The New York Mets filled out the new coaching roster of manager Carlos Mendoza, who saw most of his staff fired after the team’s second-half collapse at the end of a bitterly disappointing season.
The promotions were internal, with several members of the minor league staff being added. The new assistant pitching coach will be Dan McKinney, and he'll join first base and outfield coach Gilbert Gomez and catching coach J.P. Arencibia with the big club. Also promoted was Rafael Fernandez, who was on the 2025 staff as an assistant coach, and his new title is assistant hitting coach.
Those four additions join Jeff Albert, who was previously promoted from the minors to become the Major League Director of Hitting.
As for the outside hires, several were formally announced, including pitching coach Justin Willard from the Boston Red Sox, hitting coach Troy Snitker of the Houston Astros, bench coach Kai Correa from the Cleveland Guardians and Tim Leiper from the San Diego Padres. The Mets also revealed that bullpen coach Jose Rosado and quality assurance coach Danny Barnes will return.
A list of the full staff was provided as follows by Anthony DiComo of MLB com:
Pitching coach: Justin Willard
Assistant pitching coach: Dan McKinney
Bullpen coach: José Rosado
Director, Major League hitting: Jeff Albert
Hitting coach: Troy Snitker
Assistant hitting coach: Rafael Fernandez
Bench coach: Kai Correa
First-base and outfield coach: Gilbert Gomez
Third-base and infield coach: Tim Leiper
Catching coach: J.P. Arencibia
Quality assurance coach: Danny Barnes
The most noteworthy aspect of the new staff is the relative youth. Several older coaches were leg go, and most of the new coaches are in their 30s. McKinney and Gomez are 31 and 33, respectively, and they’ve both coached in the minors for the Mets for years.
They helped develop several important prospects, including pitchers Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong, along with centerfielder Carson Benge, so it makes sense that they’d be brought up to the big club for continuity given the importance of these three players in 2026.
Arenciabia, who is 39, worked at both the major- and minor-league levels, and the Mets credited him with helping catcher Francisco Alvarez turn around his season, so he’s a significant add as well.
It’s a very different look overall, and it will be interesting to see the results on the field. Hopefully this group can avoid the fate of the 2025 coaching staff, which was scapegoated for a lot of failures by the players as a result of the collapse.