And the Mets have yet to name a new hitting coach.
There will not be a new general manager in New York baseball for the foreseeable future. The Yankees have signed a three-year extension with Brian Cashman, the same length of the deal that the Mets signed with Sandy Alderson a few weeks ago. But the Yankees fired hitting coach Kevin Long, who has had that job since 2007.
Of course, the Mets fired a hitting coach this year, too, when they parted ways with Dave Hudgens. Lamar Johnson, his replacement, and assistant hitting coach Luis Natera, who was with the team all season, won't be back with the Mets in 2015, either. With pretty much every other coaching position intact, the vacancy is the most significant one to be filled among Mets coaches. Mike Puma of the Post reports that the team will at least discuss bringing Long on board.
Whether or not a team scores runs at a good clip has a whole lot more to do with the players in its lineup than its hitting coach, but players obviously work with coaches on a very regular basis, so it seems worth the Mets' time to find the best one available.