Ricky Meinhold, the Mets’ assistant pitching coach and minor league pitching coordinator, has departed the organization in pursuit of other opportunities, reports Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News. Thosar writes that other staffers with the Mets might follow Meinhold in looking elsewhere in the coming weeks, with the club preparing for significant change in the front office for the second straight year.
Meinhold was promoted to assistant pitching coach in January, working under pitching coach Jeremy Hefner. He also retained the minor league coordinator role he’d held for a little more than a year previously. Meinhold has a background in integrating data into pitching development, and Thosar notes he’d recently been under consideration for a high-ranking player development position with another club.
Hefner was hired as pitching coach over the 2019-20 offseason, an addition that predated the current front office structure and the hiring of manager Luis Rojas. His contract is set to expire at the end of the season, reports Andy Martino of SNY, but the former big league hurler remains highly-regarded in the organization.
The club also recently engaged in some discussions with Driveline Baseball founder and former Reds’ director of pitching Kyle Boddy, reports Michael Mayer of Metsmerized. However, Martino adds that those discussions aren’t expected to result in Boddy landing a position with New York.
DarkSide830
Mets moment
The Mets "Missed WAR"
Meinhold must not drive drunk and harass women enough for the Mets liking. He just doesn’t “fit in with the organizational culture.” Oh well. I guess it sucks for him. He’ll just have to settle for working for a team that doesn’t hire scumbags.
Lloyd Emerson
Metsfan22, your life is calling.
SalaryCapMyth
Hey MetsFan22, it’s like rats are abandoning a sinking ship, right. >=))
jyosuckas
Mets fan here and can’t blame him or anyone else that leaves at all, although I hope Hefner remains. Rojas had 2 years, not that it’s all his fault but he’s clearly in over his head.
Orel Saxhiser
Rojas looks fine to me and I watch lots of Mets games. The guy had an interrupted 60-game season in 2020 and a full season with mediocre talent in 2021. Two years ago, Phillies fans swore up and down that Gabe Kapler was in over his head. How does that look now?
philliesphan77
It hurts because it’s true lol
VonPurpleHayes
I guess he doesn’t want to be part of something special.
Cohens_Wallet
Looks like the new POBO will have a clean slate to work with and the wealthiest owner to back him. Will be Interesting to see if they can finally get it right.
If at 1st you don’t succeed, you know the rest.
Stop Giving Billionaires Money
The mets are the east coast padres
DanzigInTheDark
excuse me??
the Padres are the West Coast Mets and I won’t hear anything different
bygserch
the only change us Mets fan truly care about and wanna see is “hey Sandy, sorry, I’m letting you go. I just hired Theo to run the whole show, what he says goes, all I do is sign the checks…oh and tell Rojas, ya gave it the ol’ college try, but he’s gone too. Thaaaaaanks!”
maybe Beane & Melvin if not Theo, or if they can get Erik Neander from Tampa, and he convinced Cohen to pay up to get Bochy out of retirement to manage….
Sandy is just bad luck somehow, he’s too old and into his ways to truly adapt to learning how to NOT hire messes like Mickey and Porter and Scott. He’s old school, old era….
and I don’t want to replace him with the “next new up and coming POBO;” we need a proven winner, who can change the culture from JUST beneath the owner, all the way down.
I was excited to get Cohen to buy the team from the Wilpons and have all that wealth, but I never expected him to buy every single player: they gotta choose where and who they wanna play for, and with…they gotta consult their wives about living in NY area, they may hate media, etc etc. But what I DID expect and was looking forward to witj having a $12 BILLION owner, was being able to afford the BEST upper management, scouting, and game managers/coaches, to at the very least,,get the foundation in place….
so no more guys who “deserved a chance but he was on the Marlins”… or a guy who is a great assistant GM,,but never a full GM, and suddenly he’s running the team….and no more FRIGGIN puppets!
Go NUTS and give Theo 5-7 years, $10 mil per, and just say “you run the show, turn us around, I’ll simply sign the checks. Period, AMEN”
guy isn’t PERFECT but he got chips on the 2 most hapless, cursed, choking franchises in the sport. I trust Theo FULLY.
