club that originally drafted him in the fourth round in 1981.

Melvin won’t have to worry one bit about Young getting up to speed with the staff. The A’s figured the timing was right to reach out to Young with the uncertainty of Boston’s field staff after manager Terry Francona was let go last month.

“It’s great for a number of reasons,” Melvin said in a phone interview Friday. “One, his history with the organization and he is one of the more respected pitching coaches in the game. We knew it would be difficult to get him but we thought it was a good time to ask. We’re thrilled to get him. His familiarity with the organization and the pitchers was a comfort for me.”

The 51-year-old Young, who pitched 10 of his 11 big league seasons for the A’s, left Oakland last year for a stint in Boston after spending 23 years in the A’s organization. He guided the 2010 group that had an AL-best 3.56 ERA and a league-leading 17 shutouts while holding opponents to a .245 batting average.

During Young’s tenure from 2004-2010, A’s pitchers led the American League with a 4.03 ERA and held opponents to an AL-low .257 average while allowing the fewest home runs (1,062) in the league. Young spent four years as a minor league coach in the organization before becoming pitching coach.

Melvin and Young spent a short time as teammates during the 1992 season with Kansas City. They have golfed together, too.

“This move provides Bob with not only an experienced pitching coach on his staff but also someone who has a lot of experience specifically with the organization and with the pitchers on this team,” A’s assistant general manager David Forst said. “On a personal level, Curt has always been well-liked by everyone in Oakland, and it’ll be nice to have him back on our side this season.”

Also Friday, the A’s said they named Mike Henriques strength and conditioning coach for 2012.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Boston Red Sox pitching coach Curt Young could leave for the Oakland Athletics by the end of the month, according to an MLB.com report.

Young left the Athletics in 2010 after seven years as the team’s pitching coach to sign with the Red Sox, but is reportedly the number one candidate to replace departed Oakland pitching coach Ron Romanick.

Young still has one year remaining on his Boston contract, but there was already speculation the club could dismiss him after former manager Terry Francona departed. Boston’s pitchers infamously struggled during September as the team collapsed and missed the playoffs.

As a player, Young was taken by Oakland in the fourth round of the 1982 draft. He has already spent 27 years in the Athletics organization, 12 as a player, eight as a Minor League coach, and seven as a Major League pitching coach. He is a friend of Athletics manager Bob Melvin.

For more Red Sox coverage, visit our team page, or our blog Over the Monster. 

The New York Mets hired former
Oakland Athletics manager Bob Geren as bench coach as the team
rebuilds its staff following a third consecutive losing season.

The Mets made the announcement yesterday in an e-mailed
statement. Geren, 50, was fired by the Athletics in June, having
spent four and a half seasons with the team that current Mets
general manager Sandy Alderson ran from 1983 to 1998.

The Mets finished the season 77-85 and have made the
playoffs once in the last 11 years. On Oct. 5 the team announced
that it had fired four coaches, including bench coach Ken Oberkfell.

“Bob Geren’s experience as a former manager and bench
coach will be a great fit for us,” Mets manager Terry Collins
said in the statement.

Geren was 334-376 with no playoff appearances during his
tenure in Oakland, and was the bench coach for the Arizona
Diamondbacks when they won the World Series in 2001. He played
four seasons as a catcher with the New York Yankees from
1988-1991.

– Editors: Michael Sillup, Rob Gloster

To contact the reporter on this story:
Eben Novy-Williams in New York at
enovywilliam@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net