Jerry Manuel, who after the season signed a two-year contract with a team option for 2011 to remain the Mets' manager, has tweaked his coaching staff.
Hitting coach Howard Johnson, pitching coach Dan Warthen and bench coach Sandy Alomar Sr. remain. However, base coaches Luis Aguayo and Ken Oberkfell and bullpen coach Guy Conti will be reassigned within the organization. Aguayo and Oberkfell had been promoted from minor league assignments in June when the Mets fired manager Willie Randolph and coaches Rick Peterson and Tom Nieto. Manuel added Razor Shines as third base coach, while the first base coach has yet to be hired. Randy Niemann, who previously served as the organization's injury-rehabilitation coordinator in Port St. Lucie, Fla., will succeed Conti as bullpen coach.
Shines, 52, managed the Phillies' high Class A team in Clearwater, Fla., this year after serving the previous year as the White Sox's third base coach. He's a longtime skipper in Chicago's organization. Manuel and Shines have a relationship from before their shared White Sox days. Shines, who had a brief big-league career as a first baseman with the Expos, was managed by Manuel at Class AAA Indianapolis.
"Obviously being a part of Jerry's staff means a lot to me," Shines said. "He's an outstanding baseball man. A lot of things I've learned came from his teachings."
As for coaching third, Shines said: "It's a position I enjoy. Obviously as a minor league manager you have to do that position. I've been there for a while -- not on a stage like New York, but I don't foresee any problems."
