The shakeup continues.
As expected, the Mets took several more steps in their end-of-the-year house-cleaning yesterday, announcing multiple changes on the coaching and medical staffs.
The most dramatic moves involved third base and infield coach Matt Galante, first base and outfield coach Gary Pettis and head trainer Scott Lawrenson, who will not return next year. Additionally, two others – bench coach Bobby Floyd and bullpen coach Nelson Silverio – will be re-assigned within the organization. And finally, hitting coach Don Baylor will not return in his old capacity but will remain under consideration for the managerial role.
“Like anything else in baseball,” new GM Omar Minaya said in explaining the decisions, “when you don’t win, changes happen.”
Pitching coach Rick Peterson, of course, will return. And on the managerial front, the Mets have received permission from the Dodgers to speak to field coordinator Terry Collins, who has managed both the Astros and Angels.
Galante’s dismissal was the most obvious coaching shakeup, as the Mets struggled all season with their infield defense. In particular, Kaz Matsui and Mike Piazza had troubles at shortstop and first base, respectively, and although Matsui’s fielding prowess did not come as advertised and Piazza will most likely be behind the plate next year (if he returns at all), Galante took the hit anyway.
Galante, a Staten Island resident who had been a Met coach since 2002, did not return a message seeking comment yesterday.
The move not to bring back Pettis was more peculiar, as the Mets’ outfield defense was never seen as a liability and their stolen base performance was among the league’s best. The move is likely a case, however, of the Mets simply wanting to allow their new manager to bring in his own people (one possible coach to keep in mind, though, could be Montreal minor league manager Tim Raines).
Minaya confirmed the new manager will have input in who his coaches are, saying, “I believe it’s a partnership between the manager and general manager.”
As for Lawrenson, his exit marks the end of a Met tenure that began in 1986. He had been head trainer since after the 2001 season.
The Mets, though, apparently want to shake up their training staff in the wake of a second consecutive season in which they had all sorts of injury problems. Matsui, Piazza, Jose Reyes, Cliff Floyd, Al Leiter, Victor Zambrano and others all spent time on the 2004 DL.
“Right now, I’ll just go with no comment,” Lawrenson said yesterday when asked about the Mets’ decision.
Meanwhile, the Mets have not yet asked the Tigers for permission to speak to bench coach Kirk Gibson for their managerial opening, but they are planning to bring him in on an as-yet-unspecified date.
