6:01pm: In addition to confirming the previously reported modifications, the Mets have some further tweaks to their staff, Van Wagenen announced (via Tim Healey of Newsday, Twitter links). Gary DiSarcina will become the third base coach while Glenn Sherlock will shift across the diamond to serve as the first base coach, leaving the club in search of a bench coach as well as a hitting coach and bullpen coach.
Meanwhile, Ruben Amaro Jr. will move into a front office role advising Van Wagenen. Amaro has been in uniform since being removed from his position as the Phillies GM after the 2015 season.
12:36pm: The Mets have opted not to retain hitting coach Pat Roessler for the 2019 season, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter). The Post’s Mike Puma adds that bullpen pitching coach Ricky Bones will be reassigned elsewhere in the organization. Meanwhile, assistant hitting coach Tom Slater will not be considered for the lead hitting coach job and will remain in his current role, per Puma.
Roessler, 59 in December, spent just one year as the team’s primary hitting coach. He’d previously served as assistant hitting coach for three seasons, including two years in which the Mets set new franchise records for home runs hit (218 in 2016 and 224 in 2017). Prior to Roessler’s time with the Mets, he spent more than a decade with the Yankees as their director of player development — also at times working as their minor league hitting coordinator and field coordinator. He held similar roles with the White Sox, Expos and Astros from 1988-2004.
Bones, 49, had a 10-year career as a big league pitcher and got his start as a coach in the minor league ranks with the Expos/Nationals franchise. He’s previously worked for more than half a decade as a pitching coach in the Mets’ minor league system and has also twice served as the pitching coach for Team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic (2013, 2017). He’d been serving in his role as the Mets’ bullpen coach for the past seven seasons.
It’s not yet clear what the future holds for the rest of the staff, though new general manager Brodie Van Wagenen said during his introductory press conference that Mickey Callaway would return as the Mets’ manager in 2019.
Ricky Bones has to be a top-10 baseball name. Top 5?
Whose bones did Ricky Bones bone??????
Stubby Clapp, Scooter Gennett, Buck Farmer, Brooks Pounders round out that list
Doug Fister and Charlie Furbush are up there, too.
Oh man, the trade of unfortunate names.
Add Dick Pole too somehow LOL
Rusty Kuntz
Combine Scooter Gennett and Marco Scutaro and you have Scooter Sutaro.
Sounds like a Phil Collins song.
i’d still go with boof bonser
Rusty Kuntz
Milton Bradley
Coco crisp
Dummy Williams
Boog Powell x2?
It pronounced like bonus not bones
I said it below, but no one (to me) has Mr. Dick Pole beat yet. Though, we’re close.
Johnny Dickshot
Just another chapter in this horror show we call the NY Mets.
I know it’s fun to hate on the Mets but every team makes coaching changes all the time, so I’m not sure what the big deal is here.
Basically, any time the word Mets comes up, it’s a prompt for certain people to barf out something from their LOLMets machine.
It’s the Mets version of rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic… Iceberg Dead Ahead..
…..
As a NYY fan, I like the recent shakeups. I never particularly cared for Minaya so it’s surprising to see him still around. Too many eggs in Bernie Madoff’s basket is what killed the Mets. I get the Jose Reyes, Tim Tebow, etc. PR moves. I have faith the Mets will be good again soon and not stay in perpetual mediocrity.
With those comments lowereastsider you have proven that you are not a NYY fan. You are a mets fan hiding behind your front runner cloak. You have been barred from games at the stadium.
Stop crying about Bernie Maddoff. That was over ten years ago and we didn’t complain when they were rolling in the stolen money.
Your faith is ill founded as the Mets by and large have been mediocre for decades.
I didn’t think Roessler did a terrible job, to be honest. I liked the progress from Conforto, Nimmo and Rosario this season, and they were killed by injuries as usual. I’m also totally onboard within bringing in somebody new though, especially since Roessler was a typical uninspiring Mets promotion. Bones was definitely overdue to be replaced.
Hopefully the fact that Eiland wasn’t also part of this group means that he’s staying. He absolutely deserves to be back.
What exactly does a bullpen coach do (or not do) that would make his replacement overdue?
Under prepare the guys incoming like bad scouting report or giving bad advice like he’s a fb hitter up and away but he’s missed it all game so do it.
Shouldn’t the catcher know what pitch to call for for based on what the batter has been hitting?
misterbill – They’re responsible for preparation and a lot of direct work with the bullpen. The Mets have been deficient in this regard for a number of years. How much of an effect a bullpen coach actually has is certainly debatable, but given the problems they’ve had with their bullpen over Bones’s tenure, I think it was time to put somebody else in the role.
