In early January, the Columbia Fireflies – the Class-A affiliate of the New York Mets – announced their coaching staff for the upcoming 2020 season.
Comprised of an entirely new staff, the Fireflies will be led by first-time manager Reid Brignac.
Brignac, 34, spent nine years in the majors with six different organizations from 2008-2016. He was selected 45th overall out of St. Amant High School in Louisiana by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2004.
The versatile infielder appeared on Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospects list four times, with his highest ranking coming in 2006 (17th-best prospect).
Bouncing between the minors and majors for several seasons, Brignac got regular at-bats with the Rays in 2010, appearing in a career-high 113 games while primarily playing middle infield. He posted a +5 DRS in 340.2 innings at shortstop and a +2 DRS in 389.1 innings at second in 2010, with a 1.5 fWAR (7th-best among Tampa Bay position players).
After spending parts of five seasons with the Rays from 2008-12, Brignac would bounce around the next three years. He spent time with the Colorado Rockies, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves from 2013-16. He spent the entire 2017 season with the Fresno Grizzles, the Astros Triple-A club. He signed a minor-league deal with the Washington Nationals in 2018 but was released prior to the start of the season.
His last professional stop would be with the New Britain Bees, formerly of the Atlantic League. In 61 games with the Bees, Brignac hit .295 while playing shortstop.
Brignac announced his retirement from professional baseball in July 2018, opting to be at home more with his wife and two children.
The nine-year veteran characterizes himself as a teacher, whether it was aiding his teammates or providing private instruction at a workout facility he trains at in Baton Rouge. While he doesn’t have any prior coaching experience, Brignac opines that he’ll be able to connect well with players given his relative young age and having just left the game.
When Brignac met with Mets brass to discuss their vacancies at the Winter Meetings, they explained to him that they were looking to hire a manager with prior playing experience who understood how the game has been evolving with the analytics and data revolution. Brignac sensed a strong collaboration and gelled well with the Mets executives during the process.
With the influx of young managers in the majors today, Brignac is cutting his teeth at managing in the lower levels of the minor leagues. His ability to connect with and develop players in his first year at the helm of Columbia is a stepping stone in the onset of Brignac’s second career.
I had the privilege of speaking with Brignac in early January where we talked about his tenure with the Rays, being hired as manager of the Fireflies and what he brings as a young manager.
MMO: Who were some of your favorite players growing up?
Brignac: When I was a kid my favorite player was Craig Biggio. Being from South Louisiana we had the Cubs, Braves and the Houston Astros to watch on TV. I was always a huge Astros fan. Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, Lance Berkman; the Killer B’s were definitely a big part of my life as a kid growing up.
Ken Griffey Jr. was another guy. Will Clark being from Louisiana playing for the Giants was another big part of my upbringing.
I’ve always been a huge baseball fan since all the way back from when I can remember.
MMO: What memories do you have from the 2004 MLB Draft in which you were selected 45th overall by Tampa Bay?
Brignac: That whole process was crazy. Going from just wanting to go to college and play college baseball at LSU, to getting recruited by multiple schools around Louisiana, in Louisiana but not LSU. Then after my junior season I was having a really good summer and I visited Lafayette and I was on a trip to Southern Miss, and then LSU called and invited me down. I went down and then they offered me [a scholarship] and I ended up signing with them.
That was a dream and goal, more of a goal; my dream was always to play in Major League Baseball. Going to college was a stepping stone to get to the pros and then I had a great junior summer and senior year.
I went to a showcase and performed well; nothing off the charts or anything I can remember that was outstanding, but I had a good showing. I did all the questionnaires and all of those things that you have to do to become a prospect.
When draft time came around it was very important to me and my family that if I didn’t get a substantial amount of money I was just going to take my trip to LSU. Benny Latino, the scout for the Rays who signed me, called my dad the night before the draft and said, “We’ve got Reid picked for the 45th pick overall in the second round.” And my dad was like, “Okay, okay. We’ll see.”