MAKE IT HAPPEN, Cohen, with ya ding dang BILLIONS and ur friggin ridiculous tweets and your squabbling with individual media/fan Twitter accounts!!
Get Theo or Neander, pay em, give em full autonomy, and just sit back and watch the results!!!
When it was a game.
Great comment. Sandy regime needs to go all of it needs an enema. I would rather see young blood from rays or another consistent organization. I see it being rough to pick beane since he has small ownership share and deep roots with the A’s.
believeitornot
I agree. Richard needs to go. It has finally happened. Someone has left the Mets because he wanted to and it has nothing to do with one woman or more.
krumbledkookie
Neander just recently signed an extension with TB. He’s not going anywhere.
bobtillman
He’s looking for houses in Montreal…….
believeitornot
I live in Montreal. I suggest Hampstead or Westmount.
jim stem
I’d also like to see a guy get hired to manage in the dugout with actual experience, not because of his heritage. I don’t care if he gets along with the players, is a good guy, had great parents, speaks two languages, and so on. Give us a guy that holds players responsible, gets fired up, wants to win every game, gets teed off when players aren’t ready to play and knows how to use a bullpen. Someone who doesn’t bat a player 2nd or 3rd because of his contract. I want someone who doesn’t answer ever media question with a cliche. I just don’t think today’s players will respect someone who has never had some kind of success at the same level they are playing.
So how about Ray Knight? How old is Valentine? Heck, bring back Chili Davis. Who is running teams in the Mets system? Is Wally in any dugout anywhere? How is Collins feeling these days or Bobby V? There is something about ex catchers becoming great great managers, too. Somewhere, there is a former player, manager or coach who will fit this organization’s players. I hope.
When it was a game.
Bobby V just was and is that it was time to just move on.
Ray knight tried with the reds and he just doesn’t have right temperament. To old school for today’s ballerinas
When Chilli got canned just seemed more personal
Collins…..it’s Collins
Wally would be every fans pick but he has some demons and anger issues. Another old school guy.
It’s a weird time now. The older guys manage by their gut and statagy while today’s managers are only analytics.
Cosmo2
Wally would only be the pick of ignorant talk radio knuckle dragging idiots. I don’t know a single Met fan that actually wants that hot headed, small ball obsessed moron.
I Like Big Bunts
Sinking ship.
Joe says...
“The ship be sinking.” -Michael Ray Richardson
MetsFan22
Lol people here aren’t thinking. He obviously left bc he was going to get canned. But anything to fit y’all’s narrative right? Lol
pinstripes17
He left because he knew he’d never be able to win a ring with the Mets, it’s obvious.
MetsFan22
Then Why didn’t cash man leave the Yankees???
Ducky Buckin Fent
If “cash man” means Brian Cashman, that is because he’s seeking his – ya know – fifth championship ring. Pretty good run so far. Why leave?
pinstripes17
Brian Cashgod has won five rings with the New York Yankees and will win many more before the LolMets do. Guarantee it.
The Mets "Missed WAR"
Cashman won’t leave because unlike the Mets, the Yankees have proven they can actually win. The Yankees have 6 world championships since 1996. Since 1987 the Mets have… Wait let me count… Carry the 2… Multiply by a thousand just to make Mets fans not feel so ashamed of their team… And da-da-da… There we go. I just calculated it. Even though I multiplied it by a thousand the number is still exactly zero. Yankees Championships in the last 25 years=6. Mets Championships in the last 35 years=O. Cohen may spend more money than the Wilpons did but he appears to be at least as incompetent at running the franchise they are. He’s the next Arte Moreno. We all know how that’s working out for the Angels. Any GM/President worth a damn is not going to want anything to do with him, that organization or the payroll that is so tied up with big money going to disappointing players. deGrom looks increasingly likely to have more serious injury problems next season. His elbow ligament is already partially torn and the tear could get worse and worse every time he pitches. He’s virtually certain to spend time on the IL again next season it wouldn’t be a shock if it tears to the point he needs Tommy John surgery early in the season. The Mets better hope that thing heals completely on it’s own but that’s a rarity for pitchers with partially torn ligaments. Between deGrom, Lindor, McCann and Cano the Mets have about $100 million of their next season payroll tied up. No GM like Billy Beane or Theo Epstein is going to want to take over a team like that. Theo wants to spend the money himself. Not try to run a team after Alderson and BVW already spent the money on such underwhelming overpaid players like Lindor, McCann and Cano. Especially when they can’t count on deGrom actually staying healthy for anywhere near a full season. It’s literally more likely deGrom needs TJ surgery well before the All-Star break than it is that he actually stay healthy next season. After that he could end up opting out and leaving for a better team. If he were smart he would have gotten the surgery already since it’s already torn. Then the Mets would have to pay him over $30M next season when he doesn’t even play. That way he could be 100% healthy for the 2023 season when he can play for an organization that actually has good players and coaches to give him a shot at finally winning.
