The Mets signed a speedy base-stealing threat yesterday, but it wasn’t Jose Reyes.
The team hired former major league outfielder Tom Goodwin as its first-base coach, completing the coaching staff for next season.
Goodwin, 43, hit .268 over 14 major league seasons and was primarily a center fielder, spending time with the Dodgers, Royals, Rangers, Rockies, Giants and Cubs. He stole 369 bases in his career, including a high of 66 in 1996 with Kansas City.
He will take over for Mookie Wilson after finishing his fourth season with the Red Sox organization last season, the last three as their minor league outfield and base-running coordinator. He also coached Single-A Lowell of the NY-Penn League in 2008.
Goodwin was a member of the U.S. Olympic baseball team that won a gold medal in 1988.
He joins the returning members of Terry Collins’ staff from last year — pitching coach Dan Warthen and hitting coach Dave Hudgens — as well as recently hired bench coach Bob Geren, third-base coach Tim Teufel and bullpen coach Ricky Bones.
Wilson, bench coach Ken Oberkfell and bullpen coach Jon Debus were not retained after the season and third-base coach Chip Hale left the organization to become Bob Melvin’s bench coach in Oakland. Melvin replaced Geren as A’s manager during the season.
Now that the coaching staff is complete, the Mets can focus on putting a team on the field. And they hope Goodwin gets the chance to work with Reyes, whom they have until Thursday to negotiate with exclusively before the shortstop hits the open market as a free agent.
It won’t be easy to keep Reyes, who figures to be among the most sought-after players this offseason along with the Cardinals’ Albert Pujols and the Brewers’s Prince Fielder.
The Mets anticipate a slow process in dealing with Reyes, and because of his importance and the amount of money he would cost, are not likely to make too many significant moves before they know the outcome of those negotiations.