Mets Begin In-Person Managerial Interviews

The Mets have launched their first round of managerial interviews. Carlos Beltran appears to have been the first candidate to sit down with the front office, with Andy Martino of SNY.tv reporting (Twitter links) that the sides met yesterday.

It’s a mite surprising to see Beltran jump to the front of the interview list, though it stands to reason that the Mets had to fit him in wherever they could with Beltran actively engaged with the Yankees’ postseason efforts. The future Hall-of-Famer doesn’t have any prior coaching or managerial experience but certainly knows his way around a big-league dugout. Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweeted earlier today that Beltran is seen as a “very serious” candidate for the job.

Other candidates will obviously follow Beltran into the offices in Queens. Derek Shelton, Joe Girardi, and Mike Bell are already known to be lined up for interviews. All three are said to be scheduled for next week.

It’s too soon to declare this a four-man race. Mets quality control coach Luis Rojas will get an interview, per MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (via Twitter). The son of long-time former skipper Felipe Alou, Rojas joined the New York organization’s MLB staff last season under just-canned manager Mickey Callaway.

There could be yet more candidates to come. GM Brodie Van Wagenen is also chatting with other persons of interest via phone, Martino adds. The soon-to-be-sophomore exec is working through a “big list” of names. Martino tweets that John Gibbons, Dusty Baker, and Buck Showalter have all been “discussed internally” but “not contacted” to this point.