According to Andy Martino of the Daily News,

“Hitting coach Howard Johnson is unlikely to remain in that role, but will be employed by the organization in some capacity.”

Nothing unexpected here, but I am curious as to who his replacement will be. Many of the Mets hitters regressed under Howard Johnson’s watch, so I’m hoping the right hitting coach can get Reyes to be a premier leadoff hitter again and hopefully gettting Jason Bay back on track.

Newsday also reported what I alluded to in my original post and said,

“There is word floating around that it’s a strong possibility that Larry Bowa will become Terry Collins’ bench coach on the Mets.”

Original Post 10:30 AM

After what seemed like an eternity, the Mets have finally come to a decision and will introduce Terry Collins on Tuesday as the next manger of the New York Mets.

Soon after his press conference at Citi Field, the attention will shift to who his coaches will be. With apologies to all of the Wally Backman supporters, don’t look for him to be a part of Collins’ staff. For those of you who were rooting for Chip Hale, there’s a very good chance he could return as third base coach. And finally, to the Bob Melvin fan club, sorry. Andy Martino of the Daily News reports that Bob Melvin will not be the Mets’ bench coach.

Adam Rubin of ESPN New York has sources who told him Dave Wallace may be the leading candidate to become Terry Collins’ pitching coach

Wallace spent 17 years affiliated with the Los Angeles Dodgers, much of it coinciding with Collins’ tenure with that organization. He was the Mets’ pitching coach in 1999 and 2000. Wallace, 63, spent this past season as minor league pitching coordinator for the Atlanta Braves.

So what happens to current pitching coach Dan Warthen? Rubin speculates he could take over as the Mets minor league pitching coordinator.

Last week there were several rumors that said Larry Bowa would most certainly follow Terry Collins to the Mets if he became manager.

Also, Matt Cerrone of MetsBlog and Andy Martino of the Daily News both reported that Mookie Wilson could return as first base coach in 2011. That said, I don’t see the connection between him and Collins and wonder if this is something that the Wilpons are recommending?  

I would actually love to see the Mets go after another former Mets if at all possible, Dave Magadan, who does a great job as the hitting coach of the Boston Red Sox. However, Buffalo Bisons manager Ken Oberkfell, has been mentioned by David Lennon and Steve Popper as a possible candidate for that job.

So anyhow, based on everything that’s circulating all around the web right now, here is what we’re currently looking at as far as the makeup of Terry Collin’ staff:

1B Coach – Mookie Wilson

3B  Coach – Chip Hale

Hitting Coach – Ken Oberkfell

Pitching Coach – Dave Wallace

Bench Coach – Larry Bowa

I definitely have no problem with Mookie, who did a great job as first base coach during his first go-around. I also love Hale at third base and thought he did a fantastic job and really mixed in well with the players. Dave Wallace has been around for ages and is very highly regarded, but honestly I had no problem with Dan Warthen. Obie and Bowa. Those two are the ones I’m not so sure of. Of course none of this is set in stone, but after weeks of debating managers, shifting the conversation to coaches is definitely a refreshing reprieve.