Sure enough, they called and I wasn’t even watching the draft, I was across the street at my neighbor’s house watching on the Internet. I had a couple of buddies over just in case I did get drafted just to celebrate with them. The Rays called and that was it.
MMO: Being drafted, signed and spending your first several professional seasons with Tampa Bay, how would you describe the organization? We’ve seen how well the Rays have done in the standings with one of the lower payrolls in the sport, can you touch on what made the organization so successful during your tenure there?
Brignac: It’s a family, man. It really is. It’s a family culture and they still have the same guys working in the minor league system when I was there. Still there and grinding with the guys. The development side is fantastic; I can’t say enough good things about the guys in that organization and the organization itself.
They gave me an opportunity to chase my dreams and not only that but help me develop into the player that I became. Being able to play multiple positions and be that type of guy was all because of the work we put in during spring training and instructional leagues.
I can’t say enough nice things about them. I owe everything that I’ve been able to accomplish in my career to the guys that started the foundation with me when I was eighteen-nineteen-twenty-years-old.
MMO: You were listed on Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospects list four different times (2006-09). Was that something you paid attention to coming up through the minors and did that add any extra pressure?
Brignac: It was just an honor. To be able to look at Baseball America – they’re in the clubhouses – and to be able to go through them and be a part of that is a great honor. It’s something you want to strive for as to be in those prospect lists. You want to see yourself doing well compared to everyone else around your age.
It was never any added pressure, it was something that I wanted to continue to do and continue to put good seasons together so I could still be a part of that process as well. It definitely never hurt the resume to perform in the lower minor leagues and continue to be on those top lists for sure.
MMO: Chaim Bloom was hired by the Boston Red Sox as their chief baseball officer this offseason. He was a finalist for the Mets’ GM job last year before Brodie Van Wagenen was hired. What was Bloom like in Tampa Bay and for you, what made him such a sought-after candidate to run a front office?
Brignac: Chaim was handing out meal money his first year interning. He was fresh out of college not really knowing the athletic side – he was more on the administrative side – and super intelligent, man. He’s grown so much and I’m so happy and proud of him.
We came in basically around the same time; I believe my first spring training in ’05 was his first year in pro ball so we’ve had a great relationship for so long.
I’ve talked to him several times over the last year on different things. He’s one of those guys that’s put his time in, put the work in and is a super-intelligent man. I think he’s going to be doing a great job for Boston moving forward. He’s a good friend of mine and somebody that I talk to often.
MMO: You retired as a player in 2018 while with the New Britain Bees – what led you to retire at that point in time?
Brignac: I was just at the end, you know? I was still playing well and I was healthy but I just wasn’t getting an opportunity back in pro ball. I was hitting .300 when I was there, I was playing shortstop everyday, healthy and fine. I just didn’t get an opportunity and I’ve got two kids and a wife and I was ready to start spending more time with them and help raise my kids and be there for them.
MMO: Was that something that you had been weighing for a while?
Brignac: It was kind of weighing on me for a little while. In my career, I’ve gone through a lot of downs as well as many ups. The game is difficult, the game is tough and wears on you emotionally and mentally and I just needed a little break. It just happened to be at that time when I was ready to.
I was happy with what I was able to accomplish as a player; even just making it to the big leagues was my dream and my goal. To be a part of nine years with six different organizations I can’t look back and say I didn’t accomplish what I wanted to accomplish because I did.
MMO: Your manager with the Bees in your final professional season in 2018 was Wally Backman. What were your impressions of the former Met?
Brignac: He’s a great clubhouse manager. He’s inspiring, supportive and he’ll jump your ass if he needs to. He’s the type of manager that you respect, and when he talks you listen.
I’ve learned a lot from Wally even at the end of my career. Just his personality and every day he came to the field no matter what we were doing ready to work and get better and to win baseball games. I really enjoyed playing for Wally and being around him, even more so on the personal level.
