Reid Brignac: Baseball America’s 2025 MiLB Manager Of The Year
Image credit: Reid Brignac (right) (Mike Janes/Four Seam Images)
Two weeks into the Eastern League season, the Binghamton Rumble Ponies had as many postponements as wins. They had five of each thanks to unforgiving April weather in the Northeast.
The Mets’ Double-A affiliate actually started the season in worse shape than that. They went 3-6 before reeling off an eight-game winning streak to set the stage for the most successful season in Binghamton franchise history.
The Rumble Ponies went 90-46, including a 20-3 stretch at one point, and set a franchise record for wins. Binghamton defeated Somerset and Erie in the playoffs to win its first Eastern League championship since 2014.
At the center of Binghamton’s success was Reid Brignac, our pick as Minor League Manager of the Year.
The 39-year-old Brignac sensed early in the season that the Rumble Ponies could be destined for big things.
“We were clicking on all cylinders,” Brignac said. “The pitching, the hitting and the pre-game preparation were all outstanding. The attention to detail was excellent. The players were ready to play every night.
“They worked on org goals pre-game, but once the game started they were playing for each other.”
Binghamton’s 2.96 ERA was the second-lowest in the full-season minor leagues. Their pitchers struck out 30% of batters, far and away the highest rate in the minors. They walked 8.7% of batters, the fourth-lowest rate among 120 teams.
Four pitchers who began the season with Binghamton made their MLB debuts with the Mets in 2025: starters Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong and Jonathan Pintaro and reliever Alex Carrillo.
To compensate for the promotions of key pitchers, Binghamton turned to 23-year-old righthander Jack Wenninger, who started both of the Rumble Ponies’ clinching games in the EL playoffs, going 2-0 while striking out 20, walking three and allowing four hits in 11 innings.
“He was dominating all year,” Brignac said of Wenninger. “He was our most consistent pitcher all season and he got better as the year went on.”
A trio of 2024 draft picks—Jonathan Santucci, Will Watson and R.J. Gordon—proved they were up to the challenge in their first full pro seasons by helping Binghamton continue its winning ways in the second half.
Binghamton hitters finished second in the Eastern League in OPS and second in runs, but by the time the playoffs rolled around, outfielder Carson Benge, shortstop Jett Williams and first baseman Ryan Clifford had been promoted to Triple-A.
No matter. Outfielders AJ Ewing, third baseman Jacob Reimer and catcher Chris Suero arrived and helped keep the lineup running. In all, nine of the Mets’ top 10 prospects spent time at Binghamton.
“There is a challenge when you have guys who go up,” Brignac said, “but I believe we approach it the same way: with a ‘next man up’ mentally. They have stuff to work on and stuff to get better at. We’re very attention-to-detail in those areas.
“When you have a group of guys seeing how fast other players are moving, it’s easy for them to say, ‘(The coaches) are here to help us and get us to MLB as quickly as possible.’
“We took pride in getting guys promoted, and then helping the next wave not skip a beat at Double-A.”
The Mets hired Brignac in 2020. He was set to manage Low-A Columbia that season before the pandemic wiped everything away. He landed at Low-A St. Lucie in 2021 before climbing directly to Binghamton in 2022.
Brignac’s first Rumble Ponies team finished in last place at 53-83. The 2022 team lacked depth but not starpower. Francisco Alvarez, Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio all embellished their prospect bona fides in Binghamton that season.
“Building relationships with players is the most important thing for me,” Brignac said. “I truly care about these guys—all of them. We as a staff went all-in building relationships with players. That’s where it starts.
“You earn their trust, then attack their goals. This year we did a great job in terms of preparation and communication before games—in our meetings with hitters and pitchers. We really want to be as prepared as we can be. We want to show guys how to prepare, how to plan and where to take advantage of opponents.”
As a player, Brignac was a star shortstop prospect who was drafted in 2004 and made his MLB debut in 2008. He played for six teams in parts of nine big league seasons.
In his current role, he drew inspiration from managers he played for, including Joe Maddon in Tampa Bay, Walt Weiss in Colorado and Ryne Sandberg in Philadelphia. When Brignac first moved from playing to the dugout, he credits long-time minor league managers Tim Teufel and Kevin Boles with helping him “learn the unknown things you don’t know as a player.”
Brignac also credits former Mets manager Buck Showalter with helping him develop in his new role during 2022 and 2023 spring training.
Now, Brignac takes pride in having played a role in helping prepare McLean, Tong, Pintaro, and Carrillo for the majors. The same goes for traded players Cameron Foster and Anthony Nuñez, who both joined the Orioles’ 40-man roster in the offseason.
“When I played for the Rays,” Brignac said “(Field coordinator) Jim Hoff told me, ‘Yeah, we want you to play in the big leagues for the Rays.
“ ‘But the bottom line is we want you to play in the big leagues.’ ”
