After a disastrous collapse to end the 2025 MLB season, major changes are coming to the New York Mets roster, but there should also be big adjustments to the coaching staff. And it should include bringing Carlos Beltran to the bench next year.
After being arguably the best team in baseball after the first few months of the season, the Mets’ season devolved from one of World Series aspirations to fighting to hold on to the final Wild Card spot in the National League. After 162 games, New York was left on the outside looking in, as their $341 million payroll was not good enough to secure a playoff spot.
The organization will now have the next few months to make some serious evaluations about which players and coaches should stay, and which should go. Since this roster was nearly the same as the group that reached the NLCS last year, along with adding MVP candidate Juan Soto, it would seem like adjusting the coaching staff should be a priority.
Carlos Mendoza record: 172-152
Mets President David Stearns has already announced that manager Carlos Mendoza is safe. However, aside from pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, anyone else on the staff should be expendable after overseeing the club’s stunning finish to the season. The coaches who should be most concerned are bench coach John Gibbons and hitting coaches Jeremy Barnes and Eric Chavez.
Mendoza is safe, but changing his second in command could be how the front office gets the big change they want while keeping their current skipper. Furthermore, the team’s expensive batting order underperformed in 2025. Meaning Chavez and Barnes not taking the fall would be almost as stunning as their late-season collapse.
If those three coaches are let go, who could the Mets replace them with? We have a pair of intriguing ideas.
Carlos Beltran’s second opportunity should come
Credit: Orlando Ramirez-Imagn Images
In November of 2019, nine-time All-Star Carlos Beltran was hired to be the new New York Mets manager. The former Houston Astros assistant who starred for six and a half seasons in Queens was returning to bring the club back to prominence. Then it was revealed that the ‘Stros used an elaborate cheating program to win the World Series in 2017, and anyone connected to that became persona non grata around the league.
After stepping down from the job, Beltran has worked to rebuild his reputation, and many around the game feel he deserves a second chance. Obviously, he won’t replace Mendoza, but if he was viewed as good enough to be a manager by New York and other teams a few years back, he could be a strong fit as a new bench coach.
Beltran has worked in the team’s front office for the last couple of years and has a deep knowledge of the organization. He is one of the best players of his generation, and his understanding of the game is respected around the league. At the very least, he should be considered as an option to be their new hitting coach in 2026.
Manny Ramirez wants to be a big league hitting coach
Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images
While there are questions about whether he was always playing clean, there is no doubt that Manny Ramirez was one of the best pure hitters of the last 50 years. The 12-time All-Star has as good an understanding of how to hit at the highest levels as any player who has played in MLB after posting 555 homers and a .312 average after 19 seasons in the game.
Well, it seems the Boston Red Sox legend wants to get back into the league as a hitting coach. During a new interview with Foul Territory, the 53-year-old revealed he had conversations with his former team last year about being their hitting coach. However, the Red Sox went in a different direction.
Furthermore, during his short stint with the Los Angeles Dodgers at the end of his career, young players raved about how much he helped them with their approach.
Does Ramirez have ties to the Mets? No. But the kid from Washington Heights getting his first big league coaching job in New York is intriguing. Plus, for a roster that might lose Pete Alonso, the locker room can use more wild and fun personalities that can help bring players together. One has to wonder if Ramirez could help fellow Dominican Juan Soto loosen up and show even more of his fun-loving side in 2026.
After earning his journalism degree in 2017, Jason Burgos served as a contributor to several sites, including MMA Sucka … More about Jason Burgos