7:50pm: New York will hire Antoan Richardson as first base coach, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com (on X). He had held that role in San Francisco for four seasons under Gabe Kapler.
6:49pm: The Mets are hiring John Gibbons as their bench coach, tweets Mike Puma of the New York Post. Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic first reported (X link) that the Mets were nearing agreement with Gibbons to take the position.
New York has turned to a first-time skipper in former Yankee bench coach Carlos Mendoza. Immediately after Mendoza’s hiring, reports suggested they were seeking a more experienced voice to operate as his chief staffer. The 61-year-old Gibbons qualifies.
A first-round pick of the Mets in 1980, Gibbons played 18 big league games with New York in the mid-80s. He had a far lengthier big league run as a manager. Gibbons, who began his coaching career in the Mets system in 1990, logged two separate stints as an MLB manager in Toronto. He led the Blue Jays from 2004-08. After being dismissed midway through the ’08 season, Gibbons spent some time as bench coach in Kansas City.
The Jays re-hired him as manager going into the 2013 season. He’d hold that position for six more seasons, overseeing three straight winning campaigns between 2014-16. The Jays made the playoffs in both 2015 and ’16, advancing to the AL Championship Series both years. The team’s performance tailed off thereafter, as they finished below .500 in both 2017 and ’18. The Jays replaced Gibbons with Charlie Montoyo going into 2019.
Gibbons has been floated as a candidate for a few managerial vacancies in the years since. While he hasn’t gotten a look in the lead role, he’ll return to a coaching staff as Mendoza’s top lieutenant.
In other coaching news, Puma reported yesterday that New York was nearing agreement to hire Jose Rosado as bullpen coach. He had overlapped with Mendoza during a run in the Yankees’ farm system. Meanwhile, Andy Martino of SNY reports (on X) that the club will hire Mike Sarbaugh as third base coach. He had held that role under Terry Francona in Cleveland for 11 seasons.
Gibby’s the best
Impressive career for a collection of lesser apes from Southeast Asian
Those Mets don’t monkey around.
Monkey – Hopefully since Gibby is just a bench coach he won’t be starting fights with his own players. Perhaps he has matured with age.
damhikt
That was his first term as manager, and I believe he had recently lost his father.
His second term as manager, he was much better.
damhikt – Gibbons vs Lilly was August 2006.
Gibbons vs Donaldson was August 2016.
Gibbons vs Hillenbrand was July 2006
Gibbons vs Lawrie was May 2013
Gibbons vs Pillar was June 2013
Not sure when his dad passed away, but 5 incidents over a decade can’t all be blamed on his passing.
Poor guy had to manage Donaldson and Brett Lawrie
Call me a sucker…I’m OPTIMISTIC about the moves in the Mets FO and coaching staff.
You’re a sucker.
Still, this is probably better than Steve Cohen as your GM.
I don’t think you are a sucker, I think this is probably a smart hire.
Gibby show was such a good yet bad podcast. He can’t do an interview but yet I couldn’t not listen guys a true gem
Not sure if you saw Gibby’s AMA on the Blue Jays subreddit a few weeks ago and he had some funny answers. Someone asked him about memorable ejections and he said:
“One time Joe West told me our team stinks so if he has to stay out there and watch it, I do too, so he wouldnt throw me out”
Not sure if links work well in these comments but here it is:
reddit.com/r/Torontobluejays/comments/17lfh89/ama_…
I think I would reply, “Well Joe, my team is actually feeling better about themselves now that they’ve seen how bad you are.”
Love Gibby. Best of luck to him.
What is the connection with Mendoza. Not a bad idea to hire a bench coach that has managerial experience. Just hope they connect
Great have replacement manager In place so In a couple of year when the boy wonder David S first choice for NY Mets fails you have his replacement In the dugout.
You had a good manager In Buck S and the stupid decision was to fire him and find a guy will to be a Lap Dog to both Steve C and David S
That why the NY Mets will always be a losers.
Just another trolling frustrated Yankees fan who’s upset because we took your manager in waiting. Time for you to move out of your parents’ basement and get a real job….
This is a smart move by the Mets, Stearns is rebuilding an organization and finally has the resources to get the best and the brightest. Go for it David!
What exactly did Buck accomplish that was so great? In 2022, they were pathetic when it actually counted for something – totally outclassed at home by a team that limped into the playoffs. And last season I saw a similar lack of effort or passion from a team that massively underperformed. At least some amount of that reflects on the manager.
