Red Sox hire Yankees minor league coach Greg Colbrunn as hitting coach

Greg Colbrunn played 13 seasons in the major leagues, winning the World Series with the Diamondbacks in 2001. (Jeff Gross/Getty Images) The Boston Red Sox

Greg Colbrunn played 13 seasons in the major leagues, winning the World Series with the Diamondbacks in 2001. (Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

The Boston Red Sox hired Yankees minor league manager Greg Colbrunn as their hitting coach on Wednesday, the team announced.

Earlier this month, Colbrunn was listed as one of five candidates for the job to replace Dave Magadan, who became the Rangers' hitting coach in October after five years with the Sox. Boston also interviewed minor league hitting coach Victor Rodriguez and former major leaguers Rick Schu, Scott Fletcher and Craig Counsell.

Colbrunn played 13 seasons in the majors with seven different teams, including the world champion Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001, and finished his career with a .298 average and 98 home runs. He served as a coach for the Charleston RiverDogs, the Yankees' Single-A affiliate, over the past three years.

Colbrunn takes over a team that finished eighth in the majors in runs scored last year and 11th in OPS. CBSSports.com's Scott Miller called him a "no-nonsense guy."

The Boston Globe's Pete Abraham