Mets were garbage before any injuries and rosario had a 296 OBP that isn’t progress conforto hit 250 but good job embarrassing yourself
Let the house cleaning begin.
I thought Scott Boras would be named 3B coach……
Homer Bush
Johnny Dickshot
I had like 300 Ricky Bones baseball cards as a lad.
They should be worth tons.
Make Mike Piazza the hitting coach
1000% agree but not sure if Piazza is ready to step back into a fulltime major league gig.
I like moving Discarscina out of the bench coach job. I think Mets needed someone with more NL experience. Moving Amaro into a GM advisor role though is scaring the hell out of me.
It really shouldn’t. In 2017, when he worked for the Red Sox, Amaro amazed everyone with his knowledge of (a) just about every player in every organization and (b) his understanding of waivers and options and stuff; DD always said he never made a move without checking with Rueben first.
I know he had a bad run in Philly (due in no small measure to ownership interference), and he might just be that kind of guy who’s a better 2nd banana than a guy who sits in the big chair. Either way, tho, he’s a pretty bright guy, and may be a perfect fit for the agent-turned GM.
@ Bobtillman. Ruben Amaro Jr famously disclosed that he doesn’t know the difference between a ‘Plate Appearance’ vs an ‘At Bat’.
It happened when Jimmy Rollins broke Mike Schmidt’s record for career hits.
He also went on a tirade about not caring about ‘walks’ because he only cares about ‘production’.
Disagree. Ruben Amaro Jr. was a good GM for the Phillies. With both Ruben Amaro Jr. & Omar Minaya advising Brodie Van Wagenen, the Mets are going to be aggressive & proactive for sure.
RAJ was a disaster as a GM. Maybe better as an advisor.
These players were ALL acquired while Amaro was general manager, including Maikel Franco, Odubel Herrera, Rhys Hoskins, Scott Kingery and Aaron Nola. Oh yeah, he was a “terrible” GM. Do your research before posting an idiotic response.
HEY – you copied and pasted the insult to me. I am offended you did not come up with an original insult to me. That is hurtful.
Haha, my bad brother. I thought it was another person.
Moving Ruben Amaro Jr. into the front office is genius. Brodie Van Wagenen is surrounding himself with very smart, experienced people.
As long as RAJ doesn’t have a say in personnel decisions, it’s a genius decision.
These players were ALL acquired while Amaro was general manager, including Maikel Franco, Odubel Herrera, Rhys Hoskins, Scott Kingery and Aaron Nola. Oh yeah, he was a “terrible” GM. Do your research before posting an idiotic response.
I am speaking/writing here as a Phillies fan, but I am not knocking the Mets’ fans. I actually think the Van Wagenen deal could work.
BUT…. um, Amaro? I respectfully disagree with some of the fans above. Remember folks, Pat Gillick built the Phillies teams in the 2000s and Amaro took them over 2009… Amaro did about 3 good things 1) Signed Cliff Lee and Roy Halliday (RIP); 2) Assembled the 2011 pitching staff (which maybe goes with #1); and 3) got fired. Maybe ownership was too heavily involved. Too many times though he refused to believe the Phillies needed to rebuild during and after 2012.
I won’t hate on the Mets’ fans because that is not how I roll; but if you say Amaro had ownership interference (which is possible) do you think Jeff Wilpon (or even Fred) will sit back and chill? So while there is a chance it works, I just say be aware. Of course, one of the huge reasons I think the Mets kill the Phillies now is because Ruben knows them all (and the Phillies sucked, of course, from 2012-Present).
Anyone who calls RAJ a “good GM” didn’t follow the Phillies or is simply ignorant.
broccolirob – You summed me up much more than I could have done it. LOL Maybe he learned was my point; but he did very-little good in Philly.
These players were ALL acquired while Amaro was general manager, including Maikel Franco, Odubel Herrera, Rhys Hoskins, Scott Kingery and Aaron Nola. Oh yeah, he was a “terrible” GM. Do your research before posting an idiotic response.
I did not hurl any insults at you, Ruben. I know the Phillies.
I will give you Hoskins and Nola.
The rest have talent, but no consistency.
Even a broken clock is right 2 times a day. He ran into a few good ones.
Roy HALLADAY. As a Phillies Phan, you should know that. And you know the Phillies?
Peter LaCock