The Mets’ decision to move on from director of hitting Jeff Albert on October 6, 2026, landed like a little piece of validation for Cardinals fans who never warmed to him in St. Louis.
New York announced the change with a post saying, “We have made the following updates to the Major League coaching staff. pic.twitter.com/anIi2g0Q4Z”
Albert, 45, spent 2018 through 2022 with the Cardinals, a stretch that brought mixed results despite some seriously talented rosters. Hitting coaches are easy targets when things go sideways, and plenty of fans treated Albert that way when his run in St. Louis ended.
The 2022 club gave him plenty to work with. Albert Pujols came back and delivered a vintage finale, blasting more than 20 homers in a season that pushed him past 700 for his career.
Paul Goldschmidt turned in an MVP season, Nolan Arenado finished with a top-three MVP campaign, and a wave of younger hitters took off at the plate. Even with all that offense and a playoff berth, Albert still wound up out the door.
What came after only sharpened the debate. The Cardinals collapsed in 2023, and while no one can say that proved anything about Albert’s exit, St. Louis was still left looking for answers on the hitting side.
That’s part of why the Mets’ move drew such a reaction. New York came into this season with division-winner expectations, then stumbled through a disastrous year, and Albert was among the first names shown the exit.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals tried a different direction in 2024 with Brant Brown and Brandon Allen handling the offense. Their interviews about approach and player development helped give fans a clearer look at what was happening behind the scenes.
The results followed. Jordan Walker posted a career year.
Alec Burleson did too. Several young hitters made the jump to the majors and found success.
For Cardinals fans, that’s enough to make the Jeff Albert era feel much farther away. And with Albert now out in New York, there’s at least a small sense that the old frustration has been replaced by something a lot more welcome: a few signs that the new path is working.
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