NEW YORK - AUGUST 01: Brian Schneider #23 of the New York Mets fields the ball against the Arizona Diamondbacks on August 1, 2009 at Citi Field in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.
(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Brian Schneider was hired by the New York Mets in January to manage the Syracuse Mets, but now he’s earned a solid promotion.

The New York Mets have named Brian Schneider as their new quality control coach. The Mets brought Schneider back to the organization in January to replace Tony DeFrancesco as the manager of their Triple-A affiliate, the Syracuse Mets.

Only a month later, he’s already earned a promotion. The Mets announced on Friday that he will return to Citi Field to take over the job Luis Rojas left vacant when he took over as manager.

“Brian is a welcome addition to our coaching staff,” Rojas said. “He has been in a major league uniform as a player and as a coach for the better part of the last two decades and his insight will be a valuable tool as he communicates ideas between our front office, myself, his fellow coaches and our players.”

This is a huge step up for Schneider. Quality control coach has become a role meant to be a stepping stone for future major league managers. It means a lot that the Mets trust him to take on this role.

Schneider joined the organization as a player in 2008 in a deal that sent former top prospect Lastings Milledge to the Washington Nationals.

Schneider was the team’s starting catcher in 2008 playing in 110 games. He slashed .257/.339/.367 with just a 13.8% K rate and a 10.9% BB rate. Defensively, Schneider was worth 9.2 FRAA in 2008, which was 10th among catchers. Those numbers led to 1.6 fWAR.

That’s an underwhelming number for a player who played as well as Schneider did. That really encapsulates his playing career as a whole. He was always a solid option at catcher who never found his true niche and wound up being about a replacement-level player over his career.

In 2009, he became the backup catcher only playing in 59 games. Despite his role as a backup, Schneider has one of the most iconic moments in recent Mets history. He was the first Met to score a run at Citi Field. Schneider spent his entire playing career in the NL East. He played for the Expos, Nationals, Mets, and Phillies.

A contributor here at elitesportsny.com. I'm a former graduate student at Loyola University Chicago here I earned my MA in History. I'm an avid Mets, Jets, Knicks, and Rangers fan. I am also a prodigious prospect nerd and do in-depth statistical analysis.