Carlos

Mendoza

This seemed like a done deal weeks ago, but now it’s finally crossing the finish line. Willard spent the last year working as Boston’s director of pitching after previously being employed by the Twins. He’ll be replacing Jeremy Hefner in New York.

Reports had come out that Willard had emerged as the favorite to land the role and it looks like the Mets worked quickly to get a deal done. The 35-year-old had been serving as the Red Sox’ director of pitching since September of 2023. He’ll join a Mets’ coaching staff that has been almost entirely remade around manager Carlos Mendoza this off-season after a brutally disappointing finish to the 2025 season.

Willard, 35, is currently the Red Sox’ director of pitching, having served in that capacity since September of 2023. Prior to that, he worked in a minor league coaching role in the Twins’ organization. With so many teams still looking to finalize their coaching staffs, look for the Mets to try to strike quickly to lock up their man in the coming weeks.

Assuming this is just about money, paying their first base coach is an odd place for the Mets to draw the line. Richardson got much of the credit for Juan Soto’s breakout as a basestealer. Who knows whether Soto would want to keep running as much in 2026 anyway, but Richardson’s departure might cut a bit into his steal projection.

Ragazzo adds that Correa spent the last two seasons overseeing Cleveland’s baserunning and game strategy under manager Stephen Vogt. He was with the Giants as a bench coach for three seasons from 2020-2023. The 36-year-old adds a fresh voice to the dugout for Mets manager Carlos Mendoza as he enters his third season at the helm in New York.

Hitting coaches Jeremy Barnes and Eric Chavez were let go after the season, so Albert will be taking over the head role there, with a second hitting coach also likely coming in behind him. Albert, 44, joined the Mets in 2023 after working for the Astros and Cardinals. His only professional playing experience came during a couple of brief stints in indy ball; he went 3-for-18 in the Frontier League in 2003 and 0-for-4 in the American Association in 2006.

DiComo notes that pitching coach Jeremy Hefner and hitting coaches Jeremy Barnes and Eric Chavez are among those who will not be returning. It sounds like Mets’ skipper Carlos Mendoza will be working with almost an entirely new crew as they sort through the rubble of their epic collapse from the 2025 season.

Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns made it official during his end of season press conference that Mendoza will return after a disappointing 83-79 campaign where New York missed the postseason entirely. Mendoza has gone 172-152 (.531) in two seasons at the helm and figures to be on the hot seat next season considering Mets owner Steve Cohen’s desire to win and the club’s astronomical payroll.

Murphy, who helped spearhead a dramatic second-half turnaround to lead Milwaukee back to the postseason in his managerial debut, takes home the honors after receiving 27 of 30 first-place votes in balloting. Padres skipper Mike Shildt came in second and Mets rookie manager Carlos Mendoza finished third in balloting.

It’s a trio of first-year managers headlining the balloting, which doesn’t exactly have a clear-cut favorite. Mendoza helped guide the Mets back to the postseason in his managerial debut with an 89-win regular season. Shildt, who received a contract extension earlier this month that will take him through 2027, was at the helm for a 93-win season that took the Padres back to the playoffs as well. Murphy led the Brewers to the postseason as well with 93 wins in his managerial debut.