Is there such a thing as too old in MLB coaching?
Former New York Mets pitching coach Phil Regan claims in lawsuit that he was explicitly told that he would not be retained because he was too old.
Phil Regan has had a long and illustrious career in baseball. He spent 12 years pitching in the big leagues, followed by stints coaching in college, minors, and majors. While coaching in the Dominican Republic, he won a Caribbean Series and followed this up with a gold medal as the pitching coach for Team USA in the Sydney Olympics.
With Regan’s clearly successful track record, and oozing experience, it is no wonder that the New York Mets turned to him back in 2019 to get their pitching staff back on track. The Mets had struggled that season and had a team 4.67 ERA when Dave Eiland was let go. Regan was brought in and the bullpen’s ERA rose to 4.24 by the end of the season.
Expecting to get the job full time, particularly when the club saw immediate results from his hiring, Regan was passed by in favor of Jeremy Hefner. The rub? Age, it appears. Regan was 82 years old at the time, and Hefner was 33.
Now, Regan has decided to lodge a complaint, launching an age discrimination lawsuit. His attorney, Matthew J Blit released a statement which read in part, “Phil came into an underperforming pitching staff and immediately righted the ship. He helped lower the team ERA and brought the staff back to where it was supposed to be. Instead of rewarding him for his masterful performance he was tossed aside because of his age.”
Acording to the lawsuit, there was no doubt about the reason that he was not hired by the Mets. “(Then-Mets General Manager) BVW (Brodie Van Wagenen) specifically informed Mr. Regan that he wasn’t being retained because of his age.”
Regan was then told that they would bring him back if they were unable to find “the young pitching coach” that they were looking for.
“Van Wagenen acknowledged the ‘tremendous’ job that Mr. Regan performed during his tenure as Mets Pitching Coach in 2019, but stated to Mr. Regan that the Mets felt that he was ‘too old’ and that they wanted a ‘younger’ pitching coach who would ‘be around long term.’”
Steve Cohen’s first act as owner was to fire Van Wagenen within hours of purchasing the Mets.
Regan continued to work in the Mets organization as a minor-league pitching coordinator through the 2022 season, when they made the decision to not retain him.
Both the Mets and Van Wagenen have declined to comment on the litigation.