Former Toronto Blue Jays coach leading candidate for New York Mets staff
Photo credit: LM Otero-AP
The New York Mets have interviewed San Diego Padres third base/infield coach Tim Leiper for an unspecified role on New York's coaching staff.
SNY's Andy Martino reported yesterday that the Mets were nearing a hire for their third base coach vacancy, so it would seem logical that Leiper might be the one being tapped as Mike Sarbaugh's replacement.
Leiper has been San Diego's third base coach for the last two seasons, and since the Padres are looking for a new manager, it makes sense that Leiper would be exploring other options if the Padres' staff is about to get shaken up.
Leiper started his professional coaching career in the New York Mets organization in 1996 and went on to manage several minor-league teams, winning a Double-A championship with the Jacksonville Suns - a Florida Marlins affiliate - in 2010.
Leiper also had coaching stints with the Montreal Expos, Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Pittsburgh Pirates, and the then-Florida Marlins.
Tim Leiper was in the Toronto Blue Jays organization from 2013-2018, ties to Canadian baseball run deep
Leiper has close to 30 years as a coach and manager in the minors and in international baseball, plus he was also the Toronto Blue Jays' first base coach for five seasons (2013-18).
In 2013 the Blue Jays hired Leiper as senior advisor for the club's minor league operations, and he was made a major-league coach the following year - his first taste of the big leagues after three decades in baseball.
The 59-year-old Whittier California native started his Canadian baseball journey when in 1999 he was hired as the hitting coach for the Ottawa Lynx, the Montreal Expos Triple-A affiliate.
He was promoted to manager a few years later and became enamored of the nation's capital, spending his off-seasons there with his family.
Ottawa is where Leiper first got involved with Baseball Canada, working with director of national teams Greg Hamilton to help the national team qualify for the 2004 Olympics.
Leiper also coached Canada's 2006, 2009 and 2013 World Baseball Classic teams and won Pan-Am gold in 2011, as well as bronze medals at the 2008 and 2011 Baseball World Cup.
He calls being part of the Baseball Canada program "the best thing I've ever done."
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