10:04 pm: Martino tweets that while Granderson’s name had come up in initial discussions, he is not expected to interview for the position.
9:49 pm: Robert Murray of FanSided reports (on Twitter) that longtime big league outfielder Curtis Granderson is also under consideration for the Mets. The 40-year-old announced his retirement from playing in 2020 following a 16-year big league career that included a trio of All-Star appearances and a Silver Slugger Award.
Granderson had emerged as a respected veteran presence in clubhouses over the course of his career. He currently serves as the president of the Players Alliance, a nonprofit organization aimed at increasing accessibility within the sport for Black athletes. Granderson played four seasons with the Mets during team president Sandy Alderson’s time as the club’s GM. Prior to that, he spent four years with the Yankees — a stint that overlapped with Eppler’s time in the club’s front office.
6:35 pm: The Mets declined an option to bring back skipper Luis Rojas shortly after the end of the 2021 season. Two months later, they remain without a manager. After spending a significant chunk of the early offseason in the search for a new GM that eventually landed Billy Eppler, the Mets turned their attention to the player market last week in advance of the lockout. With clubs barred from making major league transactions for the duration of the work stoppage, the Mets and the Athletics, the other team currently without a manager, figure to zero in on those respective searches in short order.
Andy Martino of SNY reports some preliminary candidates, naming Astros bench coach Joe Espada, Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro, Pirates bench coach Don Kelly and former MLB managers Buck Showalter and Brad Ausmus among those under early consideration. Martino cautions that’s not an exhaustive list, and it’s not clear whether everyone in that group will get an interview.
No one from that group registers as much of a surprise. None of Espada, Quatraro or Kelly has managed at the big league level, but they’ve all been rumored as part of searches elsewhere. Espada, 46, has been the bench coach in Houston for the past four seasons, working underneath both A.J. Hinch and Dusty Baker. He’s interviewed for a few different managerial openings in recent years and at one point even looked to be the favorite for the Giants job that eventually went to Gabe Kapler.
Quatraro’s name has come up a few times over the past couple offseasons. Kevin Cash’s top lieutenant over the last three years in Tampa Bay, the 48-year-old Quatraro has interviewed with the Giants, Pirates and Tigers in winters past and was reportedly a finalist for the Pittsburgh job that went to Derek Shelton. Kelly has worked underneath Shelton in the Steel City over the past two seasons. The 41-year-old interviewed with the Tigers and Red Sox last offseason and was reported to be among the top handful under consideration for the job that went to Alex Cora.
Showalter and Ausmus, meanwhile, come with significant managerial experience. The former has been one of the more accomplished skippers of the past couple decades. Showalter, now 65, landed his first big league managerial job with the Yankees in 1992. He spent four years in the Bronx, managed the D-Backs from 1998-2000, the Rangers from 2003-06 and the Orioles from 2010-18.
Over his career, Showalter won Manager of the Year Awards at three of those four stops. He’s overseen five playoff clubs (including three division winners), taking the 2014 Orioles to the AL Championship Series. Showalter hasn’t managed since being dismissed by Baltimore after the 2018 campaign, but he’s continued to express openness to a return to the dugout.
Ausmus, meanwhile, has managed at two separate stints. He spent the 2014-17 campaigns at the helm of the Tigers, then managed the Angels in 2019. That stint in Anaheim overlapped with Eppler’s tenure as Angels’ GM, fueling immediate speculation upon the latter’s hiring with the Mets that he could look to bring Ausmus to Queens.
Prior to that stint as skipper, Ausmus spent the 2018 season as a member of the Los Angeles front office. Eppler’s Angels fired Ausmus after just one season in the managerial chair, but it was reported at the time that call was made by owner Arte Moreno (perhaps not coincidentally just one day after it was announced Joe Maddon was leaving the Cubs).
In before the LolMets.
Oswaldo José Guillén Barrios should be on this list
I guess the Mets plan was to build a star laden roster so they could draw in a manager. That’s an interesting tactic I’ve never seen before. I’ve seen prolific managers want to manage a good team but they were all built under the previous manager.
Are you the Mets missed wars new account?
‘Star laden’, sure, but their rotation still needs a lot of work 3-5 plus they just lost their best reliever in Loup.
