Former Mets pitching coach Phil Regan sues team for age discrimination
Former pitching coach Phil Regan is suing the New York Mets for age discrimination, celebrity lawyer Matthew Blit, who is handling the case, confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.
Regan was given the role of interim pitching coach at the age of 82 midway through the 2019 season after the team fired Dave Eiland. In the offseason, instead of removing the "interim" title and making Regan the full-time pitching coach, the Mets hired Jeremy Hefner, who was 33 years old at the time. The suit, which was filed on Monday, says Regan was "callously and illegitimately ejected from his position."
The lawsuit says that the team's then-general manager, Brodie Van Wagenen, told Regan that he didn't get the job because he was "too old." Van Wagenen is also listed as a defendant in the lawsuit.
When Regan was promoted from assistant minor league pitching coordinator to the majors, the Mets were in fourth place in the NL East and their pitching rotation was 28th in MLB with a 5.46 ERA.
At the end of the 2019 season, pitcher Jacob deGrom won his second straight NL Cy Young Award and finished second in the league with a 2.43 ERA.
"Age Discrimination is a very scary reality," Blit said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports. "It's one thing when older employees can no longer perform the essential functions of the job, but when they consistently demonstrate greatness, they must be rewarded as any other employee would. 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. Many people forget that in the first half of 2019, Jacob Degrom had a 3.26 ERA, no where near a Cy Young caliber year. After Phil came aboard Degrom's ERA for the second half was 1.75 and DeGrom captured the Cy Young. Coincidence, I think not.
"Baseball is notorious for rewarding past performances. Ask any Mets fan about Bobby Bonilla."
Bonilla is a former Mets third baseman. The team bought out the remaining $5.9 million dollars of his contract in 2000 and part of the deal included a payment of over $1 million every July 1 through 2035.
Regan started his MLB career at the age of 19 as a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers. He spent 13 years as a player before moving to coaching. He was later on the pitching staff for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1960s and coached Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax. He has also spent time with the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Guardians.
Hefner remains the team's pitching coach and is the longest-serving member of the coaching staff. In the 2022 season, the Mets pitchers were No. 7 in the league with a collective 3.57 ERA.
Contributing: Scooby Axson
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Phil Regan, ex-Mets pitching coach, sues team for age discrimination
