Coaching update: Carlos Mendoza (bench coach) of course is the new Mets manager, and Sean Casey isn't coming back as the hitting coach, so NY needs to replace both of those guys, internally or externally.
Today it seems like they have hired (not quite official yet) a new hitting coach, James Rowson, who has history in the NY organization (minor league hitting coordinator for 6 years), who seems to strike a balance between old school and analytics as well as having history with Aaron Judge. The most promising detail here is that one of the runners-up was Eric Chavez, who has always been very well respected, so beating out Chavez is promising.
"Sources said Rowson, 47, formed a strong relationship with
Aaron Judge when the star right fielder was coming up through the Yankees’ system and “J-Ro,” as players call him, was the team’s minor-league hitting coordinator.
Rowson, a Mount Vernon native, was highly respected in the organization for his work ethic, humility and an approach that sought to get the best out of players’ existing toolkits, one source said. Another source cited that Rowson has for years been against the “launch-angle” philosophy and instead favors a more holistic hitting coach."
Also Rowson was the hitting coach on the 2019 MIN team that set the alltime team record for HRs at 307 (still the record, tied by ATL this past season).