For the last 11 or 12 years, Mike Sarbaugh has spent part of a winter afternoon in a restaurant with a room of baseball fans, talking about the game that has been his life.

The Donegal grad’s appearances always draw the largest crowds for the group that meets monthly in Berks County.

That’s not only because of his 37 years in professional baseball, the last 13 as a major league coach, but also his friendliness, approachability and humility.

His only payment: lunch.

But things were a bit different this year. The 58-year-old Sarbaugh is looking for a job as the new year approaches.

Sarbaugh was let go in early October by the New York Mets after serving as their third-base coach/infield instructor for two seasons.

The Mets, who entered the season with high expectations after advancing to the National League Championship Series in 2024, then signing free agent outfielder Juan Soto, stumbled badly in the second half to miss the postseason.

Just days after the season ended, New York let go of five of their coaches under manager Carlos Mendoza, including Sarbaugh.

“I think any time, especially when the expectations are high and things don’t go well, you know, hey, anything is possible,” Sarbaugh said following his appearance last week. “So you just do your job to the best of your capability. And you just take what’s handed to you and it just, unfortunately, it ended after two years. But it was a great two years.”

The Mets peaked at 21 games over .500 on June 12 at 45-24 to open up a 5.5-game lead on the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East. They went 38-55 the rest of the way.

“Going into it, we felt good about things,” Sarbaugh said. “And we had a great start to it. Second half, we struggled and we just couldn’t figure out how to turn it around. It was a tough way to end it, because we knew we were better than what our record was.”

The move to the Mets got Sarbaugh closer to his Berks County home after he had been with the Cleveland organization, first as a minor league player, coach or manager from 1990-12, then as a major league coach from 2013-23.

He was out of a job briefly following the 2023 season — he estimated three or four weeks — after Stephen Vogt was hired as manager to replace Terry Francona.

This time has been different. He said he interviewed with a couple teams for major league jobs, but didn’t land them.

“So thankful for a couple opportunities there,” he said. “That’s part of the business. Just didn’t develop this year.”

Now, it seems, the focus has shifted to the player development side, perhaps as a roving instructor or manager.

“I think in some sense, being in that grind for 13 years,” Sarbaugh said of the major leagues, “it was great, you know, but it’s a grind, so to be able to take a step back and maybe try and help some younger players, it might be refreshing.”

Sarbaugh, who began his pro career as an infielder in 1989 when he signed with the Milwaukee Brewers as an undrafted free agent out of Lamar University, had plenty of success during his previous time in the minor leagues.

In nine seasons as a manager, he compiled a 697-511 record and won five league titles, including an Eastern League championship with Akron in 2009 and International League and Triple-A titles with Columbus in 2010 and 2011. His teams never had a losing record.

Four times he won his league’s Manager of the Year award.

“The game’s given me a lot,” he said. “I enjoy it. I’d like to help give back in whatever way that is, still looking at opportunities and just see where it takes me.”

Sarbaugh said he feels he still has something to offer, particularly to younger players. He’s clearly not ready to retire and appears optimistic that a job is out there.

Still, he’s not going to give up on returning to the big leagues. The one thing missing from his resume is a World Series title. He came close in 2016, when Cleveland lost to the Chicago Cubs in seven games.

“When I look at my career, the one thing that’s missing is I haven’t had won a World Series,” Sarbaugh said. “So, that drive to have that chance at some point could be something that keeps me motivated, but I’ve been very fortunate to have a lot of success with a lot of good teams. Yeah, that’s the one thing that’s missing.”

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