From Columbia University to Citi Field: LI's Danny Barnes finds unique coaching role with Mets
New York Mets assistant coach Danny Barnes during a spring training workout in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
On Sunday, when the Mets play the Nationals in a standard weekend matinee, assistant coach Danny Barnes will have two places to be at once.
He is supposed to attend the game in Washington, D.C., of course, fulfilling his duties at “the intersection of major-league coaching and analytics,” as general manager Billy Eppler described it. The Manhasset native is in his second year on the Mets’ staff in a role that manager Buck Showalter likened to a utility infielder because “he can do anything.”
But that same morning, on the iconic South Lawn of Columbia University’s campus in Morningside Heights, a graduation ceremony will be held for the school’s MBA candidates — including Barnes. He completed his coursework in December, making him a rare coach with major-league playing experience and an advanced degree.
It sounds like a momentous occasion for the 33-year-old Barnes. But he also really, really likes his job.
“If I have a choice,” Showalter said, “I’m going to make sure he goes.”
Barnes recently said with a wry smile: “Probably not. Aren’t we on the road that day? I gotta be here.”
MLB to MBA
If not for the 240 or so miles between those places, maybe Barnes would do both. Multitasking has been something of a specialty for him. At Princeton, for example, he pitched well enough for the Tigers — while majoring in economics — to get drafted by the Blue Jays in 2010 after his junior season. During offseasons early in his pro career, he went back to campus to finish his degree.
That sort of balancing act is what set Barnes down the path to Columbia — and the Mets.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, Barnes was under contract with the Orioles, hoping to get back to the majors during that shortened season but realizing it was unlikely. He had pitched for Toronto from 2016-18, living the thrill of the Blue Jays’ run to the ALCS in that first season, and when he was stuck at home like everybody else during those quarantine months, he started to wonder:
What might be next in life?
His initial answer became business school at Columbia.
That set up a wild 2021: starting the MBA program during the spring semester, playing for the independent Long Island Ducks over the summer, and continuing with classes in the fall.
Once he signed with the Ducks, he moved back to his parents’ home in Manhasset, taking the LIRR to Manhattan and driving to Central Islip for his disparate pursuits.
He loved both.
“The big thing you really learn at Columbia is how to break down a problem into its component parts, which is really applicable to everything,” Barnes said, noting that he learned big-picture problem-solving along with hard skills regarding programming and finance. “Think about a pitcher [asking], ‘Why is my fastball getting hit?’ There’s five things that might go into that, and you need to really examine each one to come up with a solution.”
Analysis: Unique background
Networking and mulling post-playing opportunities within baseball led him to the Mets, who had an open analyst position in late 2021, Eppler’s first months in charge. He interviewed but didn’t get the gig. During that process, Ben Zauzmer, their analytics boss and an assistant GM, noted that Barnes’ resume included experience in the majors.
This guy looking for an entry-level data-heavy gig was a ballplayer. That was weird. Eppler had an idea.
“I had a thought of, we can turn this guy into a coach and put him in a role where he’s in-dugout,” Eppler said. “I brought the idea to Buck and as we talked through it, I pointed out things that had kind of taken place in the game in recent years, how some teams were taking advantage of almost like a conduit or somebody that can stand in the intersection of major-league coaching and analytics.”
Said Barnes, who also throws batting practice sometimes: “How do you apply [metrics from the front office] to a player actually trying to execute something? It’s hard. It’s a big job. I think that’s what most good coaches and good organizations do effectively.”
Showalter, who hadn’t been in baseball the previous three seasons, said he liked that Barnes was “not afraid to disagree with me.”
The Mets hired him around the new year. He paused his Columbia work.
All of a sudden, Barnes, who had continued training in case somebody wanted to sign him, was a former pitcher.
“It was a big decision, but at the time it didn’t feel like it,” he said. “It was just kind of like, OK, this is the next thing. It wasn’t like a big emotional decision or anything like that. It was going down a different path. It wasn’t painful. I was excited. It was an exciting new thing to do.”
Mets assistant coach Danny Barnes during a spring training workout on Feb. 16, 2023 in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
‘What can’t he do?’
When he went back to Columbia last fall, he loaded up with five classes, including one on leadership and another on the future of energy and financing of climate change-related projects. But his favorite was The Business of Sports, taught by Salvatore Galatioto, a longtime sports banker whose firm, Galatioto Sports Partners, specializes in facilitating the buying and selling of professional sports franchises.
With his Ivy League pedigree, background as a major-league player and coach and associated skill sets, what might Barnes be able to do in baseball?
“Whatever he wants,” Showalter said.
Eppler added: “His ceiling is pretty high.”
And Galatioto: “He’s got a great background in baseball. He’s really smart. He’s thoughtful. He’s got really good interpersonal skills. I mean, I don’t know, what can’t he do? That’s the better question.”
Barnes didn’t dare venture a public guess or dream. He never would have figured he’d end up here, after all, so it’s hard to say what the future will hold. But he is confident it’ll involve baseball.
“It’s going to sound cheesy, but I honestly think that baseball is the best thing ever,” he said. “Baseball is by far the best sport in the world. I want it to do well. I want the sport to do well. I want it to grow. I want people to love it . . . But as long as you have that high-level goal, a north star, you’re going to be all right.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
