While we have seen other teams throughout baseball scoop up new pitching coaches, such as Mike Maddux being hired by the St. Louis Cardinals and Jim Hickey taking his talents to the Chicago Cubs, the Mets are still in pursuit of their own.
One name that has surfaced as a potential option for New York is Jason Bere, who stepped down from his position as bullpen coach for the Cleveland Indians after he was not considered for their pitching coach opening. The job ultimately went to Carl Willis.
Bere, 46, spent three seasons as the Tribe’s pitching coach. Prior to that, he spent nine seasons as a special assistant to the Indians’ baseball operations department scouting, evaluating and instructing the organization’s pitchers.
Bere was reportedly informed by the Indians that they are looking to go in a new direction, which is why he was not considered for the job. According to Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com, Bere has been in touch with new Mets skipper Mickey Callaway and could interview for New York’s pitching coach.
Callaway, 42, was sworn is as the new Mets manager on Oct. 23. He spent five seasons as the Indians pitching coach.
Pitching has been a strong asset over the last several years, but after winning 102 games in the regular season only to be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, change was imminent.
The Indians’ bullpen with Bere as its coach, posted the American League’s top ERA at 2.89 this year. They ranked third in 2016 at 3.45 and second in 2015 at 3.12, according to Hoynes.
In addition to Bere, another name to keep tabs on is Ruben Niebla, who has served in recent years as Cleveland’s minor league pitching coordinator. John Sheridan did a profile on Niebla earlier this month which can be found here.
