Astros general manager Ed Wade announced Tuesday that the organization has agreed to terms on one-year contracts with hitting coach Mike Barnett and pitching coach Doug Brocail.
Barnett, 52, was hired as hitting coach on Nov. 5, 2010 after serving as the Astros minor league hitting coordinator from 2009-10.
He replaced Astros icon Jeff Bagwell, who decided not to return after being hired as interim hitting coach on July 10, 2010.
Barnett, a product of Ohio University, began his major league career as an assistant administrator of baseball operations for the New York Yankees (1982-87) before spending two seasons on the coaching staff at the University of Tennessee (1988-89).
He served as hitting coach at all levels of the Chicago White Sox organization (1990-97) and later spent four seasons as hitting coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks' Triple-A affiliate at Tucson (1998-2001).
As the hitting coach for the Toronto Blue Jays from 2002 until midway through 2005, Barnett was responsible for one of the top offenses in the American League and played a key role in the development of Carlos Delgado, Orlando Hudson and Vernon Wells.
Barnett was a non-uniformed hitting instructor for the Boston Red Sox for the rest of the 2005 season, where he worked alongside Astros manager Brad Mills, who was serving as Terry Francona's bench coach for the reigning World Series champions.
He spent three seasons (2006-08) as hitting coach for the Kansas City Royals until joining the Astros organization in 2009.
Brocail, 44, was hired by the Astros as interim pitching coach on June 14 following the organization's dismissal of pitching coach Brad Arnsberg.
The former MLB pitcher, who spent four of his 15 career big league seasons with Houston, had been serving as a special assistant to the general manager for the organization since retiring in 2009.
Although it was announced in September that Mills' coaching staff would be retained for 2012, Brocail needed additional time to discuss the situation at home before making a final decision.
Mills is signed through 2012, with the Astros holding a club option for 2013, while Dave Clark (third-base coach), Bobby Meacham (first-base coach), Al Pedrique (bench coach) and Jamie Quirk (bullpen coach) inked two-year deals following 2010.
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