18
2012
Mets Dismiss Triple-A Pitching Coach Mark Brewer
An article by Craig Lerner
Yesterday, Andy McCullough of the Star Ledger. reported that Mark Brewer, the pitching coach for Triple-A Buffalo, has been dismissed from the organization.
McCullough’s sources told him that a recent internal review of the Mets minor-league system revealed “a disconnect between the practices of the Triple-A pitching staff and the organization’s prescribed pitching program”.
General manager Sandy Alderson confirmed Brewer’s dismissal to The Star-Ledger, but declined to discuss the situation further. “He was a valued member of the organization for a period of time,” Alderson said in a telephone interview. “There’s really no reason to get into a lot of detail.”
However, comments by Paul DePodesta, the team’s vice president of scouting and player development, were a bit more revealing.
“When you have a system where people are going to run through a number of different stops along the way, and they’re going to have a number of different instructors – in our case from the Dominican Summer League and all the way up to New York – it’s important that they get told the same things. Otherwise, it can be actually disruptive.”
Ouch.
Of course Brewer worked with the Mets top four pitching prospects this season in Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, Jeurys Familia and Jenrry Mejia.
Good luck wherever you go, Mark.
About the Author: Craig Lerner
I'm a data analyst and researcher for a leading news agency who loves life and is hooked on the Mets. I love following the Amateur Draft and have a particular fondness for the Mets Minor Leagues who I follow each day. Give me a cold beer, a summer day, and a Mets game, and I'm good to go.
30 Comments + Add Comment
Recent Comments
- BadBadLeroyBrown: on When Will We See Wilmer Flores?: O_o WHAT???? LoL....I realize in the...
- gregg: on The 2013 Mets Are Suffering From A Lack Of Accountability: Okay, so you're going to all the...
- Neutered Showalter: on MLB Scout On Davis: Would Have Been Better Served Going To Minors Last Season: Reyes scored 99 runs in 2005 with...
- DrDooby: on So Where Are All Those Moneyball Players?: Did Cashen also have to slash 50...
- Neutered Showalter: on Mets Have Opportunity To Soar To New Heights: When asked about Rauch, Collins said, "I...
MMO Mets Chat
Need Tickets To The Mets Game?
Check Out These Great MLB Links!
Photographs From Gordon Donovan
5391 Fans Follow Us On Twitter!
1269 Fans Like Us On Facebook!
2341 Fans Read Our Feed!
1702 Fans Subscribe via Daily Email!
Yeah, let’s fire a pitching coach and not give details as to why it happened…. Yep, that sounds just about right…
Disconnect is the reason. Be honest is there anything they could have said that would have appeased you? It’s the AAA pitching coach. They need to worry about the MLB pitching coach too.
Well, wouldn’t you as a fan wanna know what was the disconnect? was he showing him somthing they didn’t want? i wanna know what type of phylosphy they got for all these tom seaver’s we got in the minors…
““When you have a system where people are going to run through a number of different stops along the way, and they’re going to have a number of different instructors – in our case from the Dominican Summer League and all the way up to New York – it’s important that they get told the same things. Otherwise, it can be actually disruptive.””
Pretty clear to me. What the Mets as a whole wanted was not being given by this guy that no one has ever heard of.
I mean they don’t want to be disrespectful to the guy he does this for a living. So you say that there was a disconnect and you move on.
Is it clear or just UNCLEAR enough that you can dismiss it?
WHAT was the thing he said that was not the same as the rest of the coaches were preaching…
WHAT DID THEY WANT TAUGHT?
Cause I have to say Harvey has been the bext pitcher in awhile and he has spent all year with the guy they just fired and didn’t have and real issues until he got to the MLB and they messed with him by asking him to throw more breaking balls that cost him two games before they reversed themselves and let him pitch!
Sure you fire someone who doesn’t tow the company line but it’s a mistake if the company line happens to be wrong and something the company shouldn’t be doing!
so, you are upset because the team is not divulging all of their internal practices to the fans, and going into specific details about what Brewer was or was not doing?
Teams don’t do that. nor should they. And frankly, it is none of our damned business!
they made the statement needed (actually, they could have just said nothing other than they decided to part ways), that they did not feel he was on board with the organizational philosophy.
So when will Warthen get the boot….almost forgot Wilpon doesnt get rid of friends & family no matter how bad a job they do……Phew!!!! Thank goodness Jeff Wilponzi will reign forever as the worst COO/VP in baseball
Great question. Eventually he has to be held accountable too.
TRS, Unfortunately this organization doesnt deal with the concept of accountability.
You may be right but they have fired everyone but… I still don’t get it.
No they haven’t.. why is SA still the GM of this team then??
Because they already fired Omar. They have fired everyone from the previous regime, I got nothing as to why Warthen wasn’t sacrificed as well.
Firing Omar was more to appease critics of the Wilpons. Someone had to take the fall already fired the manager Omar was next in line.
If Mets dealt with accountability someone should be fired after this season after 2 years straight having 2nd half meltdowns and instead of improving the team and win-loss record has regressed/gotten worse. And Mark Brewer wasnt a part of those failures on the major league level. So who goes Sandy for putting together an incompetent team??? Terry Collins for 2 straight meltdowns in the 2nd half and the team quitting on the season?
Who gets held accountable?
WHO???
So now you can’t ask WHY the pitching coach was fired? Now people come in to defend Alderson when you want to know WHY someone was fired? WOW.
Oh i know…
it’s the Wilpons fault – no money…right?
Front office wanted Harvey to throw more changeups and curves after his great debut. Brewer told him to go to his bread and butter pitch after consecutive so-so starts and he did great again. DePo no likey. Brewer now sayonara.
