So many things to consider with the recent storylines appearing about the Mets on-field and coaching personnel...
First comes the surprising (shocking, even) news that the Mets would not come to terms with an extension for the one remaining coach, Antoan Richardson. By now everyone is quite familiar with the positive impact he had on the club’s heretofore non-existent baserunning game.
He got previously non-running Juan Soto up to 38 stolen bases on the season which was good enough to tie Oneil Cruz for the league lead. Others on the club including Brandon Nimmo were effusive in their praise of the man’s communication ability and his knowledge of how to advance via the stolen base.
Yesterday’s headlines indicating that Richardson won’t be back as the Mets “failed to come to terms” with what it would take to retain their first base coach who served the club for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
Now you can read into that phrasing anything you want. Were the Mets unwilling to meet a price point or a number of years of a secured coaching role? Was Richardson looking to inflate his value unreasonably after the success he had? At this point no one knows for sure, but it’s again a case of the club choosing to part ways with someone who had a positive impact on an otherwise highly disappointing season.
The Mets did bring in a hitting coach by the name of Troy Snitker. The 36 year old coach who is son of former Braves skipper Brian Snitker served the same role for the Houston Astros for the past seven years before being terminated when they fell short of the postseason.
The Astros were a team renowned for doing more with less on offense, an approach that may help the Mets whose superstars like Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor should be fine on their own, but whose other players certainly could use guidance related to making regular contact and judging the strike zone.
On the player side of the ledger the team is still awaiting the end of the World Series to discover who among their many eligible players indeed opt to sell themselves to the highest bidder.
The principle names on this list are, of course, the two opt-out candidates in slugger Pete Alonso and closer Edwin Diaz. By most accounts Alonso is looking for $30 million plus per year for 7 years. Diaz is looking for $21 million per year for four years. Neither are chump change but the alternatives are not making themselves readily known.
For the run production there are surely good 1B, OF, DH and 3B free agents who could help replace the 100+ RBIs you’d normally get from Alonso. The problem is that the ones at the top of the heap — Kyle Schwarber, Cody Bellinger, Kyle Tucker, Alex Bregman and the Japanese import Munetaka Murakami are not going to save the club money except perhaps in the number of years.
Secondary options like Marcell Ozuna, fellow Japanese import Kazuma Okamoto and others might produce well but perhaps not at league leading levels.
If indeed Edwin Diaz changes teams then the Mets are going to be in something of a tough position. High level options like failed Met Ryan Helsley will cost a lot though not quite as much as Diaz. Others having aged a bit in the game like turning 35 year old Robert Suarez might not warrant a long term deal.
Then there are folks with good track records most recently coming off a poor 2025 like soon to be former Yankee Devin Williams. They would be less expensive, for sure, but there is more risk.
Well, lots of changes are still slated to happen even if no one knows exactly what they will be.
9 comments:
Re: Richardson
"Failure to come to terms" can mean a lot of things, none of which we have any details on. I have failed to come to terma with many Mets comments contributors here in getting them onboard as a writer because they simply didn't want to go in that direction, and we remain Mets friends as well as comment makers
The Mets and that guy named Yamamoto failed to come to terms because he rather each sushi on the left coast with peeps than tomahawk steaks with Steve & Co. at Peter Luger's.
And that Ukrainian and Russian leader have failed to come to terms because, well, they simply hate each other's guts.
I can only speculate here but I think that Richardson did not like that his fellow coaches got the axe and he just wanted to look else where to ride the tide of positive press he has been getting about turning Juan Soto from a guy with legs of stone to friggin Jesse Owens.
I would have to ask: since Richardson was a first base coach, other than his stolen base teaching success, how did he do there? What did the players think of him? I do not know, so I throw the question out there.
I did seethis in a Mike Puma article: “Richardson was credited with the team’s success stealing bases this season. Most significantly he was a favorite of Juan Soto, who stole a career-high 38 bases and publicly credited Richardson for his success.
“The two of them are tight,” a person close to Soto said.”
So, I am at a loss as to why he is gone. Hopefully, it is not “subtraction by subtraction.”
Hey
What better way from someone to retire someday than to go from the Mets booth to the first base coach. Instant cred and respect.
That’d be fun
Failed to come to terms: could mean he possibly overplayed his hand. Thinking he had some leverage because of the base-running success and his relationship with Soto.
Did he bring anything else to the table besides the stolen base? Seems like he asked for a lot more than they were willing to give.
The Dodgers dont have a specific closer, they have quality relievers that will step in at any time. That’s the goal. Don’t need a “closer”.
Rather see him as the hitting coach.
If the Mets could find $765M to "come to terms" with Soto, then I would think they could find a way to "come to terms" with Richardson if they wanted to. And why wouldn't they? He was one of the few positive influences on the club last year. To me, this spells personality conflict and I would look no further than Carlos Mendoza.
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