Mets offered first base coach Antoan Richardson double his salary before spurning for Braves

Watch Mets offered first base coach Antoan Richardson double his salary before spurning for Braves - New York Post on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00Yes, I know we've talked a lot and we've written a lot about a first-base coach,

00:03but he isn't just a first-base coach or wasn't just a first-base coach for the Mets.

00:08Antoine Richardson was a base-running genius, a base-stealing guru.

00:14He's the guy who turned Juan Soto into a base-stealing threat.

00:1938 stolen bases.

00:21That's right, Juan Soto tied for the league lead with O'Neal Cruz in stolen bases,

00:25and he's credited Antoine Richardson with that feat.

00:30Really, it was an amazing, amazing job.

00:32So we continue to write about it because Antoine Richardson left the Mets.

00:37He went to the rival Braves, where who knows what he's going to do with Ronald Acuna Jr.

00:42Is he going to steal 100 bases?

00:44I mean, is Ozzie Albee going to steal 50 bases?

00:47Is Austin Riley going to become a base-stealer?

00:50I mean, it's a big loss.

00:51I get it, I get it.

00:53It's a bigger deal to bring back Diaz and Alonso and all the other stars for the team,

00:59and I understand that.

01:01But it was a loss, and it is a loss to Juan Soto, and you want to keep your stars happy.

01:07Now, as I reported today in the New York Post, the Mets did offer to double his salary,

01:12pay him $300,000 plus.

01:15I almost said $300 million.

01:16I'm used to saying million.

01:17$300,000 plus.

01:18And I get it, that's a good salary, a very good salary for most people.

01:24But this is a guy who was really, really outstanding at his job and an important job.

01:31And it's, frankly, one game day pay for Juan Soto.

01:37So it's not an amazing amount of money, as some people have portrayed.

01:42In any case, they weren't able to come to a deal.

01:44He did make a deal then with the Braves, and it's a loss.

01:47It's definitely a loss for the Mets.

01:49It's a loss for Soto, who may lose or probably will lose Starling Marte, who's a free agent,

01:55and Oscar Brazoban and some of the other guys he was close to.

01:59And we want to keep, at least the Mets want to keep Juan Soto comfortable and happy.

02:04So I do think this was a loss for the Mets.

02:06It's unfortunate.

02:08Their offer wasn't crazy low.

02:09It wasn't terrible.

02:10I get it to a degree that you don't want to make the other coaches upset,

02:15although they fired most of the other coaches.

02:19But it's definitely a negative.

02:22It would have been better to bring Antoine Richardson back

02:25and continue to have him be the base running guru of the Mets and not the Atlanta Braves.