Monday marked the start of another round of staffing changes for the Mets. Troy Snitker will be joining the Mets as a hitting coach under Jeff Albert, the club’s director of Major League hitting, while baserunning/outfield coordinator Antoan Richardson will be leaving to seek opportunities with other teams.
Richardson’s contract is set to expire at the end of the month. A source confirmed to the Daily News that the two parties have not been able to agree on a new deal. The conversations were characterized as fair on both sides, with the two parties working hard to get something done before the end of the month. The two sides remained hopeful until the end.
Richardson’s impact was felt tremendously on the basepaths. The 42-year-old Bahamian helped transform Juan Soto into an elite baserunner this season, helping the outfielder swipe a career-high 38 bags. Soto’s previous career-best mark was 12, set in 2019 with the Washington Nationals and matched in 2023 with the San Diego Padres.
The Mets’ star right fielder, who signed a $15-year, $765 million contract last December, largely credited Richardson with his newfound prowess on the basepaths. Stealing more bags was something Soto had always wanted to do, and thought he could, but with other teams it wasn’t necessary. Richardson helped him understand positioning, pitcher tells and timing, allowing him to become a threat on the basepaths despite below-average sprint speed.
Richardson was lauded for his preparation by several members of the Mets, including Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo and Starling Marte. The Mets described him as an excellent communicator and teacher as well.
As the outfield coordinator, Richardson was also tasked with helping improve Soto’s defense, an Achilles heel of sort throughout the slugger’s career. Soto regressed defensively this season, with -12 outs above average. As a group, the Mets -13 OAA was 21st in baseball. Run suppression has been cited as a priority for 2026.
Snitker, the son of former Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker, was recently let go from the Houston Astros after spending the last several years as a co-hitting coach along with Alex Cintrón. Since the two were named to their posts in 2018, the Astros won three American League pennants and a World Series championship in 2022. Houston was among the league’s OPS leaders every year except 2020 under Snitker and Cintrón, with an offense that was known to put the ball in play and grind out at-bats.
Snitker has previously worked with Albert in the Houston organization, as well as president of baseball operations David Stearns, who was an assistant general manager with the Astros before leading the baseball operations efforts of the Milwaukee Brewers. Much like Albert, Snitker, 36, has a background in exercise science.
The Mets used Jeremy Barnes and Eric Chavez as co-hitting coaches over the past two seasons, a system Chavez said was ineffective due to the amount of information that players were left to parse through. This year, Albert will lead the hitting efforts and Snitker is expected to work underneath him.
Barnes and Chavez were dismissed after a disappointing 2025 season concluded without a playoff berth. Pitching coach Jeremy Hefner was also let go, and the Mets continue to search for a replacement. Assistant pitching coach Desi Druschel left the Mets after one season to return to the Yankees. The Mets are also searching for a catching coordinator after Glenn Sherlock retired. Kai Correa replaced John Gibbons as bench, with the veteran skipper choosing to resign on his own.