MMO: It was announced in early January that you were going to manage the Columbia Fireflies for the 2020 season. Can you talk a bit about how you came to secure that position with the Mets?
Brignac: I sent out my resume and Jared Banner [Executive Director of player development] called me right away. He said that they had a couple of openings and were looking for a guy with my kind of track record with MLB experience but also understanding the future of where baseball is evolving to.
They invited me out to the Winter Meetings; I went out and had several interviews with several people within the organization and they offered me a job that night. I was super excited and happy that everything went great.
I really think that the way the organization is going and trending is in a positive direction and it just felt right. I’ve had a couple of interviews with other teams but to sit down with Kevin Boles, who I’ve known from the past, Jared and Allard [Baird] we had great conversations. We were all clicking on the same cylinders with how we’d like to see the organization grow and get better and become a championship club again.
I just knew it was the right fit for me.
MMO: Was managing something you had thought about doing for quite some time?
Brignac: I’ve always tried to help people regardless if it was on or off the field. If I saw something with my teammates that I thought could help them regardless if it was going to benefit or not benefit my situation I was always helping them.
I’ve always enjoyed teaching the game and I’ve done private instruction for a year in Baton Rouge at a workout facility I train at, and I always knew that baseball was my life. It’s always been something that’s brought me great joy and pleasure, and being able to give my experiences back to people and educate and develop and teach is something that I always wanted to do.
MMO: Obviously you haven’t managed yet, but are you heading into the job with a specific managerial philosophy? Are you one that utilizes advanced metrics?
Brignac: Yes, I believe there’s information that’s important to get. I also believe you can have too much information at times, depending on the player. Some guys I played with wanted as much information as they could get, and some guys wanted what four pitches he threw and how hard he threw them and that was it. It just depends on the player.
We’ll have the information for the guys that want it and provide it, and obviously understanding that I played in the analytics times I’m going to be able to pass along the information, educate the guys and have them as well prepared for every game that we play.
For my coaching style, I’m not sure yet. I haven’t done it. That will kind of work itself out. The one thing I can guarantee is my team’s going to play the game the right way, we’re going to hustle, we’re going to communicate and talk on the field. It’s going to be a positive, supportive environment and I’m going to be hands-on for these young men that are fresh out of high school or some out of college that are leaving mom and dad for the first time and there’s going to be a lot of off the field stuff that is just as important as on the field development.
My job is to make sure that these young men develop on and off the field and become model citizens, carry themselves the right way and learn how to do it the way the professionals do.
MMO: Being a young manager, what benefits do you think that has in managing young players?
Brignac: Just being able to relate to them. I just finished playing a couple of years ago and I’ve got a lot of energy. I’ll be excited to get to the field to show them what it takes and the work ethic to develop and to get to the top. I know how difficult it is; I’ve seen a lot of great players who didn’t have that work ethic and just expected it to happen for them and it didn’t pan out.
I’m looking forward to educating these guys and helping them get to the top.
MMO: You and your wife Lauren started the Turning Two Foundation back in 2016. Can you talk a little about why you started it and what its core mission is?
Brignac: Turning Two Foundation is a great thing my wife and I started. We started it in 2016 when the floods hit Louisiana and a lot of people from my hometown lost their homes and the school I went to was underwater for a year. They were out of school for a year and a lot of kids from that area lost their baseball equipment with everything. We were able to raise a lot of money and put a lot of money back into the community, the baseball facilities, the football facilities, etc.
We helped people get their lives back a little bit with different things we were able to help them with. And that was just an initial thing and since then we’ve helped with hurricane relief and other relief in that sense and look to continue this charitable work in any way that it’s needed.
MMO: Thanks so much for some time today, Reid. Best of luck with the Fireflies this season.
Brignac: Thanks, Mathew. I appreciate it, man.
Follow Reid Brignac on Twitter, @reidbrignac
Check out more on the Turning Two Foundation here.
