Hudgens DavisAfter a 5-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates Monday afternoon, the Mets have announced they have fired hitting coach Dave Hudgens and released pitcher Jose Valverde.

The Mets offense ranks 12th in the National League in Batting Average (.237), ninth in OBP (.310), 14th in SLG (.352) and 13th in wOBA (.295).

Jose Valverde has a 1-1 record in 21 games this season, pitching to the tune of an ugly 5.66 ERA.  He struck out 10.09 batters per-nine, but walked 4.35 per-nine.  Valverde also had two saves from a brief stint as Mets closer.

Lamar Johnson will be the new hitting coach.  Johnson has been in the organization since 2005, first working as a roving instructor in the minor leagues, and has recently served as the minor league hitting coordinator.  He served as the hitting coach for the Milwaukee Brewers from 1994-1998, the Kansas City Royals from 1999-2002, and the Seattle Mariners in 2003.

No word yet on who will replace Valverde.

26 comments on “BREAKING: Mets fire Dave Hudgens, release Jose Valverde

  • Larry Rothstein

    Thank u Jesus. They should have released both before the game. Hope the next is terry collins.

  • Lawrence Sanchez

    We need Wally now! Tired of watching TC struggle.

  • meticated

    Hudgens is toast. ..Johnson is hung…All hail the new regime. ..let there be celebration throughout the land..release all the prisoners. ..free grog for everyone

  • Brian Joura

    If Valverde’s 5.66 ERA was ugly — what do you call Scott Rice’s 5.56 ERA when he has the platoon advantage 68% of the time?

    • Metsense

      LUGLY ! as in LOOGY.

  • Chris F

    This is throwing fresh burger to the screaming masses. Hudgens and Valverde are chess pawns, just like pretending dealing Ike was some sort of huge move. It’s a band aid on a carotid artery wound.

    Virtually everyone needs to be on the edge of their seats. When TC is fired or SA resigns or is fired then Ill believe this is more than shuffling deck chairs on the titanic.

    95 losses is well within our reach.

    • Jerry Grote

      +1

  • Chris F

    This message brought to you from the guy that hired

    Valverde
    Lannan
    Farnsworth
    Rauch
    Francisco
    Atchison
    Lyon
    Aardsma
    Batsisa
    Acosta

    • Jerry Grote

      and has traded away or watched walk away

      Jose Reyes
      Carlos Beltran
      Marlon Byrd
      Ike Davis
      RA Dickey.

      For that combination of talent, he has actually returned negative WAR to the major league roster. Negative. Even Ike Davis, in a few months of work, has produced a positive WAR for his team.

      But hey, we have a great funnel of young players.

      • pete

        Maybe if this team is dead in the water by the ASB we could have a fan ballot and vote for the next crop of rejects the Mets can sign in 2015. Why is it that the beat writers give SA and the Wilpons a pass yet when a player fails he’s immediately indicted as unmanageable and not a good student. What about TC’s masochistic infatuation with Scott Rice? What we have is a leaky faucet and no one knows how to fix it correctly.

      • Jerry Grote

        And here’s what we’ll get at the end of the summer:

        “Once again, Sandy Alderson has managed to trade away a valuable playoff bat as he continues to accumulate young talent for his farm system. In return for two lower level prospects, Bobby Abreu will report to …”

        When it happens, no member of the press will comment that Abreu and Marlon Byrd, through 2014, had managed to hit .290/.350/.430. Instead we’ll hear how great Sandy is at the trading table. And we’ll have another AAA relief pitcher that can’t throw strikes, or a diminutive A/AA 2B, or whatever.

        • Chris F

          Wow, dead on JG. When does the laser beam get focused on Alderson as an over hyped largely failed GM whose Olay real accomplishment was saving the team for the Evil Empire?

  • Chris F

    I’ve read Vic black is scheduled to fill valverdes spot. Hope his control is better.

  • Rev.Al

    Call me when real change happens, like Terry Collins is fired, and Wally is called up to manage.

    • pablo

      Gil, Davey & Wally! Can’t wait!!

  • Chris F

    Also, there will be tons of desire to promote Wally from LV. Let’s just be clear, Even if TC is fired he will be replaced by a similar sycophant, not Wally. Here is a quote I dug up when Alderson was hired:

    “There has been some discussion about the three paragraphs in Money Ball that relate to me, but I do believe that a manager needs to reflect the general philosophy of the organization. That is important not just for a manager, it’s important for the player development system and it’s important for every element of the baseball operation to have some sense of consistency of approach of philosophy.”

