Heading into the offseason, New York Mets GM Billy Eppler was intent on reshaping the era organization. In furtherance of that goal, the Mets have made two hires.
Per Andy Martino of SNY, the Mets have hired St. Louis Cardinals hitting coach Jeff Albert to be the team’s director of hitting. As noted by MMN’s own Michael Mayer, Albert was “credited with modernizing Cards hitting program.”
Prior to Albert being hired, the Cardinals were a middle of the road offensive team with a 99 wRC+ in 2018. This past season, the Cardinals had the fifth best offense in the majors with a 114 wRC+.
Albert previously worked with current Mets assistant hitting coach Jeremy Barnes with the Houston Astros.
As reported by Derrick Gould of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals sought to re-sign Albert to a multi-year deal to remain on as the Cardinals hitting coach. Albert wanted to pursue other opportunities and landed on reuniting with Barnes in Queens.
The Mets have also hired Eddy Rodriguez to be their Minor League Field Coordinator. Rodriguez spent the last three seasons as the Miami Marlins catching coach.
While Rodriguez has been a catching coach, he had spoken about the importance of pitcher velocity.
Prior to Rodriguez accepting a role with the Marlins, he has served as the Los Angeles Angels minor league catching coordinator. He was hired for that role by then Angels GM Eppler.
Upon accepting the role, Rodriguez took to Twitter to say, “I’m happy to say I will be joining the Mets and MiLB Field Coordinator. 1 goal: help develop players to WIN a Championship for The Big Apple.”
Entering this offseason, Eppler had let go of 15 minor league staff members. These two hires are two hires Eppler has made to reshape the Mets player development system.
