The Mets are finalizing a deal with Joey Cora to make the 56-year-old their next third base coach, reports Mike Puma of the New York Post. He’ll replace Gary DiSarcina, who was let go after the season and has since taken on the same role with the Nationals.
Cora has spent the past five seasons as the Pirates third base coach, a stint that overlapped with those of a pair of managers (Clint Hurdle and Derek Shelton). After the season, Pittsburgh announced that Cora would not be brought back, eventually promoting field coordinator Mike Rabelo to take over the position.
New Mets skipper Buck Showalter is apparently set to bring Cora to Queens in what’ll be his first coaching hire. A big league second baseman from 1987-98, Cora began his coaching career as a skipper in the Mets farm system. He made the jump to a big league staff under Ozzie Guillen with the White Sox in 2003, serving as the third base coach on the South Siders 2005 World Series-winning club. Cora, the older brother of Red Sox manager Alex Cora, also spent some time on the Marlins staff.
Showalter and the Mets front office still have plenty of work to do in building out the staff over the coming weeks. Jeremy Hefner, who served as pitching coach under former skipper Luis Rojas, is retaining that position with Showalter. Yet bench coach, hitting coach, first base coach and bullpen coach all remain to be filled.
Puma names a pair of potential candidates for the bench coach vacancy, suggesting John Russell and Clayton McCullough as possibilities. Russell, who managed the Pirates from 2008-2010, spent the 2011-18 seasons on Showalter’s staffs with the Orioles. The bulk of that time came as bench coach. McCullough, meanwhile, is currently the Dodgers first base coach. He interviewed for the Mets managerial vacancy last month. While he obviously didn’t land that position, Puma writes he made a favorable enough impression the team could look to add him to the staff as Showalter’s top lieutenant.
The Mets will now lead the league in players thrown out at home. Joey the Windmill is one aggressive third base coach. But, he’s a good infield coach.
You forgot about the ones who could’ve scored easily had he actually watched the relay being bobbled instead of only the runner.
Back in the day the Red Sox used to have a third base coach named Windmill Kim.
His nickname was “Send ‘Em In Kim”.
He was awful, but also a very pleasant happy little guy.
I still say Brian Butterfield was the best in my lifetime, he got up at 4AM every day and was a big Patriots fan. Therefore he was really good.
Sounds like Dale Sveum 3B Coach with Red Sox known as Send Him Home Sveum. LOL
He was actually named Wendell Kim. But windmill fits the story better.
DiSarcina was a pretty bad 3B coach too. Aggressive at the wrong times / passive at the wrong times.
I’m more curious as to how much say Buck is having on the staffing choices.
With the right players, aggressive baserunning puts pressure on the defense and can open up opportunities. But we are talking about the Pirates… Maybe that was the only way he thought they could score runs?
Cora was regularly sending Colin Moran, quite possibly the slowest runner in MLB, home.
Nobody is as bad as Glenn Sherlock.
Joey is ex-Sox 2B.
Sox now need another 2B just like Joey.
Cora will have new duties with the Mets, such as waving players around 3rd or holding up the base runner at 3rd. He really didn’t do any of that with Pittsburgh due to the putrid offense
When asked what they thought of losing their 3rd base coach, the most common answer from Pirates hitters was, “Wait, there’s a 3rd base?”
The Pirates had more runners waved home last season than the Mets did…. The Mets scored more total runs, but if you subtract homers (which aren’t waved in), the Pirates scored more.
Way to be a buzzkill. I understand basically every run the Pirates scored was from someone running home since they have no power… historically bad power as a percentage of total league home runs hit. But my original post was funny, and the reply by Chipper was funny. I’m guessing you’re not a hit at parties, James?
Ah man I loved watching this guy with the M’s as a kid at 2nd base. Has he coached before? Or is this his first opportunity? Best of luck Joey!
Yes, he’s coached before, as mentioned in the above article. I believe he’s interviewed in the past for vacant managing jobs in the majors. The Kingsport Mets fared poorly under his management.
