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Even if Buck Showalter remains as Mets manager — and that’s hardly a certainty — it’s a fairly safe bet changes will be occurring within the coaching staff.
The Mets tinkered last offseason, changing mostly from within after winning 101 games. New job titles were given, but the faces largely remained constant. Now with David Stearns about to enter as president of baseball operations and the Mets finishing a losing season, the opportunity for overhaul will be ripe.
Stearns first has to decide on the 67-year-old Showalter, whose contract runs through next season. Stearns could very well decide he wants his own hire to implement the front office’s strategy. Or he could defer for a year on the managerial decision, using Showalter’s vast knowledge of the organization as an asset.
The most high-profile positions behind the manager are pitching coach, hitting coach and bench coach. Jeremy Hefner, Jeremy Barnes and Eric Chavez, respectively, are in those positions and vulnerable, based on the team’s performance.
Hefner is highly regarded for his blend of analytics and human touch. He was hired after the 2019 season and has survived multiple regime changes.
Mets pitching was a disappointment this season. Much of that can be attributed to a bullpen that wasn’t properly armed, especially after Edwin Diaz’s season-ending knee surgery in spring training. But the improvement of pitchers such as Jose Butto, Joey Lucchesi, Tylor Megill and David Peterson in the second half reflects well on the pitching coach.
“It’s not even me — we’re a team,” Hefner said, mentioning director of pitching development Eric Jagers, minor league pitching coordinator Jomo Arnold and Triple-A pitching coach Kyle Driscoll. “The systems they are building, guys like Megill, Lucchesi, Peterson and Butto were all touched by that.”
Hefner, who received a three-year contract from the Mets after last season, said he isn’t concerned about his status.
“I am confident in my abilities and I certainly have zero control over that, and my focus is on these last games and making sure that I am doing everything in my power helping the guys forward into the offseason,” Hefner said. “Whatever decisions are made about my future, I don’t really have any control over that. I don’t focus too much on that.”
The Mets promoted Barnes to hitting coach (he was the assistant last season) rather than risk losing him to another organization. That meant moving Chavez from hitting coach to bench coach and sliding Glenn Sherlock into the role of catching instructor. Sherlock was the bench coach last season.
It was a trying season for the Mets offensively. A team that finished fifth in MLB in scoring last season fell to 18th and didn’t begin showing real signs of life until the final two months, after the Mets had fallen from playoff contention.
“I had a good relationship with the guys coming in and it’s been a weird year,” Barnes said. “We wanted to increase walks and hard-hit balls. We knew we had a team that made a lot of contact. We didn’t want to sacrifice that, but we wanted to continue to put some balls hard out there a little bit more and see if we could draw more walks. We actually have done both of those things, but [the results] just hadn’t happened so it’s been weird in that regard.”
Barnes said the Mets’ underperforming offense has “defied” what the data and analysis has said will occur over the long haul.
“At the end of the day I am really proud of what we’ve done,” Barnes said. “[Brandon] Nimmo has had a great year, Pete [Alonso] has 46 homers. [Francisco] Lindor started out struggling and what he’s been able to put together as a year has been a testament to him. [Francisco] Alvarez still has a lot of room to grow, but to be a rookie catcher with 23 home runs is a special thing. [Mark] Vientos has come a long way. I am really proud of a lot of things. I just wish we had more wins in the wins column.”
Chavez has a history with general manager Billy Eppler from their time with the Yankees and Angels. The former third baseman received strong reviews from his work with the Mets’ hitters season, but his elevation to bench coach seemed forced to allow the Mets to keep Barnes on the staff.
Chavez wants to be a manager – and before the season there was a case to be made for him as the heir apparent to Showalter. The organizational dynamic, with Stearns about to arrive, has now changed.
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The Brewers twice tried to sign Justin Turner as a free agent during Stearns’ tenure with the organization. Turner soon must decide whether to exercise his player option with the Red Sox worth $13.4 million for next season or become a free agent, and the Mets have a potential opening at third base.
Turner turns 39 in November, but his production with the Red Sox has remained solid: he took a .275/.345/.457 slash line with 23 homers and 96 RBIs into Thursday’s play.
As it stands, the Mets have no clear cut answer at third base for next season after receiving disappointing results from Brett Baty and only a glimpse of Ronny Mauricio at the position. Vientos was tried at third base, but has struggled with it. Turner spent four seasons in a backup role with the Mets before he was non-tendered and subsequently became an All-Star with the Dodgers. He could potentially serve as a bridge at third base if the Mets don’t deem any of the younger options as palatable.
Dennis D’Agostino never seemed to have a bad day.
A former Mets public relations assistant — he was also a Knicks historian — D’Agostino spent the last several years living in Los Angeles and became a presence in the press box at Dodger Stadium. SNY would often use D’Agostino as a statistician on the Mets’ West Coast trips, with him also following the team to San Diego and San Francisco.
D’Agostino, who died suddenly at age 66 just over a week ago, bustled with energy and brought enthusiasm to every room he entered. A proud Fordham alumnus, he loved discussing his alma mater.
For many of us, Mets’ West Coast trips will never be the same. D’Agostino was the ultimate pro and good guy.