The first two dominoes of the New York Mets’ new-look coaching staff under manager Carlos Mendoza have fallen, with Kai Correa being brought on as bench coach and Jeff Albert being promoted to lead the club’s hitting program.
After working within the Cleveland Guardians’ organization, Correa, 36, joined the San Francisco Giants as a 31-year-old, where he served as the bench coach under manager Gabe Kapler for three years until briefly serving as interim manager in 2023.
He rejoined the Guardians as a field coordinator and was promoted to director of defense, baserunning, and game strategy in 2024
Despite having never played, Correa has roughly 15 years of coaching experience in pro ball. It’s a stark contrast from how the Mets approached the hiring of their last bench coach for a then-rookie skipper in Mendoza, opting to go with long-time manager and MLB vet John Gibbons.
Albert, 44, had spent the last three seasons as the Mets’ director of hitting development after serving as the St. Louis Cardinals’ hitting coach for four years. He will oversee the offense, which has the pieces to be one of baseball’s best in 2026, but the Mets are expected to hire a true hitting coach to serve under him. Regardless, he will be in uniform on the bench during games next season.
The Mets still have an abundance of roles to fill after mass changes stemmed from one of the largest collapses in baseball history. While Gibbons retired, hitting coaches Eric Chavez and Jeremy Barnes were dismissed, as was third-base coach Mike Sarbaugh. Catching instructor Glenn Sherlock retired.
