The Mets officially announced their full 2026 major league coaching staff on Tuesday, completing a significant overhaul aimed at fostering philosophical alignment throughout the organization. After the disappointment of the 2025 season, the Mets have assembled a staff that emphasizes defense and player development, while integrating an analytical approach that has made the Mets’ minor league system one of the best in baseball this year.

Returning Staff

Carlos Mendoza – Manager

Mendoza worked his way up through the Yankees organization as a coach before being named Mets manager in November 2023. In his first season, he led the Mets to an 89-73 record and a NLCS playoff run, but the Mets missed the playoffs in 2025. He will return as the Mets manager in 2026.

Danny Barnes – Quality Assurance Coach

Barnes continues in his role, providing analytical insight and strategy support. He was hired by the Mets back in 2022.

José Rosado – Bullpen Coach

Rosado served almost a decade as a coach in the Yankees system and served as a coach for Team Puerto Rico in multiple World Baseball Classics. He is returning to his 2025 role with the Mets.

Rafael Fernandez – Assistant Hitting Coach

Fernandez has been with the Mets organization for nearly two decades. He has worked as an outfield coach and a hitting coach. He was a coaching assistant and batting practice pitcher in 2025.

Gilbert Gomez. Photo by Ed Delany, Metsmerized

New Coaches

Kai Correa – Bench Coach

Correa served as the Giants’ bench coach from 2020-2023. He spent the past two years with the Guardians as director of defense, baserunning and game strategy. Stearns highlighted Correa’s defensive expertise at the GM Meetings, noting his ability to significantly improve team defense. He is seen as an up-and-coming managerial candidate throughout baseball.

Jeff Albert – Director, Major League Hitting

Albert served as the Cardinals’ hitting coach from 2019-2022 after years as a hitting coordinator in the Astros organization. He has been the Mets’ director of hitting development since 2023, overseeing one of baseball’s best minor league hitting programs. He has helped develop top prospects like Carson Benge, Jacob Reimer, and A.J. Ewing — all of whom have been ranked among the Top 100 MLB prospects.

Troy Snitker – Hitting Coach

Snitker spent seven years as the Astros’ hitting coach, during which the team won the World Series in 2022. Like Albert, he brings a biomechanical approach with his exercise science background. He helped develop Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, and Jeremy Peña. He has a history with Jeff Albert, as the two worked together in the Astros minor league system, and Albert had advocated for Snitker’s hiring at the time.

Justin Willard – Pitching Coach

Willard served as the Red Sox’s Director of Pitching after joining Boston in November 2023. He previously spent six years with the Twins organization. Willard is known for analyzing hours of film to maximize pitchers’ mechanics and address biomechanical issues to improve their performance. Ian Brown of MLB.com reported of his philosophy: “Really simple: Throw nasty stuff in the zone. You can have nasty stuff, but it’s not gonna be maximized if you’re not in the zone.” In recent years, this has been one of the Mets’ biggest issues. They allowed the seventh most walks in the majors and ranked third in walks by starting pitchers.

Dan McKinney – Assistant Pitching Coach

McKinney completed his third year with the Mets, serving as Double-A Binghamton’s pitching coach in 2025. He previously worked as the pitching coach at Southeast Missouri State. Binghamton led the Eastern League by a wide margin in 2025 with a 2.96 ERA and 11.1 K/9.

Tim Leiper – Third Base & Infield Coach

Leiper spent two seasons as the Padres’ third base coach and four years with the Giants as coordinator of outfield and baserunning. He’s served on Canada’s coaching staff in the last five World Baseball Classics. He also previously worked for the Blue Jays under former Mets bench coach John Gibbons. His expertise improving outfielders’ positioning should address a major Mets weakness from the 2025 season.

Gilbert Gomez – First Base & Outfield Coach

Gomez just completed his second season as the Brooklyn Cyclones’ manager and has been with the Mets for seven years. He guided the Cyclones to their first South Atlantic League Championship with a perfect 4-0 playoff mark.

The former Mets minor league leaguer — he was teammates with Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil in 2015 with Binghamton — is seen as a future MLB managerial candidate by many in the organization.

J.P. Arencibia – Catching Coach

Arencibia enters his fourth season in the Mets organization, but first at the major league level after three years in the Mets minor league system. He served as the Triple-A Syracuse Mets bench coach and assistant hitting coach in 2025. He played in six major league seasons.