Mets add Troy Snitker as new hitting coach but are expected to lose Antoan Richardson from the coaching staff, sources confirm
Troy Snitker, left, works with the Astros' Alex Bregman in 2023. Credit: Getty Images/Bob Levey
The Mets are nearing a divorce with a highly respected member of their coaching staff even as they filled another key vacancy Monday.
First base and baserunning strategy coach Antoan Richardson, often credited with reinvigorating the team’s base-stealing and helping to turn Juan Soto into a 30-30 player, seems unlikely to return, two sources confirmed. The two sides were interested in continuing the relationship but could not agree to terms. Richardson’s contract expires in a week.
Additionally, Troy Snitker — son of former Atlanta manager Brian Snitker — has been hired as their hitting coach, a source confirmed.
The younger Snitker will serve under Jeff Albert, who was appointed the team’s director of hitting earlier this month. Additionally, assistant pitching coach Desi Druschel stepped down from his role and has rejoined the Yankees as assistant pitching coach — a position he held from 2022 to 2024. Druschel joined the Yankees’ organization in 2019.
Snitker, 36, coached with the Astros’ organization starting in 2016 and was the team’s hitting coach from 2019 to this past season, when he was let go. He previously played minor-league baseball in the Atlanta and Pittsburgh organizations before retiring due to injury. He and Albert will occupy the vacancy left by former hitting coaches Jeremy Barnes and Eric Chavez, two of the casualties of the Mets’ 2025 collapse.
In addition to Albert and Snitker, the Mets hired Kai Correa to be the new bench coach. They’ll also look to fill the spots left by the departures of pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, third-base coach Mike Sarbaugh and catching coach Glenn Sherlock.
As for Richardson, he helped turn one of the slowest teams in baseball into a menace on the basepaths. Soto’s 38 stolen bases were tied with the Pirates’ Oneil Cruz for the most in the National League and were by far a career high.
Richardson often was lauded by manager Carlos Mendoza for his ability to communicate with players, condensing information in a way that allowed them to translate that data onto the field.
“It’s his preparation — his preparation for every game. Every pitcher is like nothing I’ve ever seen,” Brandon Nimmo told Newsday earlier this year. “He’s a really good communicator and he’s able to be really personable with a lot of different types of personalities. He’s able to connect with you on whatever level you’re at and then he’s able to relay that information in a very simple way so it makes it easy for you to translate that into the game.”
The Mets’ 55 net bases gained led MLB and their 17 runs created via stolen base far outstripped the next best (three teams with six), according to Baseball Savant. Richardson joined the team after the 2023 season.
“I truly believe it’s an art,” Richardson said of base-stealing earlier this year. “There’s talent involved, but how do you make it a masterpiece? I think when we’re out there, we want to be creative. We want to be Picasso and try to throw something on the wall where it’s like, a little different, but it’s still sexy, right? We look at it as an art form and we try to craft that.”
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
