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Phillies To Hire Kevin Long As Hitting Coach

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The Phillies are set to hire Kevin Long as their new hitting coach, Britt Ghiroli and Matt Gelb of The Athletic report (via Twitter). Long, who has been the Nationals’ hitting coach for the past four seasons, will be reunited with manager Joe Girardi and bench coach Rob Thomson in Philadelphia. The trio worked together in New York, where Long served as the hitting coach for much of Girardi’s managerial tenure. Long was on a one-year contract with the Nats for the 2021 season, and while he was reportedly open to a return to D.C., he also had the freedom to gauge interest elsewhere.

With the Phillies, Long will replace the recently dismissed Joe Dillon — his former assistant hitting coach with the Nats. The Phils hired Dillon as their hitting coach prior to the 2020 season, but his tenure proved relatively short, as the Phils made some changes to Girardi’s staff after another disappointing playoff miss. Phillies hitters ranked sixth in the Majors in walk rate from 2020-21 and are tied for the seventh-lowest team strikeout rate at 22.6 percent in that same span. They ranked 10th in runs scored (1040), 13th in home runs (280) and posted an overall .244/.324/.417 batting line (97 wRC+) during Dillon’s two years as hitting coach.

Moving from Washington to Philadelphia, Long will also reunite with one of his highest-profile pupils, Bryce Harper, whom he coached with the Nationals during Harper’s final season prior to free agency. (His time with the Yankees did not overlap with embattled Phillies shortstop Didi Gregorius.) Girardi and Long had a heated exchange earlier this season after Girardi called for then-Nationals ace Max Scherzer to be checked for foreign substances on the mound mid-inning, though doesn’t seem to have formed a lasting rift between the longtime colleagues, based on today’s news.

Long, 54, has a pair of World Series rings: one for his 2009 work with the Yankees and a second for with the 2019 Nationals. He served as Yankees hitting coach from 2007-14 before joining the Mets in the same capacity from 2015-17 and the Nationals from 2018-21.

The Phils also parted ways with infield coach Juan Castro and gave assistant hitting coach Pedro Guerrero the freedom to explore other opportunities, so Long’s hiring will be the first of at least a couple of coaching changes in the weeks to come.

Nationals Make Two Coaching Changes

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Nationals third base coach Bob Henley and first base coach Randy Knorr won’t be returning to the staff next season, as The Washington Post’s Jesse Dougherty reports that the club has reassigned the two coaches to player-development jobs.  These could be the only changes made to manager Davey Martinez’s staff, as the other five coaches have been asked to return in their current roles.

Henley was a 26th-round draft pick for the Expos in 1991, and apart from one game with the Pirates A-ball affiliate in 2002, he has spent his entire baseball career in the Expos/Nationals organization.  After working as a manager and field coordinator at the minor league level, Henley joined Washington’s coaching staff in 2013 and has worked as the third base coach for seven of the past eight seasons.

Knorr’s tenure with the club also dates back to the Nationals’ days in Montreal, as he played for the Expos in 2001 and then played three seasons for the team’s Triple-A affiliate before retiring from playing.  Knorr has worked as a minor league manager and worked in player development in between three separate stints on Washington’s big league coaching staff, working as a bullpen coach and bench coach in the past before his 2021 assignment as the first base coach.

Beyond their official titles, Knorr and Henley were also baserunning coaches, and Henley worked as an outfield coach.  It isn’t yet known if the replacements will take over those additional duties, or if the Nationals might expand their staff with a new position or two.

Of the other five members of the staff, Dougherty writes that hitting coach Kevin Long “becomes the biggest question mark” to be in D.C. in 2022, as Long “is open to returning again, though he will consider other opportunities.”  Long will likely require a multi-year contract to come back for his fifth season as the Nationals’ hitting coach.  His first deal with the team was a three-year contract (rather an unusually lengthy commitment for a coach), and he agreed to return on a one-year pact for 2021.

Nationals Bring Back Kevin Long As Hitting Coach

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Contrary to a prior report, the Washington Nationals have agreed to bring back hitting coach Kevin Long on a one-year deal, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). Long’s previous three-year contract just expired, and he had been one of the highest paid hitting coaches in the game, per The Athletic’s Britt Ghiroli (via Twitter). The initial split seems to have been merely a failure to reach an agreement on a new deal. Though we don’t know the terms, the two sides have apparently struck a compromise on a one-year pact.

