The Mets are hiring Johnny Washington as co-head coach, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports. He was working for Atlanta in 2026 as a minor league hitting coordinator.
Washington, 42, was drafted by the Rangers in 2003. He played in that club’s minor league system until 2006, but never played in the major leagues. He bounced around a bit, playing independent and minor league ball, with his last official game coming in 2009.
He then became a coach. He worked in the minors for the Dodgers and Padres. The latter club promoted him to first base coach on the big league staff for the 2017 season. He was named hitting coach for the 2019 campaign. He spent the 2021 season as hitting coach of the Hanwha Eagles in the KBO. He returned to MLB in 2022, working as an assistant hitting coach for the Cubs. He then served as the Angels’ hitting coach in 2024 and 2025 before joining Atlanta this year.
The Mets fired manager Carlos Mendoza during the 2026 season. Andy Green replaced him on an interim basis. In September, the Mets and Green announced an extension that would keep him for the next three seasons. Washington and Green overlapped in San Diego for some time, as Green was the Padres’ manager from 2016-2019.
Mets hitting coach Troy Snitker is sticking around for next year, but the club isn’t bringing back hitting director Jeff Albert. It had been reported that the Mets might add someone to the coaching staff rather than directly replacing Albert. Kevin Long and John Mallee were linked to the Mets but ultimately did not join the club. Washington could be the new hire to replace Albert, although it’s possible Albert’s previous duties could be split between Snitker, Washington and other staff members.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
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