NY Mets can take something else from the Tigers before a Tarik Skubal trade

Location. Location. Location. It’s the driving force behind what Zillow says your home is worth. Your mansion in Whoknowswhere, USA will be valued less than a modest bungalow in most Northeast states. When looking for a new coach to add to their staff, the New York Mets need to consider everything as does the person they’ll hire.

Tarik Skubal trade discussions have helped us get to know the Detroit Tigers a little better. We’ve all assembled our own trade packages to acquire the ace. Before that’s even a possibility, the Mets may have their opportunity to take something else from Detroit.

First base coach Anthony Iapoce is not coming back for the 2026 season. As SNY’s Andy Martino was sure to point out, he’s a Long Island native helping us all draw some quick conclusions about the vacancies on the Mets coaching staff.

No way Andy Martino casually mentions "LI native" without trying to hint at something for the Mets

Although no deal has been officially agreed upon with Mets first base coach Antoan Richardson, we should believe the team can find some common ground to give him a well-deserved raise. Iapoce is clearly not going to replace him nor should he make a shift over to third base to coach there.

No, it’s teaming up with Jeff Albert that might make the most sense. The Mets promoted Albert to be their director of hitting development, a fancy way of wording hitting coach. The team is expected to hire someone else. Iapoce’s Long Island ties and experience as a hitting coach should earn him an interview.

The 52-year-old was a hitting coach for the Texas Rangers from 2016-2018 and then with the Chicago Cubs from 2019-2021. He had a hitting coach position with the Boston Red Sox in 2022 and became a minor league manager and later first base coach with the Tigers at the start of the 2023 season. Exactly what his intentions are after leaving the Tigers is unknown.

It’s unfair to measure any of Iapoce’s success or failures in his past positions by the results of the teams he helped coach. He didn’t coach an MVP like Albert did with Paul Goldschmidt and the St. Louis Cardinals in 2022. In fact, most of his years coaching in the big leagues on the hitting side of things included missed trips to the postseason.

There hasn’t been much public headway in terms of who the Mets are looking at to fill in what they believe is a coaching vacancy. Multiple hitting instructors has become commonplace in the sport with the Mets appearing to disperse some of the responsibilities by renaming titles. Becoming a hitting coach might be too much of a step backwards for Iapoce if it means answering to Albert who appears to be the one who’ll have the loudest voice. Still, it can’t hurt to pick the Astoria native’s brain.