Mets to overhaul coaching staff, keep Jeremy Hefner and two others, source says
Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner is "very optimistic for even more success from the pitching staff moving forward." Credit: MLB Photos via Getty Images/Mary DeCicco
The Mets’ nascent offseason of change continued Thursday with the revelation that they’re basically starting over with the coaching staff.
Assistant hitting coach Kevin Howard will return to his original role of director of player development, a team source said. Pitching coach Jeremy Hefner and hitting coach Hugh Quattlebaum are in talks to remain with the organization in to-be-decided roles.
The other six coaches have been granted permission to seek employment elsewhere and officially will be free agents at the end of the month: bench coach Dave Jauss, assistant pitching coach Jeremy Accardo, first-base/outfield coach Tony Tarasco, third-base/infield coach Gary DiSarcina, bullpen coach Ricky Bones and major-league field coordinator/catching coach Brian Schneider.
These moves allow the eventual new manager to help shape his own staff, just as the eventual new head of baseball operations will help shape the organization by choosing the manager.
That the Mets want to retain Howard, Hefner and Quattlebaum does not register as a surprise given how highly regarded they are by front-office holdovers.
Hefner may well remain the pitching coach, according to a person familiar with his situation, depending on the desires of the new manager. The Mets were among the top third of clubs in 2021 with a 3.90 team ERA.
Howard and Quattlebaum, initially hired as the director of hitting development, came aboard as part of the farm system overall last offseason. When team president Sandy Alderson fired hitting coaches Chili Davis and Tom Slater in early May, Quattlebaum and Howard were promoted as interim replacements.
Quattlebaum’s immediate future probably won’t be on the major-league staff, a source said. He is likely to end up in another player-development role.
The overhaul of the coaching staff came in the same week the Mets announced they would not retain manager Luis Rojas, who also might stay with the organization in another capacity.
The dismissal of Jauss, hand-picked by Rojas, means the Mets in 2022 will have their sixth bench coach in six seasons.