Read the article dude
The 2nd and 3rd paragraphs address your query.
Reading comprehension skills will do wonders for you. And if you’ve paid attention to any of the Mariners Interviews for managers in the past, you’re so claimed team, youd know this already.
There are people on this site who would criticize a newly hired hot dog vendor.
While criticizing the vendor as if they were hot dog connoisseurs.
I’ve eaten hundreds of hotdogs from several ballparks and have the health problems to back it up, I have the god given right to criticize hot dog vendors.
Hey, kill the messenger.
Listen, I’ve been going to baseball games since I was a tiny idiot rooting for the 90s Indians. I’ve been to *several* other baseball stadiums. I’ve heard dozens of different vendors hawk their sausages. I know what gets my attention and gets me my weiner faster. And Gary just doesn’t have the voice. He just thinks that if he shows up and walks halfway down the aisle and waves his arms with his little churchmouse squeaks that he’ll be fine. But this is a loud business and I need someone that will grab my attention when I’m looking at Instagram in my seat. I need a man who is desperate to give me that meat. Gary needs to know that this is about guest service, and he needs to be aggressive in servicing the guests. He better take pride in those steaming hot buns.
Anyone know who the winningest 3B coach in history is? Most WS championships? Highest WAR or wRC+? Most handshake ass-slap combos? Any stats at all on coaches?
Can he pitch?
He can pitch a tent in the coaching box since he won’t see much activity on the base paths
Right I know the article said he coached the Pirates but I was curious if he had any coaching experience with a MLB team.
Haha jk. I should read the article better…woops!
What does Joey Cora know about hitting since he was an extremely light hitting infielder with zero to little pop in his bat
Maybe it’s a “those who can’t do, teach” situations
Some great hitters couldn’t teach beans how to make you toot.
Most hitting coaches weren’t good hitters themselves.
George Ruth, I will bet my bottom dollar that the best hitting coaches were not successful hitters in the MLB.. This type of reasoning applies to coaches in all sports. Some of the best coaches in sports did not succeed at the games highest level. How did Bill Belicheck’s playing career go? Phil Jackson? Bobby Cox? Joe Maddon? John Madden? Hell I could list names all day long… I think it is very rare for a All-Star caliber player to go into coaching and be successful long term..
Also Joey Cora was pretty good anyhow. Career 277 hitter with more career walks than strikeouts in 11 seasons. Just because he didn’t hit 30 HR per year doesn’t mean he cannot hit. And finally, what does being a light hitting infielder have to do with being a good 3B coach?
I thought he’d get hired as trash can banger for the trashstros but ok.
Buck worships J. J. Hardy for his input….wonder if he would be interested.
Mike Lowell too. Be an interesting staff.
I always thought Hardy would be an excellent coach. And Adam Jones too, though I think he’s still under contract in Japan. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Wayne Kirby as 1st base coach given his time with Buck in Baltimore.
Is Chili Davis still looking for a job?
Hey Highest IQ, how do you like chili dogs?
I think bringing back Davis would be a huge plus unless the hitters don’t want him. I know Alonso was vocal about being upset about his dismissal.
Wow, the Mets best defensive 2B is their 3B Coach.
Clown
Says the guy with the screen name “stevecohenMVP.
Marlins Fan Base? Lonely guy.
I think he got used to having speedsters like and Marte who could get to third more often than most on the team.
Pirates do/did have some faster players after Marte left but most couldn’t make it to third.
I think most of us were surprised he stayed with the team so long after the front office and coaching staff changed. But as someone else said he was a decent infield coach here. So there is that…. I think he also did part time translator?
I dunno. You’re right, of course, but the Bucs seem to have cornered the market of some of the stupidest base runners in MLB. I liked Marte but some of his blunders were incredible. And then, they had Polanco….
Pittsburgh got rid of Cora because he never put up the STOP sign at 3B.