SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Syracuse Mets will have a new manager for the 2020 season.
Tony DeFrancesco, who managed the team during its first season as the Syracuse Mets, will join the New York Mets as a first-base coach, per the website of the New York Mets. DeFrancesco is joining the staff of new Mets manager Carlos Beltran.
“Anytime a player or staff gets called up to the Major League team, I am always thrilled. Tony will do a great job,” Jason Smorol, general manager of the Syracuse Mets, tells CNYBJ in an email message.
The team will make an announcement once it learns who the new manager will be, he adds.
DeFrancesco will be the only member of the Mets coaching staff with big league managerial experience, having spent 41 games as the Astros’ interim manager in 2012. Since 2018, he has been the Mets’ manager in Triple-A, “where he was popular with players,” the team contends.
A longtime minor league catcher, DeFrancesco will “presumably take over catching instruction duties from Glenn Sherlock, who is no longer on the staff,” per the website.
DeFrancesco managed the Syracuse Mets to a 75-66 record in 2019. The season ended with a 14-13 loss to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in the one-game playoff to determine the International League North Division champion.
Despite the loss, Syracuse had a league-best 33-19 record since the All-Star Break and won 16 of its last 21 games, the team said.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