After being extended this past season, manager Dave Martinez was given some hiring power this offseason. He has had the opportunity to build out his coaching staff for the first time since taking over as manager. Thus far, the biggest change has been moving on from Paul Menhart as pitching coach. The longtime organizational pitching coach was replaced by Jim Hickey. Martinez and Hickey were on Joe Maddon’s staff together from 2008 to 2014 with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Martinez and the Nats also moved on from Chip Hale, who spent last season as the third base coach. Hale was hired as the bench coach, meant to help Martinez along as he got his feet wet in his first managerial position. He served in that role when the Nats won the World Series in 2019. In 2020, however, Martinez rotated some of his staff, moving Hale to third base, Bob Henley from third to first, and Tim Bogar from first base coach to the bench.

With Long re-installed as the hitting coach, Martinez needs only to fill Hale’s spot at third base to fill out his 2021 staff. Henry Blanco returns as the bullpen coach, and Pat Roessler will presumably return as the assistant hitting coach.

More Changes To Nationals’ Coaching Staff

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More changes are coming to the Washington Nationals coaching staff. Hitting coach Kevin Long will not be returning next season, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). Long’s contract has expired after a three-year term. Chip Hale will also be moving on, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). Hale was the bench coach when the Nats won the World Series in 2019 before moving to third base this season an in effort by manager Davey Martinez to keep things fresh.

This now makes three key members of the Nationals’ coaching staff who will not be returning. Pitching coach Paul Menhart was also told that his contract would not be renewed. According to Menhart, manager Davey Martinez has the opportunity to hand-pick his coaching staff for the first time since taking over as Nationals manager. It’s unclear if that’s the reason that Martinez is moving on from Long and Hale, but it certainly seems that way.

Hale was initially brought in by GM Mike Rizzo to provide a veteran hand on the bench while Martinez got his feet wet in his first role as manager. After three seasons and a World Series ring, it appears Martinez and the Nationals believe he’s ready to ride without supervision, so to speak. Hale previously managed the Diamondbacks from 2015 to 2016 and served as bench coach to Bob Melvin of the Athletics for three seasons from 2012 to 2014.

Long got his first major-league gig as a hitting coach for the Yankees back in 2007. He stayed in that role for eight seasons before embarking on a three-year term with the Mets. The conclusion of that contract brought him to Washington.

The Nationals offense produced just 3.2 fWAR as a team in 2020, a mark that ranks 27th in the majors. That’s a fairly disappointing outcome, especially considering Juan Soto and Trea Turner combined to produce 5.1 fWAR. But they also had a whopping 10 players rack up negative measures of fWAR, including free agent acquisition Eric Thames (-0.7 fWAR), World Series hero Howie Kendrick (-0.3 fWAR), and a trio of young bats they hope soon to develop into cornerstones: Victor Robles (-0.5 fWAR), Luis Garcia (-0.3 fWAR), and Carter Kieboom (-0.3 fWAR).

Even so, the club still finished 10th in the majors with 293 runs scored. Since the two-time World-Series-winning hitting coach took over in Washington, Nationals teams have scored the 7th-most runs in the majors while slashing .260/.338/.436, good for a 102 wRC+.

NL Notes: Cubs, McGwire, Nationals

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By renovating the historic Fenway Park in 2002, Boston augmented their baseball ops department with the quickening revenue streams from an improved stadium experience – a strategy Theo Epstein brought with him to Chicago, writes Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. Additionally, both Fenway Park and Wrigley Field, under Epstein’s leadership, have benefited from in-stadium advertising along the outfield walls – much like your local little league field. In Boston, the seats added above the Green Monster came complete with the ad billboards above. In Chicago, the bleachers were devoid of ad content until 2010 when a 360-foot Toyota sign was installed over the left field bleachers. Baseball purists may balk at these eyesores becoming a focal point of such historic stadiums, but the financial welfare afforded both franchises by these towering facades have produced previously-unmatched eras of on-field success. Lest we forget, Wrigley Field was called Weeghman Park until it was acquired by the chewing gum tycoon, so while it’s not as obvious a money grab as southside rival Guaranteed Rate Field, the Cubs’ northside stadium has long been financially-inspired – Epstein’s major contribution is making these influxes of cash obvious on the field.

