Mets Complete Coaching Staff For 2024

 

Citi Field, with Tom Seaver's statue. Photo by Jason Schott.

The Mets, with new Manager Carlos Mendoza at the helm, announced who will be a part of his coaching staff for the 2024 season. 

John Gibbons, the former Blue Jays Manager who played for the Mets in the 1980s, will be the bench coach. Antoan Richardson will coach first base, Mike Sarbaugh is the new third base coach, and Jose Rosado will be the bullpen coach.

Returning Mets coaches include: Jeremy Hefner will be entering his fifth season as pitching coach. Eric Chavez, who was bench coach last year, will return to his prior role as hitting coach, which he held in 2022. Glenn Sherlock will continue as catching coach. Danny Barnes returns as the major league strategy coach, and Jeremy Barnes returns as hitting coach.

Biographies of the new Mets coaches:

John Gibbons - bench coach: This is a homecoming for Gibbons, 61, who was drafted by the Mets in the first round (24th overall) in the 1980 First-Year Player Draft. A catcher, he made his Major League debut in 1984, when he played in nine games, and then played eight games with the 1986 championship team. He began his coaching career with the Mets organization in 1991 as a roving instructor, and served in that role until he was named a coach for Single-A Capital City in 1994. He then went on to manage at four levels in the Mets organization from 1995 to 2001, and compiled a record of 482-420.

Gibbons then joined the Blue Jays in 2002 as a bullpen catcher and first base coach (2002-04) before being named interim manager on August 8, 2004. He was permanently named Blue Jays Manager that offseason, and remained for four more seasons, until 2008. He then returned in 2013, and that stint went six seasons, until 2018. In his 11 seasons over those two stints at the helm of the Blue Jays, he had a 793-789 record, and led them to the the American League East title in 2015, and back-to-back appearances in the ALCS in 2015 and '16.

Antoan Richardson - first base coach: A Bahamas native, Richardson, 40, served as first base coach for the San Francisco Giants for the past four seasons (2020-23), and he also oversaw baserunning and outfield instruction. Richardson played right field and his professional career lasted from 2005-16, which included 22 games at the Major League level, nine with the Atlanta Braves in 2011 and 13 with the 2014 Yankees.

Mike Sarbaugh - third base coach: This is quite a new start for Sarbaugh, 56, who has been coaching and managing in the Cleveland Indians/Guardians organization since 1995. He was the third base coach for the past ten seasons under Manager Terry Francona, who just retired after the conclusion of the 2023 season. He managed in the Minor Leagues for nine seasons (2004-13), all of which he led his teams to winning records, and he racked up five league titles,  with seven of his teams making the postseason. He reached as high as the Triple-A Columbus Clippers, whom he managed from from 2010-12. He led them to International League and Triple-A Championships in back-to-back seasons in '10 and '11.

Jose Rosado - bullpen coach: In 2011, he worked under Mendoza with the Gulf Coast Yankees, which was the start of his decade-long run as a minor league pitching in the Yankees organization until 2020. The Jersey City native, 49, spent the past three seasons as the pitching coach for the Hanwha Eagles of the Korean Baseball Organization (2021-23). He also has been the pitching coach for Team Puerto Rico in the last three World Baseball Classics, and also did that for the World Team in the 2015 All-Star Futures Game.