Forum Home

Master Index of Archived Threads


“Put Us In” —Coaches

G-Fafif
Jan 12 2023 01:14 PM

Mets official 2023 coaching staff release.


FLUSHING, N.Y., January 12, 2023 – The New York Mets today announced their complete 2023 coaching staff under Manager Buck Showalter.



Mets 2023 Coaching Staff

Coach Title

Danny Barnes Assistant Major League Coach

Jeremy Barnes Hitting Coach

Eric Chavez Bench Coach

Dom Chiti Bullpen Coach

Joey Cora Infield and Third Base Coach

Jeremy Hefner Pitching Coach

Eric Hinske Assistant Hitting Coach

Wayne Kirby Outfield and First Base Coach

Glenn Sherlock Catching and Strategy Coach



Returning to the staff in 2023 will be Danny Barnes, Jeremy Barnes, Eric Chavez, Joey Cora, Jeremy Hefner, Wayne Kirby and Glenn Sherlock. Chavez, who was the team's hitting coach in 2022, will now serve as bench coach. Jeremy Barnes, who held the role of assistant hitting coach last year, will now serve as the club's hitting coach. Sherlock will continue on as the team's catching and strategy coach.



Dom Chiti joins the organization as the team's bullpen coach, while Eric Hinske will serve as the club's assistant hitting coach.



Dom Chiti, 64, joins the Mets as the bullpen coach. This will be his third time working under Showalter after serving in roles together in Baltimore and Texas. Chiti spent the past two seasons with the Los Angeles Angels in the same capacity. He has served in various roles with the Atlanta Braves (1996-01, 2009-13, 2017-20), Orioles (1982-88, 2014-16), Rangers (2002-08) and Cleveland (1989-1995). Chiti played six seasons in the minor leagues for the Braves (1976-80) and Orioles (1981) after being selected by Atlanta in the second round of the 1976 First-Year Player Draft.



Eric Hinske, 45, enters his first season with the Mets as assistant hitting coach. The Wisconsin native most recently spent three seasons (2019-21) with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the same role. He worked with General Manager Billy Eppler in 2018, serving as the hitting coach for the Los Angeles Angels. Hinske began his coaching career with the Chicago Cubs, serving as the first base coach in 2014 before becoming the assistant hitting coach from 2015-17. He was originally selected in the 17th round of the 1998 First-Year Player Draft by the Cubs and spent 12 seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays (2002-06), Boston Red Sox (2006-07), Tampa Bay Rays (2008), Pittsburgh Pirates (2009), New York Yankees (2009), Atlanta Braves (2010-12) and Diamondbacks (2013). Hinske was named the AL Rookie of the Year in 2002 as a member of the Blue Jays after batting .279/.365/.481 with 99 runs, 38 doubles, two triples, 24 home runs, 84 RBI, 13 steals and an .845 OPS.

Benjamin Grimm
Jan 12 2023 01:50 PM
Re: “Put Us In” —Coaches

"Assistant Major League Coach"?



Is this something new?

Edgy MD
Jan 12 2023 01:52 PM
Re: “Put Us In” —Coaches

He joined the staff last year with that title.

Frayed Knot
Jan 12 2023 01:54 PM
Re: “Put Us In” —Coaches

Benjamin Grimm wrote:

"Assistant Major League Coach"?



Is this something new?


aka: Bench coach



We'll be very Barnes-centric this year.

Edgy MD
Jan 12 2023 01:55 PM
Re: “Put Us In” —Coaches

His role was so ambiguously defined as to almost be suspicious.



“He's played in the big leagues, knows his way around the major league locker room. …We didn't get too titled up. … He can do a little bit of everything.” — Buck Showalter

Benjamin Grimm
Jan 12 2023 01:58 PM
Re: “Put Us In” —Coaches

Eric Chavez is the Bench Coach.



Danny Barnes is... some other kind of coach.

roger_that
Jan 12 2023 02:44 PM
Re: “Put Us In” —Coaches

Benjamin Grimm wrote:

"Assistant Major League Coach"?



Is this something new?


Well, for the first few decades I followed baseball, all coaches* got the title "Coach" which implied that they were coaching at the MLB level and that they functioned as the manager's assistant, so I guess this is equivalent to "Coach" plus six redundant syllables.



*except for pitching coaches.

Edgy MD
Jan 12 2023 04:11 PM
Re: “Put Us In” —Coaches

I've formulated a lot of Danny Barnes theories and none of them hold up very well.



He's a begrudging diversity hire.



