Chiti disappointed that he's leaving Orioles

The Braves made official this afternoon the hiring of former Orioles bullpen coach Dom Chiti and pitching coach Dave Wallace. All that's left now is for the Orioles to find their replacements.

Chiti was named director of pitching and Wallace was named a special assistant to pitching, the close friends heading back where they previously worked together before joining the Orioles for the 2014 season.

Chiti wanted to stay with the Orioles, but his contract ran out on Oct. 31 and he didn't receive any feedback concerning his future in the organization. Braves president of baseball operations John Hart, a close friend, called Chiti at 6 a.m. the following morning and asked that he make the drive from Winter Haven, Fla., to Atlanta.

A cup of coffee on his back porch turned into much more.

Asked whether he's disappointed that his tenure with the Orioles has ended, Chiti replied, "Yes."

"I had one kind of brief conversation with Buck (Showalter) in Toronto, the last series," Chiti said. "I think it was two or three days after I was home, I got a call from Buck. He asked me about Roger McDowell and he also asked me about my interest in being pitching coach. My reply to that was, 'Buck, I'm not going to answer that. I'm not a politician. You know my body of work. I've always been the kind of guy, give me a job and leave me alone and let me do it and then evaluate how I do.' That was the conversation."

"I hung up the phone and that was the end of communication with anybody in any form, fashion or anything else. I left three messages with Dan (Duquette)."

Hart confirmed that Chiti's contract ran out and talked him into making the trip to Atlanta. Chiti said he called Showalter on the way to let him know what was happening.

"The rest of it is pretty much it," Chiti said.

"There's a point in time when I have to take care of my family. I work for a living. I have a family. I never made big money. You've been in the clubhouse. Guys make fun of me, they laugh at me, they laugh with me, I laugh at them. I've always been a person that, when you start messing with my family, it's going to get real personal real quick. I think everybody should be like that. Nobody wants their family ... So what do you do? You're basically asking me to blindly trust something that I've had no contact with anybody.

"This is exactly what I told Buck on the phone. Let me tell you this, and I mean it: I love him like a brother. Buck and I go way back, we're really good friends. We've been down a lot of roads, we've been through a lot of battles. We've gone through the wars together and I love him, but I like my family a little more."

The Orioles knew they had to replace Wallace. Chiti came as more of a surprise.

"Everyone knew his contract ran out on Oct. 31 at midnight and he got a great offer from a place he knows," Showalter said. "He's got a two-year deal and he basically runs their whole pitching, major league and minor league. The scouting in June. It's a great opportunity for him making great money.

"He did a great job for us. Obviously, I like him. I've had him a long time and obviously the organization liked him because we had him here three years. I would have liked to have kept him, but he had a better opportunity. Nobody wishes him well more than I do. He's a good man. He's as hard a worker as you'll ever find and he has a great body of work.

"I love the relationship I had with him and I wish him well. He has a great opportunity for him and his family."

Duquette praised the work of Wallace and Chiti.

"Dave did a really good job for three years with us," Duquette said. "He's a veteran and a number of pitchers did well under his tutelage and we appreciate the work that he did. We made the playoffs two out of the three years when he was with us and I wish him a lot of luck with Atlanta. Of course, he's returning to the same organization that he came to the Orioles from and in a similar capacity from what I understand.

"Dom did a nice job for us during his three years. Dave and Dom work well together and our bullpen was solid every year. Obviously, they enjoy working together and we appreciate the work that they did for us.

"Dave decided to retire as a big league coach and Dom decided to return to the Braves, and like I said, we appreciate the contributions they made here and we wish them good luck."

Duquette doesn't have a timetable for finding replacements. The Orioles already have interviewed multiple candidates for pitching coach.

Closer Zach Britton repeated today that Wallace and Chiti had a tremendous influence on his career.

"It was huge to get an opportunity to work with those guys," said Britton, who was 47-for-47 in save opportunities and registered a 0.54 ERA. "When you look at where I was when I first got the opportunity to work with them and where I am now, it tells you everything you need to know about what they brought to the table. They helped a lot of guys for the better and I'm disappointed to see both of them go.

"Wally had kind of told me about his decision as the season was going on and what he was leaning toward doing, and you kind of got ready for that, but Dom, I've been speaking a lot with him during the offseason. The day before he decided to take the job in Atlanta, he had talked to me and gave me his reasons. Not that he needed to, but we have a great relationship and that's going to continue.

"Obviously, it's going to be tough not having him there."

The Orioles travel to Lake Buena Vista on March 28 to play the Braves in spring training.

"We are excited to bring Dom Chiti and Dave Wallace back into the Braves organization," general manager John Coppolella said in a statement. "They are both highly regarded and will bring a wealth of knowledge to assist our young pitching prospects."