Reid Brignac, who managed the AA Binghamton Rumble Ponies for the last four years and brought them to the Eastern League Championship in 2025 has been named minor league baseball’s Coach of the Year by Baseball America.
Brignac presided over the Mets’ AA affiliate during a period where some of the best talent in the Mets’ history came through the development pipeline. He was a positive influence on player development and built a winning team mentality while simultaneously helping the players reach their individual growth goals.
He was once asked how he balanced the seemingly competing objectives of developing players for the next level and winning at the AA level. He stated that he and his staff worked hard with the players during the off-hour practice times to develop the skills deemed necessary by the organization, but when the lights came on for a game, everyone’s priority was to win. This embodied the “all-for-one, one-for-all” philosophy that helped him become so successful in Binghamton.
In the 2025 season alone, 15 players who had played for Brignac made their Major League debut.
Back in 2024 I had the opportunity to interview Reid Brignac and he impressed me as someone that was very committed to the success of his team. Here is a link to the article: Brignac
Brignac inherited a team in 2022 with a losing record and quickly built them into a winner, making it to the Eastern League Championship series in his second season. After another season above .500 in 2024, the Ponies set a franchise record with a 90-46 record in 2025 when they won the Championship series. In his four-season tenure, the team compiled a 286-257 record (.527) despite the continual movement of players into and out of the roster as they followed their development paths.
Former players and Ponies’ personnel related that Brignac was a respected voice in the clubhouse and in the community. He was more than just “that baseball coach” and he will be missed.
Reid now returns to the Tampa Bay Rays organization where he was originally drafted as a player and spent five seasons with the MLB club. He finished his nine-year MLB career with the Braves in 2016. He will be part of the coaching staff for the AAA Durham Bulls in the 2026 season. This will be a familiar setting, as he played 303 minor league games with the Bulls between 2008 and 2012.
The Mack’s Mets staff wishes him the best in his new assignment and thanks him for his contribution to the development of the Mets’ prospects.
5 comments:
That is a real honor for Reid, who had a boatload of talent to help him excel in 2025. Perhaps he helped Parada get going, which in itself would be impressive.
Paul,
Were you surprised Reid did not receive an offer from the Mets to be on the major league staff as a coach. He certainly had a very positive relationship with several of the Met prospects coming up in the near future. Thoughts?
Very short sighted of the Mets to let him go. Sounds like a good replacement for Mendoza...lol.
I think that Reid was well thought of in the Mets organization and I am sure they were disappointed to lose him. Reid is a southern boy, born in Louisiana and he spent a lot of time in the Durham NC area during his playing days. I think he took advantage of an opportunity rather than being pushed out. I was surprised though that he did not leave to become the manager of the Bulls.
Sometimes, I feel like my claims drift off into the void -- especially re: Jonah Tong :-). They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well then please look at the still photo of Tong's motion in this linked article. https://www.si.com/mlb/mets/onsi/news/new-york-mets-top-pitching-prospects-address-trade-rumors-ezra9?utm_source=gol
Notice the two things I have harped on: 1. the tilt in his shoulders that also shows the extent of the left lateral spine bend, that is the mechanism by which he secures the over the top delivery. This degree of spine bend is unsustainable and the source of so many lower spine/back problems. Take a look at golfers right lateral bend in the downswings of the likes of Joaquim Niemann and Victor Hovland and ask yourself how long you think they will last as professional level of excellence under the pressure they face. Second, this level of spine tilt restricts the degree of pelvic rotation, which you can already also see in Tong's motion, i.e. his shoulders are almost directly above (though tilted) his hips. In other words his shoulder rotation has already caught up to his hip rotation which is not as it should be in an efficient kinematic sequence. It also helps to explain why he will face some (perhaps significant) difficulty in developing an east-west pitch with bite. And you put this together with his frame, and you can anticipate difficulty in sustaining high velocity on his fastball over time. Thin framed pitchers, think Pedro Martinez, secure high velocity through whip like motion, or like an unwinding spring, but that is not available in Tong's kinematic sequence because the shoulders have already caught up with hip rotation and all the whip will have to generated in the shoulders/arms/wrists -- not the healthy way to do it; and also only so much whip can be initiated from that combination without muscle exhaustion and injury
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