With the recent news that the Mets are reassigning their 2014 hitting coaches Lamar Johnson and Luis Natera to elsewhere in the organization, it makes sense that the club is searching for replacement. Two of the reported candidates are names that will be familiar to Mets fans.

The Post is reporting that both Bobby Abreu and Edgardo Alfonzo are on the Mets' radar for the 2015 hitting coach position. Alfonzo isn't sure if he wants to be a coach full-time, but he apparently did enjoy his time coaching with Low-A Brooklyn in 2014. Abreu, of course, spent most of the past season shuttling between Las Vegas and Queens as a hired bat.

It's hard to say that either option doesn't make sense if they are willing. The Mets enjoy players who know how to work counts and take walks, and both Abreu and Alfonzo are experts at that approach. Alfonzo in particular has brought many a smile to Mets fans' faces since he broke out as an infield regular in 1997. In 2000, his best ever season, "Fonzi" hit .324/.425/.542 to help lead the Mets to the National League pennant.

Abreu's tenure with the Mets is quite short compared to the rest of his epic 18-year career which started in 1996 with the Astros. Throughout it all, he has been a consistent on-base machine whose career .291/.395/.475 slash line makes him a dark horse candidate for the Hall of Fame.

In a nutshell, either Abreu or Alfonzo would appear to be a great fit for a Mets team that needs to get as much as it can out of a lineup that doesn't hit too many home runs.