New York Mets get surprise win in personnel battle with Yankees

Eric Chavez is trading in his New York Yankees pinstripes for New York Mets orange and blue.

Chavez, who logged 171 games as a player with the Yankees during the 2011 and 2012 seasons, was announced as the assistant hitting coach for the Yankees on December 22. However, just a little more than two weeks later, the New York Mets dropped a bombshell, hiring Chavez away from the Yankees and installing him as the team’s new hitting coach.

Eric Chavez leaving the New York Yankees for the New York Mets adds a new wrinkle to the rivalry

Chavez’s move from the Yankees to the Mets should not come as a complete shock. After all, the Yankees did give the Mets permission to interview him and leaving a position for a promotion is also certainly not unheard of in any industry. However, the Mets swooping in on Chavez before the ink was even dry on his Yankees contract is likely a move that has Yankees brass steaming.

Now the question becomes who will replace Chavez with the Yankees as well as exactly what role Chavez will have at Citi Field. According to reports, the Mets could have as many as three hitting coaches for the 2022 season, so we’ll likely have to wait to see exactly who has what responsibilities under first-year manager Buck Showalter.

The Mets have certainly made more noise this offseason than their crosstown rivals, signing starting pitcher Max Scherzer to a record deal and taking steps to ramp up the offense with Mark Canha, Eduardo Escobar, and Starling Marte. Those deals come under new general manager Billy Eppler, who was an assistant general manager with the Yankees during Chavez’s playing time there. With the Los Angeles Angels, Eppler hired Chavez as a special assistant and later established him as the franchise’s Triple-A manager in Salt Lake City.

And the Mets are saying the team’s hiring spree isn’t over, promising some excitement with the upcoming announcement of who will be the team’s bench coach.

Relationships matter, as do promotions. The Yankees found this out the hard way in losing a personnel battle with the Mets on Thursday.