GOING LONG!
Mets hitting coach looking like next manager
HOWARD SIMMONS/NEWS
HOUSTON — Kevin Long went into this process as the front-runner, an industry source familiar with the Mets’ managerial search said, and it looks like he remains one of the favorites. The Mets hitting coach has intrigued the front office with the idea of being an “outside-thebox” hire, and they were also impressed that he went into the process with two binders full of ideas he has picked up from his years as a major league hitting coach.
Mariners third base coach Manny Acta is also getting consideration, the final candidate to speak with the Mets, according to a source. Acta, who never had a winning season in parts of six seasons as a major league manager, was a third base coach for the Mets under Willie Randolph and considered a rising star in the organization.
White Sox bench coach Joe McEwing and Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway were also in consideration and are still expecting to hear something from the Mets, according to sources close to them. McEwing, a former Mets player at one time who remains close to team captain David Wright, was said to have had a good interview.
Long, reached for comment, said he had not heard back from the Mets after interviewing with them as of Friday morning. The Mets are not planning to interview Dusty Baker, who was fired by the Nationals on Friday.
The Mets are expecting to talk to their top managerial candidate this weekend, according to industry sources. The team told candidates whom they interviewed this week it would only be a “couple of days” before they would hear back from the team.
The Mets have a brief window between the end of the American League Championship Series and the start of the World Series to make an announcement on who will succeed Terry Collins.
Otherwise they would need to get permission from MLB to make an announcement once the World Series started.
The Mets with their front office, which is heavily data-driven, were impressed with Long’s abilities as a hitting coach to take the large amount of statistical data they delivered and translate it to players as the team’s hitting coach.
“No matter how much data you have, it does not mean anything if it cannot be explained to the players in a way that they can understand and use,” one Mets front office source said earlier this fall. “Being able to take what we give them and make changes that results to improvement on the field, that’s a skill that we need a lot more of.”
The Mets saw that with their hitters, particularly over the past two seasons.
Citing Yoenis Cespedes’ penchant for chasing high fastballs, the front office source noted that Long and assistant hitting coach Pat Roessler approached the Cuban slugger with data and convinced him that he was hurting himself by doing that. Cespedes’ walk rate in 2016 went up and they saw a notable change in his approach.
Long and Roessler’s expiring contracts will have to factor into the Mets’ timing for this announcement. Both of their contracts expire after Oct. 31 and while Sandy Alderson was adamant both would be back next season, neither one would commit to returning in his current role. Roessler was the Yankees’ director of player development for 10 years before becoming the Mets assistant hitting coach. He had been the Expos hitting coach in 2000-01 before that. He turned down an opportunity to be the hitting coach with another major league team last season, but sources close to him said he was looking for a bigger role with a major league club for next season.