Devs’ Boyle makes debut after fight with

THE Mets may have gone in a new direction in hiring a manager, but they will have plenty of experience on Mickey Callaway’s staff. The team is close to announcing that Pat Roessler will become head hitting coach and that Dave Eiland will join the staff as pitching coach, sources told the News Wednesday.

Eiland, who played with Callaway in Tampa, was the Yankees pitching coach from 2008-10, after years in the organization’s minor-league development staff. He was let go this fall after seven seasons as the Royals pitching coach.

Roessler developed strong relationships with players like Daniel Murphy as an assistant hitting coach with the Mets. How close did Roessler get with the former Mets and current Nationals second baseman? So close that when Roessler and his wife decided to move to be closer to their daughter in the Washington, D.C. area, Murphy, who was in his offseason home in Florida, simply gave his old hitting coach the keys to his D.C.-area home while the couple hunted for a house.

“He’s not just a hitting coach,” Murphy said this spring, “but he’s a friend, a brother and I would do anything for him.”

With the Mets now ready to move on from hitting coach Kevin Long, it looks like they will retain half of the successful tandem that ran the Mets offense for the past two seasons. Roessler and the Mets are finalizing a twoyear deal as of Wednesday, two sources told the News.

For a team that is taking a chance on a firsttime manager in Mickey Callaway, who was the pitching coach in Cleveland, some continuity and experience on the staff will be a plus.

Roessler served as the Mets’ assistant hitting coach for the past two seasons, working with Long. He was looking for a bigger role going forward, especially after turning down an opportunity to be a major-league hitting coach within the division last winter.

Roessler spent 10 seasons as the head of player development with the Ya n k e e s , overseeing the young careers of the players now know n as t he Baby Bombers. He also spent two seasons as the hitting coach for the Montreal Expos in 2000 VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Brian Boyle made his season debut for the Devils Wednesday night after fighting cancer and came out a winner on multiple levels.

“It’s been a long road,” the 32-year-old center said after the Devils’ morning skate at Rogers Arena. “I’m excited.” and 2001.

Under Long and Roessler, the Mets were second in the National League in home runs last season — despite losing sluggers Yoenis Cespedes and Michael Conforto to injuries and Neil Walker, Curtis Granderson and Jay Bruce to trades.

Long said Tuesday he was uncertain of his future with the Mets.

All Mets coaches except third-base coach Glenn Sherlock had their contracts expire Tuesday, but the team expects to be announcing a full staff for the 42-year-old Callaway soon.

They expect that will be without Long, who interviewed for the manager’s job as well. Last month, Mets GM Sandy Alderson admitted that Long was disappointed with having been passed over for the opening.

Despite the decision to go with Callaway, the Mets discussed the possibility of Long becoming the bench coach.

Long, however, had other managerial opportunities and was given permission to interview with other teams.

The Nationals reportedly interviewed Long before they hired Dave Martinez as manager. According to a report in the Washington Post, the Nationals are interested in Long as a hitting coach. He would have strong support in that clubhouse with Murphy.

The Yankees, who are also looking for a manager to replace Joe Girardi, have expressed interest in having Long come back to the Bronx, where he served as hitting coach for seven seasons.

Long developed a strong rapport with the players there and has a solid relationship with veteran outfielder Brett Gardner.

“He’s a great communicator, he’s a guy who is very, very positive and he helps you find what you need to help yourself,” Gardner said of Long last month when the hitting coach was going for the Mets job. “I never had him as a manager, but his ability to communicate and understand the game, that is something that would make him a good manager.

“I really hope he gets a chance.”

It may be unlikely that Long takes over the helm of the Yankees w it h no major-league managing experience, but there is interest in him returning as a coach, according to sources.

Boyle — who logged more than 15 minutes of ice time in the Devils’ 2-0 victory over Vancouver — started to feel fatigued in August, and tests at the start of training camp revealed that he had chronic myelogenous leukemia, a form of blood and bone marrow cancer. The diagnosis was announced Sept. 19.

Boyle said he was blown away by the sup- port he and his family received from teammates, the organization and the hockey community.

“It was overwhelming,” he said. “It was very touching. Obviously, it’s a situation you don’t want to be in, but we’ve got a good handle on it.”

Boyle returned to practice Oct. 23, and targeted the game in Vancouver as his goal to get back in the lineup about a week ago.

“Just coming on the road was a treat,” Boyle said. “I was bummed, my 2-year-old went as Batman last night. I missed all of that. He had a blast. Aside from that, I’m pretty excited.”

The six-foot-six, 245-pound Boyle has to take medication in the morning and before he goes to bed, but that’s all the treatment