The Binghamton Mets have announced that manager Pedro Lopez, hitting coach Luis Natera, and pitching coach Glenn Abbott will all return to the team for the 2016 season. This will be the second season in a row with those three at the helm for the B’Mets.
Lopez, will be back at this leader of the Binghamton for the fifth straight season and coming off their third consecutive playoff appearance. The B’Mets lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Reading Fightin Phils after going 77-64 during the regular season.
Binghamton has gone 314-252 during Lopez tenure with the team including being the 2014 Eastern League Champions. The 314 wins by Lopez are a team record and he recently became the second B’Mets manager enshrined in the Binghamton Baseball Shrine.
This will be Lopez ninth season in the Mets organization, starting as a coach with the Savannah Sand Gnats back in 2008. He then went on to manage the Brooklyn Cyclones in 2009, the Sand Gnats in 2010, and the St. Lucie Mets in 2011 before getting the same position with Binghamton.
Lopez was a 21st round pick of the San Diego Padres in 1988 and played six seasons in the minors for them reaching as high as Triple-A Las Vegas. H began his coaching career in 2000 with Texas Rangers in their minor league system.
Lopez was named the Eastern League Manager of the Year in 2013 after leading Binghamton to a franchise record 86 wins. He was also named the Best Manager Prospect in the Eastern League by his peers in 2014 according to a survey done by Baseball America. He interviewed for the Mets bench coach position this offseason but it was filled by Dick Scott.
Natera is returning for second straight season as the Binghamton hitting coach after serving as the Mets assistant hitting coach in 2013. This will be his 25th season in the Mets organization an his tenth with the B’Mets. He was signed by the Mets as an undrafted free agent in 1984, spending five seasons as an infielder with the organization.
Abott returns for his fifth season as the B’Mets pitching coach and his sixth in the Mets organization. He also was a pitcher in the Majors for 11 seasons and was part of the first four-pitcher no hitter in Major League history when pitching for the Oakland A’s in 1975.
Dane Inderrieden will return for his second season as the team’s strength coach and his fifth overall in the Mets system. The team has yet to name an athletic trainer with Deb Iwanow moving up to the Las Vegas 51’s after two seasons with Binghamton.
The B’Mets will begin their 25th season on April 7th at home vs. the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Here is the 2015 Season Review for Binghamton.
