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Mets Hire 82-Year-Old Ex-Sandy Koufax Teammate Phil Regan as Pitching Coach
June 20, 2019
The New York Mets certainly thought outside the box when it came to their replacement for pitching coach Dave Eiland.
The New York Times' James Wagner reported Thursday the Mets were firing Eiland, and they wasted no time identifying his successor. According to MLB Network's Jon Heyman, New York has hired Phil Regan.
Regan, 82, was an active MLB player from 1960 to 1972 and spent two-and-a-half seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, pitching on the same staff as Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and Don Sutton.
Regan's age obviously makes this an eye-catching hire. Not only was Regan alive when the Mets celebrated their first World Series title in 1969, he faced off against them seven times that season.
Some teams could get away with hiring an 82-year-old for a major role on the coaching staff.
The Mets don't exactly deserve the benefit of the doubt, though. A new front office has done little to bring stability to the organization, and a change in ownership is probably the only thing that will stop the dysfunction that has plagued New York for years.
Having said that, finding a good pitching coach in the middle of the season isn't easy. The Mets are four games under .500, too, with a 12.5 percent chance of reaching the postseason on FanGraphs.
As much as improving the pitching staff will help, that won't solve the aforementioned structural issues or address a lineup that's 17th in weighted on-base average (.320), per FanGraphs.
Regan will have a strong level of rapport with many of the Mets' pitchers through his time with the High-A St. Lucie Mets and stint as a minor league pitching coordinator in the organization.
While this move is easy to ridicule, bringing an experienced coach aboard for the remainder of the year before looking for a long-term solution makes sense for the Mets.