Antoan Richardson leaving the NY Mets hurts, 1 destination immediately makes it worse

We figured Antoan Richardson would eventually get re-signed by the New York Mets. It’s rare for a first base coach with no playing career with the ball club to become as popular as he was. His ability to turn Juan Soto into a base stealing threat, as well as other players, made him easily the most well-beloved member of the coaching staff in 2025. He was one of a small number of coaches invited back for 2026, but he sounds unlikely to return.

As SNY’s Andy Martino noted on the news, it wasn’t for a lack of effort. Was it money? We can’t buy that. Was it job title within the organization? Maybe so. It sounds like we need to wait until early November to find out.

The Mets will have yet another vacancy on the coaching staff with him out of the picture. It stings to see Richardson leave. One destination can make it worse.

What if Antoan Richardson joins the Yankees as their new first base coach?

Desi Druschel just went back to the New York Yankees on Sunday. Could Richardson, a guy who played for the team in the past, be headed there, too?

Yankees first base coach Travis Chapman is no longer with them, leaving a hole on Aaron Boone’s staff. Richardson should be the hottest commodity on the market for any team looking for a first base coach. Would he really stay within the city and take the same job? If growth, new responsibilities, or something non-monetary is involved, we can't really blame him for leaving the Mets.

Interestingly, Richardson’s lone MLB experience came with the Yankees in 2014 and prior to that with the Atlanta Braves in 2011. Originally a member of the San Francisco Giants organization and later a coach with them alongside current Mets bench coach Kai Correa, there are plenty of connections we can try to make with him. Some are good. Some are bad. How was his relationship with Correa in San Francisco? Is a return to San Francisco, a team with no bench coach and a manager coming out of college, something that he thinks is a job he can obtain? What about the Miami Marlins who employ Gabe Kapler as their assistant GM? They shouldn't hesitate to hire a coach like Richardson for a variety of roles.

It’s difficult to know exactly what it is Richardson desires. Money doesn’t seem to be the difference of opinion between him and the Mets to end this relationship in a few days. Location or opportunity for an elevated position is a good guess. Considering Carlos Mendoza is on the hot seat, fleeing for a more secure position elsewhere is another guess. Even when he is hired by the Yankees or anyone else, we'll have to make our best guesses as to what drew him to that organization.

The trouble with losing such a useful first base coach when it comes to stealing bases is it's not as easy as just teaching players a lesson and letting them run with it; no pun intended. Stolen bases are like flakes, each different from the other. Richardson undoubtedly taught the Mets players a lot of important things about base running. His spot on the staff will be hard to replace.