That actually sounds believable and could be true. This front office loves to tinker with players and screw them up. I could buy that DePo wanted him gone after showing up DePo lol….
Probably told Harvey “Listen kid who are you gonna listen to (DePo)a pencil neck who pushes paper for a living and never played a lick of baseball in his life or a man who’s the son of a former big leaguer who’s been a pitching coach for 2 decades? I was doing this when DePo was getting his lunch money taken and eating his boogars in class”
lol…sounds like a script out of Moneyball if they portrayed all the characters truthfully and not sensationalized the nerds
Mark Brewer has been a baseball coach for about two decades. He has worked winters in Latin America for twelve years in a row and fourteen years altogether. His termination was mischaracterized by the press. He simply wasn’t retained for next year, which is different than being dismissed for cause. Apparently Mark is used to not returning to the same baseball job. Here are some of numerous regular season stops along the way in Mark’s career.
Buffalo Bisons Pitching Coach
2012
GCL MetsPitching Coach
2011
Binghamton Mets Pitching Coach
2010 2006
New Orleans Zephyrs Pitching Coach
2007
Omaha Royals Pitching Coach
2005
Tulsa Drillers Pitching Coach
2000
Vero Beach Dodgers Pitching Coach
1999
San Antonio Missions Pitching Coach
1999
Oral Roberts Baseball Pitching Coach
1999 1998
San Bernardino Stampede Pitching Coach
1998
Savannah Sand Gnats Pitching Coach
1997
Great Falls Dodgers Pitching Coach
1996
Texas Baseball Pitching Coach
1993 1992
Salt Lake City Trappers Pitching Coach
1991 1990
With that resume the Mets were lucky to have him. Wish I knew some of the guys he sent to the majors.
Yeah! Take that Dan Warth…oh….
Let’s get the truth out here. They fired Brewer because they really have narrowed their next pitching coach down to, drum roll pleez, Oliver Perez and Aaron Heilman. Both would be superb choices but only one can win it. I favor Heilman.
Speaking of Oliver Perez
29 Games, 2.00 ERA 27IP 24K 10BB 25HA 1.29 WHIP
Oddly enough he is dominating RHB, but not LHB.
*rubs eyes*
I’ve had a long day but OLIVER PEREZ is putting up those numbers? FORMER MET Oliver Perez?!?! Damn those Mets! Should’ve put him in the bullp…oh wait.
What is odd about Brewer not being on the FO’s page is, he was the Dodgers Minor League Pitching Coordinator when DePodesta was the GM there.
I am curious what happened that lead Brewer to leave LAD after the 04 year to become a pitching coach for Omaha Royals before joining the Mets organization in 2006.
Why aren’t you more curious about which of our Three headed GM (and never pitched a game in the MLB even once) is creating the page he wasn’t following?
And what might be on that page?
Cause Harvey was doing just fine until they made him do what was on that page and he didn’t get back until he started doing what the coach who just got fired told him to do which appenrntly is against whatever is on that page!
Probably because I understand the Mets have a Minor League Pitching Coordinator named Ron Romanick who did pitch in the major leagues?
Paul DePodesta wasn’t the one teaching Zack Wheeler a new grip on his changeup this July. Romanick was.
There’s more to working with the young pitchers than just the team’s pitching coach and the GMs. I know it’s easy to run and point at a guy in a suit that you dislike – but of course there is more to it.
“While evaluating their organization during the last few weeks, members of the front office decided that the Triple-A pitchers were not always following the strengthening and conditioning program developed by minor-league pitching coordinator Ron Romanick. ”
“The program is designed to keep these players healthy. The team dislikes discussing the details, but insists they are not revolutionary. In spring training, for example, Romanick advised some of the more experienced minor-league pitchers to throw an extra, less-intense bullpen session either the day before or after their regularly scheduled bullpen workout.”
http://www.nj.com/mets/index.ssf/2012/09/mets_triple-a_pitching_coach_w.html
Actually, former major leaguer Ron Romanick is the minor league pitching coordinator and has been the one creating the strength and conditioning programs for the pitchers. Brewer apparently wasn’t following that. According to McCollough, anyway.
You have to imagine that the organization was a little sensitive about pitchers not following those programs given the history of injuries around here.
I just hope Warthan is next.. He is a terrible pitching coach..
Well based on quotes from Brewer himself one can speculate he was at least working with Harvey on developing a change up so I don’t think it was about not using the change up.
Early in May Brewer had this to say about Harvey.
“His thought process at this point is, ‘If it’s not broke, don’t fix it,’ from the standpoint of putting zeroes up. You know, this is part of development, even at the Triple-A level. And if you don’t take your changeup with your other two pitches to the big leagues, then it won’t take long for those guys that are making that big league money to catch on.”
espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/44842/brewer-breaks-down-buffalos-top-prospects
Then in late July Brewer was quoted as saying the following,
“Matt has devoted a lot of time to the changeup,” Brewer said. “He had a mediocre changeup at the start of the season. He didn’t use it very much because in the past he has been overpowering and didn’t feel much of a need to command it.
“After a couple of games, he figured out he needed it; that’s what made him an All-Star, being able to offset tempo. His work ethic is outstanding and he has gotten better from day one.”
thewesterlysun.com/mysticriverpress/sports/mystic-s-harvey-knocking-at-big-league-door/article_25a0c328-d01d-11e1-a56d-0019bb2963f4.html
Eventually someone in the media will probably find out what indeed was the specific cause for not retaining him.
Meanwhile, Dan Warthen is still employed by the New York Metropolitans and been “doing a good job the last few years”. What a joke.