  • Peter Hyatt

    Chris’ read on Sandy is correct. He will hire a company man who will hold the company line. It may be because Sandy holds the company line for cheap ownership, or it may be Sandy himself; but either way, it is what it is.

  • pete

    Doesn’t really matter. Any of the young pitchers will do. I’ll bet you Ike Davis is having one good laugh now. As for the manager I don’t see SA giving up control to WB so forget that idea. Was wondering why Fred hasn’t extended SA’s contract?

  • lanzarishi

    I just hope cooler heads will prevail and TC is kept on. The blame should be on the true culprits here – Valverde etc. and all the hitters not hitting in the clutch. Its that old Met curse since ’62. Everything the could go wrong, does! Terry Collins is not 9 players on the field, he is one man writing a line-up card and he can’t hit for the 9 players or pitch for every relief pitcher. Please do not fire Terry Collins.

    • pete

      The true culprits sit at the top of the heap. They and they alone are responsible for the product on the field. They get the praise and deserve the blame, Saying it’s the players who are at fault simply deflects where the criticism should be placed, Who sighed these players? Who signed Chris Young to a 7 million dollar contract? Who signed Bartolo Colon to a 20 million dollar contract? Who allowed Reuben Tejada to start the season as the starting shortstop even though the team tried desperately all off season to unload him? What team brought 3 first basemen Knowing that Ike Davis was persona non grata? SA has had four years to start turning the franchise in a positive direction. What makes you think 2015 will be any different since management hasn’t a clue how to build a team that compliments Citifield?

  • Peter Hyatt

    “Sometimes you make change for change. You try to shake things up. This is by no means Dave Hudgens’ fault. Not whatsoever. Don’t blame the players.”

    Terry Collins

    • pete

      And by no means have e a little more class and don’t blame the fans.

  • Jim OMalley

    I hope more organizational shake-up is in the works but we won’t see too much more until after the June draft. The Noah S injury is also another jolt to the organization and the dust needs to settle on this as well before making another strategic move.

  • Chris F

    Hudgens own words capture the total preposterousness of the philosophy wrought on the Mets by Alderson:

    “Hudgens took a shot at Met fans on the way out, telling mlb.com: “I think the fans are really tough on the guys at home. How can you boo Curtis Granderson? They have no idea how hard this guy works and how he goes about doing his business, doing his job. He gets off to a slow start and they’re booing him? Come on.”

    So it’s the Mets fans who are at the center of his firing not his failure to either properly execute the plan or to concede the plan itself is a hot mess. As far as I know, no one here has been asked to swing a bat with men on for the Mets (although JG, I sometimes wonder if you are the real JG!). In any event the fans have endured ages of miserable baseball, and you wonder why there are boos? We have the 5th lowest budget in the big league staffed mostly by a bunch of 3A players and you wonder why there are boos? But worst of all, Mr Hudgens, your implication (as well as the miserable comments by Collins post your canning) is that you tried hard and so did Grandy, and that if we knew how hard the boys are trying we would in fact cheer for their sheer effort. That’s pure unadulterated bullsh!t. You laid down your angst against Keith and Ronnie, you know, guys that won a string of accomplishments and a World Series. All that matters is how hard everyone tried…gold medals for everyone! What a load. All that matters is wins and losses at this level, either you are a winner or a loser. No peripheral stat, no parsed piece of hitting data means anything. This team cannot score runs in important situations. We are in last place. We are put of contention for another year. The FO has done nothing to make things better in NY. That’s why we boo, and that’s why you have been fired.

  • Metsense

    The Mets have an organizational hitting philosophy. Hudgens got fired because of poor results. He was replaced by Johnson, who has been the minor league instructor since 2005. Hopefully, Johnson is a better communicator of the philosophy than Hudgens and the Mets will get better results. I don’t think, because of this internal change, that the GM thinks that the hitting philosophy may be faulty. It is the same GM that is responsible for putting together this roster of hitters. It is the same GM that rehired TC after three years of the same 74 wins. Most losing businesses have a timetable to recover and show a profit. The Mets are in year four with no indication that in year four the major league team is competitive or profitable. There has been restructuring but no influx of any capital. This is another indication of status quo, or as Chris F has coined it, shuffling of the deck chairs on the Titanic.

  • steevy

    Also Mr Hudgens,the team stinks at home in particular and has for years.A true fan has to boo,the only voice we have,along with simply not coming to the ballpark altogether.Jerk.

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