Dave Jauss hired by Mets to be Luis Rojas' bench coach, sources say
Pittsburgh Pirates coach Dave Jauss walks past the batting cages during baseball spring training, Friday, Feb. 16, 2018, in Bradenton, Fla. Credit: AP/John Minchillo
A productive weekend for the Mets continued Sunday with the news that they chose baseball lifer Dave Jauss as their new bench coach.
Sources told Newsday that the team tapped Jauss, who worked most recently as a pro scout for the Yankees, as the right-hand man for manager Luis Rojas.
This actually marks a return to the Mets for Jauss, who was Jerry Manuel’s bench coach in 2010 and the organization’s coordinator of staff development in 2011. He interviewed for the Mets’ managerial opening after the 2010 season, when Sandy Alderson, in his first weeks as general manager, eventually decided on Terry Collins.
Jauss, 63, has spent more than three decades in professional baseball. He has worked as a bench coach for the Pirates, Orioles and Dodgers; as a scout, coach and administrator for the Red Sox; and as a minor-league manager for the Expos, among other jobs.
He will be the Mets’ fifth bench coach in five years following Hensley Meulens (2020), Jim Riggleman (2019), Gary DiSarcina (2018) and Dick Scott (2016-17).
The Mets parted with Meulens last month. He had been hired to work with manager Carlos Beltran last offseason, but when the Mets made the switch to Rojas, they kept Meulens for the season.
The fate of the rest of Rojas’ 2021 coaching staff is uncertain. Bench coach was the only known opening, but the Mets have not commented on the status of the others, including DiSarcina (third base/infield), Chili Davis (hitting), Tom Slater and Ryan Ellis (assistant hitting), Jeremy Hefner (pitching), Jeremy Accardo (assistant pitching), Tony DeFrancesco (first base/outfield), Ricky Bones (bullpen) and Brian Schneider (quality control/catcher).
Bringing Jauss back was part of a busy few days for Alderson, now the Mets’ president. He spent Saturday hiring Jared Porter as GM and agreeing to a four-year contract with catcher James McCann