Now, some coaching updates around the National League…

  • Mark McGwire won’t be returning as the Padres bench coach for 2019, per MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell. McGwire is reportedly stepping down to spend more time with his family after two seasons as the bench coach in San Diego. Big Mac had previously spent three seasons apiece as hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers. For the Padres, they will seek to avoid an extended search to fill their three coaching vacancies for 2019 (bench coach, hitting coach, and infield coach).
  • In other coaching news, the Washington Nationals will not be making any changes to their coaching staff prior to 2019, per Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. Manager Dave Martinez returns for the second year of a three-year deal, hoping for a turnaround after a disappointing first year in Washington. Bench coach Chip Hale, hitting coach Kevin Long, and pitching coach Derek Lilliquist will return to buttress Martinez in the Washington dugout. Rounding out the coaching crew: former infielder Tim Bogar returns to the first base coaching box, Greg Maddux’s former personal catcher Henry Blanco returns to coach in the bullpen and longtime third base coach Bob Henley returns in his usual role.

Nationals Hire Kevin Long As Hitting Coach

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The Nationals have hired Kevin Long to become the team’s hitting coach, as Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post first reported on Twitter. He had most recently functioned in the same capacity for the division-rival Mets (and the Yankees before that).

Long was a candidate for the Nats’ and Mets’ open managerial positions, but both clubs went in different directions. It became clear once he missed out on running the dugout in Queens that Long would likely be destined for another organization.

There are a few preexisting ties between the Nationals and Long. His son, Jaron Long, pitches in the organization, for one. And current Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy flourished under Long’s tutelage in New York.

As Janes notes (Twitter link), the move means that previous Nationals hitting coach Rick Schu will be out of a job. He had held down the job since 2013.

Mets To Promote Pat Roessler To Hitting Coach, Hire Dave Eiland As Pitching Coach

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6:38pm: New York will name Dave Eiland as its next pitching coach, according to Carig (Twitter link). Eiland had held the same position with the Royals since the start of the 2012 season, but Kansas City decided not to retain him into the future. The ten-year MLB veteran also previously served as the Yankees’ pitching coach.

3:31pm: The Mets are expected to promote Roessler to become the team’s hitting coach, Puma of reports on Twitter. Ricky Bones will remain as the bullpen coach, he adds.

9:55am: Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reports that there will be some continuity on the coaching staff, as assistant hitting coach Pat Roessler is finishing up a two-year deal to return to the Mets. Roessler’s responsibilities with the team “will expand,” per Ackert, though it’s not clear if he’ll simply step into the hitting coach vacancy created by Long’s departure. Ackert does note that Roessler turned down an opportunity within the division to be a big league hitting coach last winter.

9:33am: Mike Puma of the New York Post tweets that first base coach Tom Goodwin is unlikely to return to the team as well. Like Carig, he’s also heard that Long isn’t likely to return. Puma notes in another tweet that the Mets could bring Tim Teufel back as an infield coach and possibly as a replacement for Goodwin.

7:31am: After being passed over for the Mets’ managerial vacancy, hitting coach Kevin Long is now unlikely to return to the team in 2017, reports Newsday’s Marc Carig. The organization had reportedly promised a 2018 job to Long even in the event that he was not named the successor to Terry Collins, but Long’s contract expired at the end of October and he’s yet to sign a new one.

Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post presented one alternative opportunity for Long yesterday, reporting that he’s in the running to become the division-rival Nationals’ new hitting coach. Long also interviewed for the managerial vacancy in D.C., though he came up short to another well-respected coach who is getting his first managerial opportunity: longtime Cubs/Rays bench coach Dave Martinez. George A. King III of the New York Post reported over the weekend that Long could also return to the Yankees, for whom he served as the hitting coach from 2007-14. King suggested that Long could potentially be a managerial candidate there, but could also return to his old post as the hitting coach in the Bronx as well.

