Jim Riggleman wants to set the record straight: His title with the Mets is bench coach, not manager-in-waiting.
The distinction is important to Riggleman, 66, who was hired this week as manager Mickey Callaway’s top lieutenant. Callaway could be on a short leash to begin the 2019 season, and Riggleman has managed five major league teams, including the Mariners and Reds after their managers were fired in-season.
“I certainly understand that, but I don’t let myself go there,” Riggleman said Tuesday, when asked about the perception he is the manager-in-waiting. “I fully anticipate that the ballclub is going to pick up where it left off in the second half last year. I know the Mets did some really good things and got things going in the right direction. I just feel like it’s going to be a positive experience and it’s going to be a learning experience for me.”
Riggleman replaces Gary DiSarcina, who was shifted to third base as part of a coaching staff shake-up. Glenn Sherlock is moving from third base to first base in the shuffle, and the Mets are still searching for a hitting coach and bullpen coach.
According to an industry source, Chili Davis, Dave Magadan and Rudy Jaramillo are all candidates for the hitting-coach vacancy. Davis, a former hitting coach with the Athletics, Red Sox and Cubs, may have the edge based on his solid working relationship with Yoenis Cespedes during the slugger’s Oakland tenure. Jaramillo was a finalist for the Mets managerial job when Willie Randolph was hired before the 2005 season and is well-respected by senior adviser Omar Minaya, who is assisting general manager Brodie Van Wagenen in the coaching search.
Riggleman has managed the Padres, Cubs and Nationals, in addition to his interim roles with the Mariners and Reds. He said he is still getting to know Callaway, the former Indians pitching coach who was hired by the Mets before last season.
“We’re going to help each other,” Riggleman said. “We’re going to help the rest of the staff, the staff is going to help us. It’s, I anticipate, a lot of information flowing. We’re going to grow as a staff, but my thoughts on it are extremely positive. … I don’t think there is going to be any issue with any [manager-in-waiting] perception, because I think we’re going to get that out of the way real quick by the way we work in spring training and the way we get out of the blocks in April as to what our ballclub is going to be able to do.”