Mets poach Eric Chavez from Yankees as coaching staff grows

The players are locked out but Buck Showalter is still working hard to build his team — of coaches.

The New York Mets were the biggest spenders — and winners — before Major League Baseball locked out the players.

They landed a (second) ace in Max Scherzer, a top-tier centerfielder in Starling Marte and two more quality players in Eduardo Escobar and Mark Canha to start rebuilding their lineup.

The next big step in the evolution of the franchise was finding the right manager. The Mets decided Buck Showalter was their man. And he certainly has a track record that fans can be excited about at Citi Field.

Whenever a new manager comes in, he needs to fill out his staff. And Showalter has been working hard to do just that, and we have a good idea of what his coaching group will look like whenever the 2022 season begins.

Stealing from the Pinstripes

One of the hot names in coaching rumors over the past couple years has been Eric Chavez, best known for his time as a marvelous third baseman in Oakland. He was rumored to be heading to New York — with the Yankees.

But word on Thursday morning is that Chavez will be coming to the Mets instead, becoming the hitting coach on Showalter’s staff.

Eric Chavez will not be joining the Yankees coaching staff after all. Per source, Chavez will become the new Mets hitting coach.

— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) January 6, 2022

Around the bases

Showalter is finalizing a deal with Joey Cora become his third base coach according to Mike Puma of The New York Post. Cora is the older brother of Red Sox manager Alex Cora and reportedly interviewed for the Mets’ managerial opening in both 2018 and 2020.

Joey Cora had been the third base coach in Pittsburgh for the past five years.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic is reporting that Showalter is bringing in an old friend to handle first base duties. Wayne Kirby, who was on Showalter’s staff in Baltimore from 2011-18, will reportedly be his first base coach with the Mets. He spent the last two years in San Diego but lost his job as part of the Padres’ coaching overhaul.

An awkward reunion?

The missing piece is a bench coach.

And reports are swirling that the Mets may consider their former… manager?

Carlos Beltrán’s name has been linked to the bench coach opportunity with the Mets for some time now. He was infamously hired as the team’s manager before unceremoniously being terminated before ever actually managing a game because of his role in the Astros’ cheating scandal.

Beltrán was a widely respected player and many liked the hire as a manager. Others, including AJ Hinch, have moved on from the Astros’ scandal. Maybe it’s time for Beltrán to as well. We’ll see if he gets tabbed as the bench coach for Showalter.