The Mets have been one of the busiest teams this offseason, as they hired Billy Eppler as general manager in mid-November, then quickly signed Max Scherzer, Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar and Mark Canha before the lockout began in early December. Since major league transactions are not allowed during the lockout, their attention has shifted to their coaching staff, with Buck Showalter being named their new manager just before the holiday break.
In recent days, details about who would be filling out Showalter’s staff have started to emerge, with Wayne Kirby, Joey Cora and Eric Chavez reportedly lined up to be the first base coach, third base coach and hitting coach, respectively. One position yet to be filled is the bench coach, but one name that can apparently be crossed off the list of contenders is Ryan Flaherty. According to a report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Padres have denied the Mets’ request to interview their quality control coach for the position.
As noted by Rosenthal, teams usually allow their employees to interview with other clubs if the open position represents a promotion for the individual. Although the Mets’ bench coach job is considered a promotion for Flaherty, the Padres apparently decided to deny the request for timing reasons. Although the lockout could push everything back, spring training is still tentatively scheduled to begin in about a month. If Flaherty were allowed to interview for the position and ultimately landed the job, it would leave the Padres in the awkward position of having to scramble and make another hire in a narrow window of time.
This is a fairly logical decision from the Padres’ perspective, as they lined up their coaching staff early in the offseason and seemingly didn’t want to get dragged back into another search. However, whenever a team blocks one of their employees from seeking greater opportunities elsewhere, there is risk of creating resentment in said employee, reducing their ability to be retained. Flaherty isn’t quoted in the report, making his feelings on the matter unknown. But Rosenthal reports that he was involved in the process of filling out the coaching staff after Bob Melvin was hired, which included his former Vanderbilt teammate David Macias being brought aboard as first base and outfield coach.
After a playing career that spanned 547 games in eight seasons, Flaherty was hired by the Padres to be a quality control coach prior to the 2020 season, the same offseason that saw Jayce Tingler brought aboard as manager. Tingler was recently fired and replaced with Melvin, with several other positions on the staff seeing turnover as well. Flaherty, 35, seems to have survived the cull, however, and will stick with the club for 2022 and beyond, as Rosenthal reports that he received a three-year deal at the start of the offseason.
What is his current role in the Padres staff?
Reading is hard.
Quality control coach. This is really rare. Most teams allow a their employees to at least interview for a promotion. They run the risk of really pissing off their employee and other coaches not wanting to come to the team because they are afraid they won’t be able to get promotions other teams offer.
I am sure the Padres ran it by him first. With the Padres nixing the interview they let the baseball world know their staff is off limits this offseason. Stops anymore issues from arising. I’m sure they asked him and would have let him go if he really wanted to.
Really glad you are sure….what else could it be?
So if you boss stop you from making more money how happy would you be.
He’s the head uniform ironer.
Having oxford in your name makes me cringe so so much.
Alright – where do I begin – Flaherty? Really? Are these the wilponian Mets? Can’t they do any better?
@Flynntastic Where do we begin? Take a look at the Vegas Odds for the Mets my friend before you open your mouth with troll BS. The idea that the team is a joke and no one wants to come here and play here and or coach here yeah it’s gone now pal! Maybe nobody told you you’ve been away for a long time the Mets don’t shine shoes anymore
Who owns the Padres these days? Tom Petty or Richard Petty?
It’s someone that’s clearly too petty to allow their own employee to be promoted. If it were the same position I could see it but there’s really no legitimate excuse for the Padres preventing him from taking a promotion. This timing thing is wack. They can still hire other coaches during the lockout. It’s pretty weak to use that as an excuse to prevent someone from getting a more prestigious job. Everyone deserves a shot to move up in the world.
Tom Petty passed away 4-5 years ago.
That was the GM’s call, and that would be Preller.
Bring in Bobby V as bench coach
Wow what scumbags
Not really. It’s a situation the Mets created themselves by trying to do this so late in the process.
So much for letting people get better opportunities.
It also seems Padres are high on Flaherty.
He was involved in the new staff process and brought one of his buddies in staff as well.
They could see him as a future manager one day.
He’s like one of the only holdovers from last year’s staff. They got rid of everyone except him and Fritz, so they’re definitely high on him.
Not only that, they just recently signed him to a 3 year contract, which is rare for non-manager coaches. Seems like they have plans for him and don’t want to lose him.
Wait so A’s allowed padres permission to talk to and hire away their manager and bench coach. But padres won’t allow it for Mets, seems like a jerk move
the A’s were just hoping to get out of Melvin’s contract.
@DarkSide830 You’re dead wrong buddy! If the A’s wanted out of BoMel’s contract they wouldn’t have picked up their club option on him for 2022 in the first place.
If the Mets wanted Flaherty when the Padres wanted Melvin, it would be no big deal. Timing is an issue. If the Padres decided they wanted Melvin in the middle of January, i’m guessing the A’s would have told the Padres to gfy, for lack of better terms.
That was earlier in the offseason. Spring training is “scheduled” to start in a little over a month. If this happened at the same time that the Padres were still looking for a manager, they probably would’ve given permission.
Normally, I’d agree, but the post very clearly shows why—in this case—the Padres were adverse to allowing the Mets access. For a guy in this position, it makes sense. Flaherty will ultimately have the final word.
Not for nothing but he’s not even a player what difference is he going to make for them this year?
If that’s the case, why have any coaches at all?
Showalter is familiar with Flaherty from when he managed the Orioles, that and he was one of Bucks favorite players. Gritty utility player with good baseball smarts, which seems to have translated into a coaching job with the Padres.
Showalter’s obsession with Flaherty continues.
Are the Mets capable of finding people for any position who aren’t already employed?
This is not uncommon. While teams will as a practice let their staff interview for promotions in other organizations, they do have more of an issue when the requests come later in the process once their staffs are set. That’s why the Mets had many rejections when they were seeking a GM. That’s also why they were able to hire Eppler and Showalter. Neither were employed by MLB teams, so they were complete free agents, No permission was required.
The Yankees actually did the Mets a favor by allowing Chavez to interview for their batting coach position. It would have been perfectly within their rights to deny permission at this stage as they just signed him, yet that also made it easy to let him move on. He hadn’t even started yet. I’m sure they also want to maintain good relations with Chavez who will be in the coaching and management ranks for many years to come. The Chavez and Flaherty situations are different because of where each sits (or sat) in their organizations. One hadn’t arrived, the other was already established.
This is all just a hangover from the Mets inability to hire their GM and manager earlier in the offseason.
Alternative headline name “Padres save Ryan Flaherty”
I don’t blame the Padres for this. Mets had been denied by so many people for manager that they’re a little late in putting a staff together while teams have filled out coaching vacancies.
Good for the Padres, stopping the pathetic Mets poaching scheme.
Another thing to consider, since this is occurring so much later than normal in the off-season, is the real possibility that whomever the Padres might have chosen as their 2nd or 3rd choice for Flaherty’s position, may no longer be available to them now. In that context alone, I can’t blame them one bit for telling the Mets to pound sand.
Furthermore, I’d imagine if the Mets (or any other team) comes calling with such a promotion in the early stages of next off-season – then SD would allow it. That time-frame would at least allow SD to just go ahead and promote him themselves if they so chose (even if it might be before they’d have ultimately preferred to do so) without having to rearrange their coaching staff so late in the process.