The Mets, of course, figured to have a new-look coaching staff under first-time manager Mickey Callaway even in the event that Long had been retained. As Carig notes, the only coach that is under contract beyond the 2018 season is third base coach Glenn Sherlock, so Long’s reported departure could put the Mets on the lookout for a number of replacements at key coaching positions, including pitching coach, bench coach, bullpen coach and first base coach.

NL East Notes: Marlins, Long, Aoki, Wathan

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While the Marlins are hoping to shed as much as $50MM in salary — reportedly by moving players such as Giancarlo Stanton, Martin Prado  and Dee Gordon — the team still believes in its core more cost-efficient young bats, writes MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro. In fact, Frisaro writes that the Fish are still hoping to improve their starting pitching this offseason even in the midst of shedding payroll, with a belief that the team can still contend in 2018. It’s not entirely clear how Miami intends to supplement what is presently an extremely thin rotation, though presumably they’ll seek to add some young arms in marketing both Stanton and Gordon. If enough payroll is shed, the club could theoretically look to add some affordable arms on the free-agent market, though it seems unlikely that they’d be in play for anything other than low-cost back-of-the-rotation arms or reclamation projects.

More out of the NL East…

  • Though Mets hitting coach Kevin Long was passed over for the Nationals’ managerial opening after interviewing, Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post reports (via Twitter) that Long is in consideration to become the hitting coach under newly minted Nats skipper Dave Martinez. Long has spent the past 10 seasons as a big league hitting coach — seven with the Yankees and three with the Mets — and played a hand in helping current Nats slugger Daniel Murphy take his game to a new level. Long’s contract with the Mets is up at upon conclusion of the World Series, though there’s not yet any definitive word that he will not be returning to the Mets in 2018.
  • Newsday’s Marc Carig writes that at the time he signed with the Mets, Nori Aoki and his representatives asked the team to release him well in advance of the non-tender deadline if it was determined that he wouldn’t be offered arbitration for the 2018 season. The Mets honored that request on Monday, releasing the 35-year-old veteran outfielder and making him a free agent. Aoki posted a rather light .272/.323/.371 batting line in 224 plate appearances with the Astros this season, but he batted a much more impressive .284/.353/.425 with three homers, eight doubles and a triple in his final 150 PAs of the season between the Blue Jays and Mets.
  • Phillies Triple-A manager Dusty Wathan didn’t ultimately land the team’s managerial job but still could land on manager Gabe Kapler’s coaching staff, writes MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki. The 44-year-old Wathan will return to the organization in 2018 no matter what, as he’s currently under contract for next season as the Triple-A manager, Zolecki notes. Because Kapler is entering his first stint as an MLB manager, the Phils will likely have a couple of veteran coaches on his staff, Zolecki continues, but they’ll also likely bring in some younger coaches that are in the same vein as Kapler himself. Zolecki runs down a number of potential candidates, so Phils fans will want to check out the column in full.

The Nationals’ Managerial Search

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The Nationals became the latest team with a managerial vacancy last Friday when they announced that skipper Dusty Baker would not return for a third season with the team. The Nats have traditionally shown little penchant for hesitation when it comes to shuffling the dugout mix, as evidenced by the fact that they’re now seeking their fourth manager since the 2011 season. No manager has lasted more than three years at the helm in D.C. since the franchise moved there from Montreal.

It’s not yet clear how many candidates the Nats plan on interviewing, but we’ll track the candidates and update accordingly here in this post as they come to light.

Finalists

  • Dave Martinez is a finalist to land the job, according to Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. It’s unclear whether anyone else is still in the mix, Janes adds (Twitter links).

Latest Updates

  • John Farrell interviewed for the job today, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter link).  As with previous reports, Rosenthal also hears that Dave Martinez is considered the favorite to be Washington’s next manager.
  • It is “not likely” that the Nationals have interest in former Yankees manager Joe Girardi, FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link).  One of the reasons is that the Nats traditionally don’t pay large salaries to managers, and Girardi would certainly command a notable commitment — his just-completed contract with the Yankees was a four-year deal worth $16MM.