I’m not saying Mendoza was the best or right choice, but I think a change was necessary, just like with the front office and the roster. I don’t care how much voice the manager has as long as the team gets results.
Except that Mendoza was the Mets backup plan, while the Cubs swooped in and got their preferred choice (Counsell).
Short of taking hostages, if Craig Counsell wanted to be near his home rather than NY, how would you go about forcing him to manage in NY?
@Logistics Guy: Funny how a guy with no spelling or punctuation skills can be critical of anybody else about anything.
Pot, meet Kettle.
Mets quit on Buck. He allowed cheating by his pitchers. He had to go.
Good move by NYM. Naturally the Long Island loudmouths will lodge a complaint
Kitara Ravache has her own problems, she should leave the Met’s alone.
I’ve told you before…I’m a CONEY Island loudmouth, not a Long Island loudmouth…
I’m a Coney Island Baby.
Goodbye my Coney Island baby.
@rct – two train stops from ya. Bensonhurst.
*Bensonhoist, lol.
I live near Prospect Park, just over a mile from where Ebbets Field stood.
Lou Reed reference! Winner!
Gibby is the best. I would trade Varsho for him if they take Hotdog (Schnieder)
Probably a really smart move since they hired a first time manager. Gibbons has always seemed well liked and competent.
Do former head coaches in the NBA or NFL ever take jobs as assistant coaches? Or does that only happen in baseball?
I’d say it’s pretty common in the NFL.
@LFGMets: You have a problem with guys who speak Spanish?
And why don’t you give Mendoza a chance before screaming about firing him?
You can never be happy, can you?
Miss him in Toronto. Great hire for the Mets.
Like Ausmus acrosss town, a good hire. Probably a bit more important for the Mets as Mendoza is a first-time manager. Glad to see an experienced pro land another position.
Gibby has a good baseball IQ. He is a decent guy. Probably overlooked often because he is a plain speaker. I think he stopped caring at the end of his run in Toronto and just wanted to please fans (and have a few beers) by finding different ways to get ejected from games. Best of luck!!!
The Mets have hired their next (interim) Manager.
I will bet he will be fired within three years. He can be great, but the Mets are a mess.
Which is probably pretty close to average as MLB manager turnover goes…
The Dodgers probably double that time. I honestly almost wanna bet in Vegas he’ll be fired within 2-3 years because I’m so sure of it
You’ll have to expand on that opinion. I can smell racism but I don’t see it just yet.
And get off my lawn!
I smell it, too. Dude just dropped trou and left a steaming pile of it in the comments section.
Typically, steamers like that are reserved for LFGMets mother’s chest. Choo choo. Or father’s if the cuck chair is out for cleaning.
@raisinsss: You’re probably correct. The guy you’re responding to thinks that Cohen has a bias towarda Spanish-speaking coaches/players/managers based purely on the fact that Cohen’s wife is Puerto Rican. He’s been posting about it on most Mets articles.
People like him are why baseball is still lagging behind in popularity.
Great, now I have to be a Met’s fan. Wish he was back in TO.
Mendoza hasn’t even settled in yet and will already have to be looking over his shoulder…
Interesting about the first base coach hire. I guess that means Wayne Kirby is out. A shame as he seemed to do his job well and was very well-liked.
Jealous Jays fan here…
Yes, at least, people can type type it as well.
Love Gibby, he’s the best!!!
Can someone name for me the last time a World Series winner had a first time manager and a bench coach with MLB managing experience???
This seems like one of those “awesome on paper” ideas these front office geeks draw up that literally NEVER works out in real life.
2018 when the red sox hired Cora and had Roenicke who at one time managed the brewers.. When Ron was a rookie manager he took them all the way to the NLCS with a franchise record breaking 96 wins
Dodgers with Bob Geren as Roberts’ bench coach.
Red Sox with Ron Roenicke as Cora’s bench coach.
Two recent examples.
Considering the situation, I feel Gibby is a very good hire, they needed someone who can actually manage decently without the interfering of the front office, a good compliment with a first-time puppet manager. I feel this will work well also, that is if the front office can repair their pitching problems and acquire a couple more bodies that can hit.
The LOLMets
Ran into Gibby in Toronto one day as I was walking near the ballpark. All I said was “hello” and he stopped to talk for five minutes. A genuinely good guy. Great hire for the Mets (that’s a sentence rarely typed).
retire already..cronies baseball is in the past.
Mets are quietly putting together a fantastic coaching crew.
A better hire for bench coach than the team across town. Good fit for that clubhouse.
Always nice to see Gibby in the game.