"We are very pleased with the group of major league coaches that Don and our Baseball operations staff have put together," general manager Jack Zduriencik said in a prepared statement. "Alan shares the key strengths of the other coaches in this group: great energy, an ability to teach and a passion to help players perform to the best of their abilities."

Cockrell spent the past two seasons as the hitting coach for the Colorado Rockies.

In 2007, the Rockies led the National League with a .280 team batting average, and they also led the league in hits and on-base percentage while earning a trip to the World Series. Last season, Colorado hitters struggled to replicate that success, and he was let go by the Rockies after the season ended.

Cockrell spent much of his coaching career in the Colorado system. He started as a professional scout in 1998 and moved up to stints as a minor league manager, roving hitting instructor and later the hitting coach for Triple-A Colorado Springs from 2003 to 2006 before being promoted to the big club.

As a player, Cockrell was a two-sport star at Tennessee - a quarterback on the football team and an All-American outfielder for the Baseball Volunteers. He was selected with ninth pick of the 1984 draft by the San Francisco Giants. He spent 13 seasons in the minor leagues with his only major league stint coming in 1996, in nine games with the Rockies.

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