YankeesBleacherCreature
Your narrative all season long: “Waaahhhhh… I dropped my ice cream cone. Hope you all have the same fate. Lol.”
The Mets "Missed WAR"
Did you not read the article, MF22? He left because another team is going to give him a promotion. A lot of people I the Mets organization need to get canned but this guy is not one of them. He knew he was going to get a promotion and figured he would be better off doing that with another team that’s not the sh!tshow the New York Muts are.
Gratefuljim
Clean House. Hefner has had horrible RESULTS. Rojas has had horrible results. Alderson is terrible. He wanted Bauer. He ignored Springer. He ignored Bryant. He signed McCann. He kept Dom and JD at their peak value. He hired Rojas, Porter, Scott, Callaway. Now he wants to embed his philosophy of small market no rings with Beane. We need a new and young ” Next Theo”.
When it was a game.
@gratefuljim well said. They are like trying to get back with an ex-girlfriend. It just doesn’t work. Even if it takes a few years. How many years do we see the same posts. 5-6 years now.
joeyrocafella
Hefner is the MVP of this team, if they were giving out awards.I know Walker regressed after the ASG but Hef made them a better pitching staff overall
jim stem
I’ll admit, I was skeptical of Hefner. But until the league took away sticky fingers, this staff was cruising along nicely.
Walker hit a wall, just as expected given his lack of innings the passed three years. He should be great next year as a true #4
or 5.
The #1 need on this team as a complete revamping of the training staff and philosophy. To me, that starts with the MANAGER. It’s obvious these guys are either not working out properly or not warming up pregame enough. There have been THREE position players who have avoided muscle injuries this season: Pillar, Villar and, surprisingly, Alonso. Every single other position player has lost time to soft tissue, non contact ‘injuries’. That’s just ridiculous.
jim stem
My hope is that the next manager has actual managing experience. Same goes with hitting instructors. There is more to coaching than having your nose buried in iPads, immersed in data.
sergefunction
Cohen needs to go. He’s had enough time. I’ve seen enough. Sell already. Mets fans deserve an owner who wants to win.
– Pretty Soon
.
hawkvet
And a fine job he did. Not! Don’t let the door hit ya.
AgeeHarrelsonJones
He knows the manager will be fired.When the manager is fired, coaches are fired.
Anyone in this orgamization working a middle management position needs to be looking for a job. And that includes you, Sandy
Bill M
Damn good thing that Alderson reads these posts
AgeeHarrelsonJones
Good point. He probably doesnt read the posts. Never thought of that! Youre a friggin genius!!
chrisc
No one would ever do this and it’s never going to happen, but I’d love to see Ron Darling as the pitching coach , Keith Hernandez as the batting coach and David Wright as manager , he’s well respected ! Just a pipe dream but I welcome honest and nice opinions. Just a frustrated Mets fan here
Bill M
Hernandez has stated numerous times that he doesn’t want to deal with the pressures of coaching / managing & he prefers to finish out his career in the broadcast booth. I’m guessing Darling feels the same way
chrisc
I guess that makes sense, thanks Bill I didn’t know that