The New York Mets have named former MLB shortstop Dick Scott as Terry Collins’ new bench coach, the team announced this afternoon.
Scott, 53, was the team’s Director of Player Development under Sandy Alderson since 2013, after initially replacing Terry Collins as the Minor League Field Coordinator when he became Mets manager.
He is very highly regarded by the front office, and rightfully so. Under his watch the Mets have seen an incredible pipeline of top prospects making successful transitions to the big-league team and exceeding expectations.
Scott played ten seasons as a minor leaguer with just three major league games under his belt, and retired as a player after the 1989 season. He went on to do some coaching for the A’s and D’Backs before becoming the player development director for the Blue Jays from 2001-2009.
This means Pedro Lopez and Tim Teufel will return to their previous duties; Double-A manager and third base coach respectively.
And as Adam Rubin pointed out, the Mets now have no former catchers among their coaching staff.
Previous Report
Puerto Rican reporter Joel Ortiz Rivera caught up with Double-A Binghamton manager Pedro Lopez yesterday, where he is spending the Winter vacationing with his family.
Lopez, who is a strong candidate to fill the bench coach job that was previously held by Bob Geren, was formally interviewed for the position by Terry Collins and others on Monday at Citi Field.
“The interview went very well. I was a little anxious at first but the atmosphere was very casual,” Lopez said. He told Rivera that Terry Collins called him two weeks ago to ask him if he had any interest in the position.
“It was a privilege and an honor to be asked and considered,” added Lopez who traveled to New York and was confident he did a good job and did the best he could.
“It’s a job that requires a lot of commitment and preparation, and in a lighthearted moment I told Terry I was ready and was not going to make him look bad.”
Collins told Lopez that he would communicate the final decision to him within days and that several other candidates had been interviewed for the position including third-base coach Tim Teufel.
Sounds like a decision is close.
