The Toronto Blue Jays have lost another coach to the Boston Red Sox.
On Tuesday the Red Sox named Brian Butterfield as the team’s third base coach.
The 54-year-old Butterfield has spent the past 11 seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays organization, including the past three seasons as its third base coach.
Butterfield joins Boston manager John Farrell and bench coach Torey Lovullo as the third member of the Blue Jays 2012 coaching staff to leave the Blue Jays for the Red Sox this month.
On Oct. 21 the Blue Jays and Red Sox worked out a deal releasing Farrell from the final year of his contract with Toronto. Five days later the Red Sox named former Blue Jays first base coach Torey Lovullo as Farrell’s new bench coach.
While announcing the transaction with the Red Sox on Sunday, Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos said members of his coaching staff would be free to pursue opportunities with other organizations while the Blue Jays conduct a managerial search.
Butterfield, a native of Bangor, Maine, was one of four finalists for the Blue Jays job in 2010 that eventually went to Farrell.
In addition to his time with Toronto, Butterfield has also served on major league coaching staffs under Buck Showalter in New York and Arizona.
End of an era for #Jays “@sean_mcadam: Brian Butterfield has been named 3B coach by Red Sox. #RedSoxTalk“
— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) October 30, 2012
