See this coming? Mariners hire Dave Hansen as hitting coach

Ain’t baseball a curious little game?

It can surprise you, that’s for sure. Take this announcement by the Seattle Mariners on Monday:

Dave Hansen has been hired as their new hitting coach.

That would be Dave Hansen, the Dodgers’ hitting coach last season, the only coach not invited back for the 2013 season.

With the Dodgers struggling to generate the expected offense after the midseason acquisitions of Adrian Gonzalez, Hanley Ramirez and Shane Victorino, his dismissal smelled of scapegoat.

Maybe there was more to it than that, but the former Dodger was rather unceremoniously shown the offseason door. Yet only nine days later, he found new major-league employment.

“I think Dave will be a good addition to our big league staff,” Mariners Manager Eric Wedge said in a press release. “He’s had success as both a coach and a player, and has a clear vision of how to help prepare our hitters to be successful.”

The always-pleasant Hansen took over as the Dodgers’ hitting coach when they fired Jeff Pentland in the middle of the 2011 season. More curious baseball: Pentland is currently the Mariners’ triple-A coach and was thought to be a candidate for the big-league job.

Hansen, 42, spent the final season of his 16-year career as a pinch-hitter for the Mariners. He replaces Chris Chambliss, whom the Mariners fired at the end of the season.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers’ hitting coach position remains vacant.

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