The Las Vegas 51s, the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets, announced Tuesday that their entire field staff will return for the 2016 season. The 51s will be led by manager Wally Backman, pitching coach Frank Viola, and hitting coach Jack Voigt.
The 51’s are the second Mets affiliate to officially announce their 2016 coaching staff. The Columbia Fireflies (A) revealed their inaugural staff on January 27.
(David Becker/Las Vegas Review-Journal file)
Backman, 56, has spent 18 seasons with the Mets, which include 12 seasons as a player, and six as a minor league manager. The 1986 World Series champion led the 51s to a 77-67 (.535) record in 2015, good for a second place finish in the Pacific Southern division of the Pacific Coast League. Backman took over as the skipper at the Triple-A level in Buffalo following one season each with the Binghamton Mets (AA) in 2011 and the Brooklyn Cyclones (SS-A) in 2010. Overall, he has compiled a 422-369 (.534) record in six seasons as a Mets minor league manager. In 14 seasons playing in the major leagues, Backman batted .275 with ten home runs and 117 stolen bases.
(John Gurzinski/New York Times)
Viola, 55, pitched in 15 major league seasons, including three with the Mets. He will enter his sixth season as a minor league pitching coach with the Mets in 2016. Viola served with the Cyclones in 2011, and was promoted to the Savannah Sand Gnats (A), where he coached from 2012-2013, before joining the 51s in 2014. “Sweet Music” was 176-150 with a 3.73 ERA and a 1.301 WHIP in the majors with the Mets, Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, and Toronto Blue Jays. He was a three time All-Star, won the 1988 American League Cy Young Award, and captured a World Series title with the Twins in 1987 and was named the most valuable player of the series.
(Photo courtesy New York Mets)
Voigt, 49, enters his 11th season in the Mets organization. He served as the hitting coach for the Cyclones in 2009, and for the Buffalo Bisons (AAA) in 2010, before being named the minor league outfield and baserunning coordinator in 2011, a position he held for four seasons. The seven-year major league veteran hit .235 with seven home runs in his career as an outfielder and corner infielder with the Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers, and Oakland Athletics from 1992-1998.
The 51s also announced that Jon Cioffi will return as the team’s strength coach, and Deb Iwanow, who spent the last two seasons with the Binghamton Mets and ten seasons in the organization overall, will serve as the team’s athletic trainer. Iwanow may best be remembered as “Wonder Woman” from the Mets’ rookie hazing stunt in 2014.
Las Vegas opens their season at home against the Fresno Grizzlies on April 7.
I thought Wally might be on the chopping block after they choked down the stretch.
I thought he might be on the chopping block for a variety of reasons but he could stay in AAA until Jeff doesn’t have any say. He wanted Backman to be the Mets manager.