Mets fire Barnes, Chávez & majority of coaching staff
The consequences of missing the postseason have begun with a dramatic overhaul of the coaching staff.
After a disastrous season that saw the Mets go from World Series contender to missing the playoffs entirely in an epic crash, the first drops of blood has been spilt.
New York announced on Friday afternoon that Jeremy Hefner (pitching coach), Eric Chávez (hitting coach), Jeremy Barnes (assistant hitting coach) and Mike Sarbaugh (third base coach) have all been fired.
Bench coach John Gibbons has also officially resigned from his position.
In his first post-season press conference following the club’s elimination this past week, President of Baseball Operations David Stearns said that while manager Carlos Mendoza would return that the rest of the coaching staff would be under further evaluation.
It is not surprising that the first casualties of this collapse have come to the Mets coaching staff, though it is notable for the club decisively move on from a number of coaches that have been here for several years under multiple regimes.
Eric Chávez has been with the club since the start of the 2022 season – which was largely a very successful one for the Mets and their offense – while assistant Jeremy Barnes first joined the organization that same year. Chávez acted as the Mets hitting coach in 2022 and became the bench coach in 2023 before moving back into the hitting coach role over the last two seasons.
Jeremy Hefner has been with the organization longer than nearly anyone as he first became the Mets pitching coach entering the 2020 season. For a long time Hefner was widely regarded as one of the best pitching minds in the league, which is a big reason that he remained with the Mets despite three managerial changes (four if you count Carlos Beltrán), six general manager changes and even an ownership change. Unfortunately for Hefner, he was not able to survive the collapse of this season that was in large part due to the club’s 4.95 ERA over the final 93 games of the season.
John Gibbons, the former Blue Jays manager, joined the club in 2024 to help give rookie manager Carlos Mendoza a more experience presence in the dugout.
Mike Sarbaugh had also been with the Mets since the start of 2024 and was under fire for several controversial sends (and non-sends) of base runners throughout this past season.
New York did invite Antoane Richardson (first base coach), Danny Barnes (strategy) and Rafael Fernandez (coaching assistant) to return to the club in 2026. Desi Druschel (assistant pitching coach) and José Rosado (bullpen coach) are also invited to return, but have been given permission to speak to other clubs.
This is likely only the first shake-up that Mets fans can expect to see this ofseason after a season as disappointing as this past one was.
The first domino has officially fallen.
I can see this kind of housecleaning if the Mets had finished under .500 — but let’s not kid ourselves, this is scapegoating the coaching staff for management’s failures.
The front office built a roster with gaping flaws, didn’t address them when the cracks first showed, and then acted stunned when the avalanche hit. You can shuffle hitting coaches and third-base coaches all day, but that doesn’t erase the lack of pitching depth, the bullpen meltdowns, or the poor roster construction that left the team exposed when the injuries piled up.
Yes, the team underachieved, and yes, a 4.95 ERA in the last three months is ugly. But were Hefner and Chávez the ones who passed on real reinforcements at the deadline? Were they the ones who bet on fragile arms and streaky bats? Coaches make tweaks — they don’t set budgets, dictate strategy at the top, or decide to ride “math” until the wheels fall off.
This isn’t accountability; it’s convenient bloodletting. Until the Mets actually address the structural failures of the organization — starting with the people putting the roster together — changing out coaches is just window dressing.