Former pitching coach Regan sues Mets for age discrimination

NEW YORK — Phil Regan sued the New York Mets and former basic supervisor Brodie Van Wagenen, alleging age discrimination and wrongful termination when he was moved out as pitching coach after the 2019 season.

Regan, a former huge league pitcher who turns 86 in April, additionally claimed harassment and hostile work surroundings in a criticism filed Monday in New York Supreme Court in Queens.

“Phil came into an underperforming pitching staff and immediately righted the ship,” his lawyer, Matthew J. Blit, stated in an announcement Tuesday. “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.”

Regan was 96-81 with a 3.84 ERA for Detroit, the Chicago Cubs and White Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1960-72 and was an All-Star in 1966. He managed the Baltimore Orioles to a 71-73 report and third-place end within the AL East through the strike-shortened 1995 season.

He joined the Mets group as pitching coach of Class A St. Lucie in 2009 and have become minor league pitching coordinator in 2016.

New York fired pitching coach Dave Eiland on June 20, 2019, when the workforce was fourth within the NL East at 35-39 with a giant league-high 16 blown saves and a 4.67 ERA, twentieth among the many 30 huge league golf equipment. Regan turned interim pitching coach, and the Mets lowered their ERA to 4.24 by the top of the season.

Regan was changed on Dec. 8 by Jeremy Hefner, who was 33 on the time and nonetheless holds the job. Regan claimed within the swimsuit the Mets supplied him a minor league contract at lowered phrases. Regan was listed final season as senior adviser, pitching improvement.

“BVW particularly knowledgeable Mr. Regan that he wasn’t being retained due to his age,” the swimsuit stated, referring to Van Wagenen by his initials.

The Mets declined remark and Van Wagenen, who was fired when Steve Cohen purchased the workforce in November 2020, stated he deferred to the workforce for any remark.

Regan’s swimsuit contends the workforce “has further harassed and discriminated” against him by “further decreases in salary, further denials of opportunities which he deserved, and even a reduction in housing allowance.”