NEW YORK CITY – Carlos Mendoza, the Mets’ rookie manager, is set to gain valuable experience in the dugout. According to a source, the organization intends to recruit former manager John Gibbons to serve as Mendoza’s bench coach. Because the hiring is not yet official, the club has not confirmed it.
Gibbons brings 13 seasons of managerial experience to New York, where he began his more than four-decade professional career in 1980 as a first-round draft pick of the Mets, the club’s third pick after Darryl Strawberry and Billy Beane. Despite playing only 18 games in portions of two seasons in Queens, Gibbons stayed in the system for eight years and returned to become a Minor League manager in 1995.
That launched a career that saw Gibbons manage the Toronto Blue Jays from 2004 to 2008 and again from 2013 to 2018. In between, he worked for the Royals and the Padres.Gibbons guided the Blue Jays to the American League Championship Series in 2015 and 2016, their first postseason visits since winning back-to-back World Series victories in 1992-93.
Gibbons left the Jays following the 2018 season, finishing with a 793-789 record.
Now back with his old team, Gibbons will be the most visible part of a revamped coaching staff. According to various reports, the Mets also intend to hire Antoan Richardson as first-base coach and Mike Sarbaugh as third-base coach. Richardson, 40, is a native Bahamian who served as the first-base coach in San Francisco from 2020 to 23. Sarbaugh, 56, has spent practically his entire professional career with the Guardians, where he worked closely with Francisco Lindor. He will now relocate to New York to work for Mendoza.Now back with his old team, Gibbons will be the most visible part of a revamped coaching staff. According to various reports, the Mets also intend to hire Antoan Richardson as first-base coach and Mike Sarbaugh as third-base coach. Richardson, 40, is a native Bahamian who served as the first-base coach in San Francisco from 2020 to 23. Sarbaugh, 56, has spent practically his entire professional career with the Guardians, where he worked closely with Francisco Lindor. He will now relocate to New York to work for Mendoza.
Several Mets coaches are expected to return to the dugout, according to sources. Pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, who has two years left on his contract, is at the top of the list. Former bench coach Eric Chavez will also return to the batting cage as co-hitting coach alongside incumbent Jeremy Barnes.
