Mike Sarbaugh began his career in professional baseball as an undrafted minor league infielder in 1989, in Helena, Mont.
He has remained in the game ever since, and will remain at least one year longer.
The Donegal graduate, who was not retained by the Mets as a coach after last season, was hired in January by the San Francisco Giants to be the team’s Minor League Infield Coordinator, extending his career to a 38th season.
The position is a unique one for Sarbaugh, who turns 59 in April. He will be based at his Berks County home, but during the season will travel frequently to the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento, their Double-A affiliate in Richmond, Va., their High-A affiliate in Eugene, Ore., and their Single-A affiliate in San Jose.
“Not ideal on the travel part, but it’s part of the deal,” he said in a recent phone interview.
The job has considerable appeal, however. He gets to spend more time at home with his wife Nicole and their sons Michael and Matthew, ages 25 and 23, respectively. Both are college graduates who are gainfully employed, but have returned to the nest. (The Sarbaughs’ youngest child, a daughter named Marin, is 21 and a junior at North Carolina State.)
“Because of what I’ve done all these years, I really enjoy them being there,” Mike said of his sons, “because I missed a lot over the years. I enjoy having them home. It’s as long as they want to be there.”
Then he paused.
“They’re not always asking for money now, which is nice, too,” he added with a laugh.
Sarbaugh spent the last two years as the third base and infield coach for the Mets, but fell victim to a staff overhaul after the team finished a disappointing 83-79 and in second place in the National League East last season, 13 games behind the Phillies.
The Mets retained manager Carlos Mendoza, but saw eight coaches depart. Catching instructor Glenn Sherlock retired and bench coach John Gibbons resigned, while assistant pitching coach Desi Druschel and Jose Rosado were given permission by the team to seek other opportunities.
Besides Sarbaugh, those dismissed were pitching coach Jeremy Hafner and hitting coaches Jeremy Barnes and Eric Chavez.
This followed a season which began with considerable optimism after the signing of prize free-agent outfielder Juan Soto, but ended disastrously. The Mets were 45-24 and 5.5 games ahead of the Phils in the division on June 12, but went 38-55 thereafter.
“We couldn’t stop the oil from leaking, that’s for sure,” Sarbaugh said, pointing to a second-half fade by the pitching staff as the primary reason for the club’s collapse.
He wasn’t completely surprised that the coaching staff was shaken up, having noted that previous coaches usually only lasted two years with the team – a contrast to his previous stop, in Cleveland, where he spent 11 years as a coach with the big club and 34 in the organization in all, as a player, minor league coach and minor league manager.
“Any professional sport, especially major league baseball or basketball – it’s a very volatile spot,” he said. “You go into it knowing that, but you just do the job and you do the best you can, and you can’t control those things. That’s what you try to tell players: You just do what you do and do it to the best of your abilities, and sometimes things don’t work out.”
He said he had conversations with four organizations about various positions. His point of contact with the Giants was Kyle Haines, their Director of Player Development and a man Sarbaugh had managed at Cleveland’s Double-A affiliate in Akron in 2009. (Haines, an infielder, spent 10 years in the minors in all, playing parts of the ‘12 and ‘13 seasons for the Lancaster Barnstormers.)
According to Sarbaugh, he and Haines first spoke in early December, then talked on and off for a month before Haines offered him a position.
“After thinking it over, it was something I had never done before,” Sarbaugh said. “It will give me some time at home during the year, so it kind of was a good fit.”
While minor league ball has changed a great deal since he last managed there in 2012, he said the bushes are “part of who I am.”
He plans to report to the Giants’ spring training base in Phoenix in the coming days, then go from there.
Sarbaugh starred in baseball and basketball at Donegal, then became an All-Southland Conference shortstop at Lamar University in Beaumont, Tex. He signed with Milwaukee in 1989, and after a year in the Brewers’ organization – with Helena, and two other clubs – he played five more seasons in Cleveland’s minor-league chain, then shifted to coaching in 1995.
Nine years later he became a manager in the bushes, compiling a 697-511 record over the nine seasons that followed. He then spent 11 years as a coach for the parent club (a stint that included a run to the 2016 American League pennant). That ended in 2023, and set the stage for his time with the Mets.
Thirty-seven years in all. With a 38th dead ahead.
“You talk about going by fast – my goodness,” he said.
One other thing, too.
“It’s never fun, looking for a job, but it’s just part of it,” he said. “I felt confident that I’d be able to find something. I just didn’t know what. I always felt with my experience and what I’ve done in the game, I have a lot to offer. … As you get to a certain age – late 50s and in today’s world of new, young – it’s an interesting dynamic in general, in all spaces of work.”
Interesting enough that he decided to strike out in a new direction. No telling where that might lead. No telling how much more the game will present him, and vice versa.