It's not too far-fetched. That's a typical move for an organization that wants to get PR points/coverage — hire someone from outside the old boys network, but don't give him a particular assignment. "I don't care if we hire a Martian, J.B., but he's not going to run MY department!" "Well he's certainly not going to run MINE!"



Except he doesn't appear to be a female, or anything ethnically more exotic than a redbearded Irish-American guy. I can't find record of him being married, so maybe he's orientational diversity.



But not likely.



He's a begrudging nepotism hire.



As above, that's a hackneyed move — hire some bigwig's nephew, but don't let him handle anything he can break.



That would mean we'd have to find who he's related to, though. Maybe Jeremy Barnes? Would Jeremy really have the juice to strongarm the Mets into hiring his cousin? I don't think so.



He's future managerial material that the Mets want shadowing Buck.



Barnes is a Princetonian who reached the majors, so he's a rare breed of athletic prowess and big-braininess. But he comes from the pitching side of the game, so the Mets might think a few years studying under a crusty mentor before getting his first dugout in the minors may help him be ready by the time Buck hangs 'em up. Maybe his pre-game assignment is throwing batting practice, but he's basically a managerial intern.



The downside of that is all the other coaches would resent him and possibly alienate him.



He's a go-between atwixt the coaching staff and the players.



Danny's only 33. He's more a peer to the players than the coaches, so maybe if he works out with players, dresses with the players, drinks after the game with the players, he can help the staff understand what's going on with the team, what the players will accept, what they won't accept, what's eating at them and needs to be addressed, what's keeping their morale up and shouldn't be messed with.



That's a tough arrangement though, because the players would see him as a narc and steer clear of him.



He's a go-between atwixt the coaching staff and the front office.



Coaches have a lot to do during games. If the dugout is getting a call from upstairs that Joe Musgrove's spin rate is suspiciously distinct from his usual numbers and his ears are shiny and glowing like the Heat Miser's, Buck can't spend the whole game on the phone. Somebody's job should be to field that information, process it, contextualize it, and deliver it to Buck at an appropriate time, in an appropriate manner. Let's get that guy from Princeton.



That's workable. I'm not even sure he gets a dugout seat during the game, but it's workable.



He's actually a narc.



Rich men can be paranoid and maybe he's keeping an eye on Cohen's investments.



Again, the players would suss that out. Young men on drugs can be paranoid too.



He's a gofer/secretary to Buck.



Buck can't be everywhere at once. Maybe he's the legs bouncing between different units and departments, as well as the keeper of Buck's journal of stars.



But in consideration of that notion, ... Buck is older, but he's not decrepit. I can see the use of such a person, but why should Buck Showalter be the first to get an official sidekick like that? We've seen older managers like Jim Leyland and Frank Robinson and Charlie Manuel slowed to a standstill, and folks openly questioned whether Tony LaRussa was fully engaged, so I'm not sure Buck is the one who needs a personal assistant.



These are my Danny Barnes theories. As noted, I haven't landed strongly on any one, but hope to narrow it down. Also, whenever his name comes up, he puts me in mind of Australian rock singer Jimmy Barnes, who is sort of the Bon Scott of pub rock down there.

metirish
Jan 12 2023 04:49 PM
Re: “Put Us In” —Coaches

Who is the coach that wears glasses ? Is that Barnes ?

G-Fafif
Jan 12 2023 07:01 PM
Re: “Put Us In” —Coaches

“Quality control coach,” the role inhabited by Luis Rojas prior to his elevation to manager, and Brian Schneider afterward, doesn't seem to exist at the moment.

Fman99
Jan 12 2023 07:38 PM
Re: “Put Us In” —Coaches

What if he's just some lucky bastard who gets to work for the Mets? That's my guess

Edgy MD
Jan 12 2023 08:01 PM
Re: “Put Us In” —Coaches


“Quality control coach,” the role inhabited by Luis Rojas prior to his elevation to manager, and Brian Schneider afterward, doesn't seem to exist at the moment.


A day or two ago, I was reading some short-timer's story about his big league debut. He was warming up to go in relief against the Cubs at Wrigley. Schneider was catching him and when he didn't get his first warmup pitch over, Schneider refused to reach for it. This made the pitcher more jittery and he couldn't throw a strike, and Schneider just let every ball fly past him and roll toward the team's dugout. Schneider just said, "You're going into this game so you better start throwing strikes," while the fans in the front row just watched incredulously as he bounced he kept missing and told him how much he sucked, to which he could only respond, I know.



Maybe that's Schneider's idea of quality control, and he's a born leader. The pitcher described it as being hazed. But he entered the game and got the first batter on a grounder for the third out. After the game, he proposed to his girlfriend. I don't know if The Schneid was invited to the wedding.