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Chili Davis close to Red Sox deal

MLB, Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox are on the verge of a deal with Chili Davis to be their hitting coach, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney.

Davis, who was the hitting coach for the Oakland Athletics during the past three seasons, interviewed on Friday.

A source told ESPNBoston.com's Gordon Edes that Davis and the Red Sox have reached an agreement pending an official announcement.

Davis would replace Greg Colbrunn, who had a serious health scare earlier this season and chose not to return for the 2015 season. Colbrunn cited a desire to spend more time with his family -- he has two teenage daughters -- as a reason he elected not to return next season.

Boston went from having the majors' most prolific offense in 2013 -- Colbrunn's first season as a big league hitting coach -- to having one of the worst in 2014. The Red Sox finished tied for 12th in runs scored with 634. They were 14th in slugging percentage (.369), 12th in home runs (123), eighth in on-base percentage (.316) and 14th in OPS+ (92), which is on-base plus slugging adjusted to a team's home park.

ESPNBoston.com's Gordon Edes contributed to this report.

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