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The Mets Search Continues for a Bench Coach

The New York Mets have recently hired some new coaches. Eric Chavez is their new hitting coach. He was a good player, and he was hired away from the Yankees, presumably for more money.

Joey Cora is now their third base coach. He was a player that wall all effort. He was a winner with the Chicago White Sox in 2005 as their third base coach and was most recently with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Another good hire.

Now, who is going to be their bench coach? Curtis Granderson turned the Mets down. A lot of baseball people turned down the Mets and Steven Cohen. Not everybody went for the extra money. Why? Because Sandy Alderson is still there, and his power is undeniable.

The rumored bench coach is now likely an analytics guy. I’m not against analytics at all but there is a complete department for that. They give the manager a report every day, and reports claimed the manager was expected to follow it. Does Buck Showalter need that on the bench? I don’t think so.

A bench coach is supposed to advise his gut. Help guide the younger players and remind the manager about a mistake he’s about to make. That comes with a lot of experience and some age. Like leaving a pitcher out in the rain with a high pitch count (David Cone will never forget that Buck).

I’m already mildly thrilled with Buck and less thrilled with the idea the Mets will hire a younger bench coach with a great GPA and a letter of reference from a top college.

This decision will come soon, and the Mets owner will say he has the best coaching group in the land. Which isn’t true. It could be sufficient, I’m not saying otherwise until I see it, but it is alarming how many people have turned down the organization. That’s hard to overlook.

Just like any team in any sport that has a lot of turnover, the Mets might take a while to gel, and they might not gel at all. It’s hard for all of this to be seamless and a lockout that could include a shorter spring training. Wouldn’t be ideal for them.

Right now, the Mets are a lot of hype. After last season’s collapse, they need to prove it to me. Saying all the right things is one thing. Let’s see what happens when the lights are on at the ballpark once again.

Russ_Cohen
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