LI's Danny Barnes joins Mets' coaching staff as assistant
The Blue Jays' Danny Barnes pitches to the Canada Jr. team during the first inning of a spring training game on March 23, 2019, in Dunedin, Fla. Credit: AP/Chris O'Meara
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Danny Barnes, a Manhasset native who played for the Long Island Ducks last year, joined the Mets as an assistant coach on the major-league staff, manager Buck Showalter announced Friday.
In filling the new role, Barnes, 32, will serve as a utility coach of sorts, putting his "great skill set," as Showalter put it, to use however the team deems fit.
Barnes, who pitched in the majors for the Blue Jays from 2016-18, started an MBA program at Columbia last year. This opportunity was enough to get him to pause that endeavor.
"I kept trying to find somebody who didn’t like him. I couldn’t find anyone," Showalter said. "He understands a lot of things that we have to do and has played in the big leagues, knows his way around a major-league locker room. He’ll help everybody."
Barnes was a pitching standout at Manhasset before graduating in 2007. Following three seasons at Princeton, he was selected by Toronto in the 35th round of the 2010 draft. He had a 2.76 ERA in 16 games for the Ducks last summer.
"He’s got a very bright future in the game," Showalter said. "We were lucky to get him."