Will Interview/Have Interviewed

  • Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post tweets that the Nationals have received permission from the division-rival Mets to interview hitting coach Kevin Long for the position. Long, who has spent the past three seasons as the Mets’ hitting coach and held the same post for the Yankees in the seven preceding years, was reportedly a finalist in the Mets’ search. However, the Mets ultimately selected Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway as their new skipper.
  • The Nats are interviewing Cubs bench coach Dave Martinez today or tomorrow (Oct. 26/27), Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post reports on Twitter. (Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post first reported Martinez would interview.) The 53-year-old Martinez has previously interviewed for the position in 2013, Castillo notes, before the Nats elected to go with Matt Williams. Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times further reports that Martinez came quite close to being named Nationals manager after Williams was dismissed, but ownership decided late in the process that a candidate with prior MLB managerial experience was needed. Wittenmyer writes that some within the industry consider Martinez the favorite this time around, which Jon Heyman of Fan Rag echoes. Martinez has spent a decade as Joe Maddon’s bench coach, dating back to 2008 with the Rays. Martinez spent parts of 16 seasons in the Majors as an outfielder, including four with the Expos before the franchise moved to Washington, D.C.

Mets Hire Mickey Callaway As Manager

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4:49pm: The contract includes a team option for a fourth season, per Mike Puma of the New York Post (via Twitter).

11:00am: The Mets have announced Callaway’s hiring. There’s a press conference set for Citi Field at 4pm ET today.

OCT. 23, 8:40am: The Mets are expected to announce Callaway’s hiring this afternoon at Citi Field, tweets Mike Puma of the New York Post.

OCT. 22, 1:37pm: Callaway is taking the job, Marc Carig of Newsday tweets.

12:43pm: The Mets have offered their managerial job to Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The two sides are finalizing Callaway’s contract, Sherman adds (Twitter link). It’ll be a three-year deal, Jon Heyman of FanRag reports (on Twitter).

Mickey Callaway

The 42-year-old Callaway emerged as the top candidate for the job earlier Sunday, beating out Mets hitting coach Kevin Long, Mariners third base coach Manny Acta and White Sox third base coach Joe McEwing for the position. Callaway “stood out” from the rest during his interviews with Mets brass, Sherman tweets. The club’s hope is that Long will stay on as part of Callaway’s staff, per Sherman (on Twitter).

Callaway, who also drew interest from the manager-needy Phillies, developed an excellent reputation during his five-year run as the Indians’ pitching coach. In what will go down as Callaway’s final season on manager Terry Francona’s staff, the Indians boasted one of the most successful pitching staffs of all-time.

As was the case in Cleveland, Callaway – a major league pitcher from 1999-2004 – will have an opportunity to work with a slew of gifted hurlers in New York. Despite the immense talent on hand, though, the majority of Mets pitchers dealt with injuries and posted poor performances in 2017 during a 70-92 season that led to previous manager Terry Collins’ ouster. Aside from Jacob deGrom, who was his typical excellent self, none of the Mets’ top starters stayed healthy. Noah Syndergaard missed most of the season, while Matt Harvey, Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler mostly turned in ineffective showings when they were physically able to take the mound. Meanwhile, fellow starters Robert Gsellman, Seth Lugo and Rafael Montero failed to distinguish themselves as rotation locks for 2018.

In addition to trying to turn around the fortunes of the Mets’ pitchers next season, Callaway will oversee a position player group that also had a less-than-ideal 2017. The Mets’ premier hitters, Yoenis Cespedes and Michael Conforto, endured injury-shortened years, and the latter could miss a portion of next season after undergoing shoulder surgery in September. Still, the expectation is that those two will continue to serve as the Mets’ offensive centerpieces going forward. There are questions elsewhere, though, most of which center on the team’s infield alignment. Amed Rosario is a lock to start at shortstop, but it’s not yet clear who will earn the lion’s share of playing time at first, second or third base.

The Mets’ roster issues will be up to general manager Sandy Alderson to figure out in the coming months, but he’ll obviously work to put his first-time manager in position to succeed right away. Despite their miserable campaign, the Mets aren’t far removed from being one of the National League’s most formidable teams. They earned playoff berths in each of the two prior seasons, including a World Series appearance in 2015, and will attempt to return to relevance under Callaway in 2018.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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