The Mets need Ozzie Guillen
I love the Grandy Man. Would hire him in a second. Also like Walt Weiss.
Joe McEwan or Robin Ventura would be fine in my book.
Jon Heyman
@JonHeyman
·
2h
Showalter is most obvious choice considering expectations/experience. Other good names: Pat Murphy, Brad Ausmus, Walt Weiss, John Gibbons, Joe Espada, Eduardo Perez, Joey Cora, Ron Washington, Bob Geren, Rob Thomson, Larry Bowa, Raul Ibanez, Eric Chavez, James Rowson, Mike Shildt
I would like to apply for this job! Where can I send my resume 🙂
Buck going nowhere in the playoffs Showalter isn’t what the Mets need
Larry Bowa! He’s 78-years-old and quite comfortable in his advisory role with the Phillies. But he’s never lacked ego or that fire-in-the-belly approach to the game that made a skinny kid with a weak bat an all-star shortstop. So who knows, maybe he’s the lightening rod the Mets need to get over the hump of ineptitude that has plagued them for so long.
DeRo
OJGB?
lt’s deep playoff run or bust for whoever takes on the role. Plenty of fun to manage a team with an unlimited budget, but also sort of a thankless job. If they win it’s “Yea. Of course.” If they lose it’s the managers fault.
It’s the opposite in Boston right now.
If the Sox win, it’s “Oh what a great manager Cora is”.
And if the Sox lose, it’s “Yeah of course, the team just isn’t good. Has nothing to do with the manager.”
Who says they’re a shoo in for the playoffs? They’ve had years of the best 1 2 punch in Syndergaard and DeGrom and they still made the playoffs only like 1 in 6 years.
Scherzer and DeGrom may be no different, especially when they sign a bunch of overpriced free agents every year who do little for team chemistry.
On paper they might be good but I’m not buying it. Marlins still look like a more complete team than the Mets do.
Doesn’t “playoff run or bust” imply the possibility of failure? I don’t see anyone saying “shoo in”.
I obviously misinterpreted then. I implied that he was saying all or nothing but that “all” may be farther than expected.
I actually got your point somewhat I think. But the expectations for this team are going to be high because money. Whether those expectations are warranted or not…
“Marlins look like a more complete team.” Everything you said before this lost value
I think they are more complete. They have a strong core and a stronger rotation. Mets just throw a team together without a care for chemistry.
@pwndroia Yea. As Cosmo said, I was speaking about expectations, not reality. It’s very possible the Mets don’t even make the playoffs. There is a lot of talent in the NL East, and the Braves, with that young core, are still my pick to win it.
Braves are scrappy but their rotation I’m not sure on. I say that every year, however, and they seem to win it.
Yeah. There are definite heslth concerns in that rotation, but same is true for the Mets and their 3-5 isn’t impressive. but I expect that to change.
@VonPurpleHayes. I think it would be great to see Buck Showalter and Joe Girardi manage against each other again. And Buck took the Orioles into their past playoffs with a starting staff of Ubaldo Jiminez, Chris Tillman, Yovanni Galardo, Wade Miley, and youngsters Kevin Gausman and Dylan Bundy. I’ll take Sherzer and deGrom and the rest over that bunch.
LOL
pedey – That’s not true about Thor & Jake.
deGrom had more than 24 starts just 4 times 2015-2017-2018-2019
Thor had more than 24 starts just twice, 2016 & 2019 … and he was not good in 2019
So there wasn’t even one full season where the Mets had them as the best 1-2 punch.
I stand corrected then. I thought they were better but the same argument still stands. They paid Scherzer 40 million a year and it’s hard to imagine he will be healthy all the time at his age.
Well health is a whole different subject. If you’re saying they won’t both stay healthy, that is a reasonable assumption.
But if they do stay healthy? I surely wouldn’t want to face them in the postseason.
Yeah we beat Scherzer/Verlander in 2013, but only because their bullpen stunk and we had two of the best postseason players in Lester/Ortiz and the most dominant closer I’ve seen in decades.
I disagree. It is not WS or bust…sure elevated expectations with solid/pricey roster but we’ve essentially been a joke since 2015.
@Von
Jayce Tingler wholeheartedly agrees with you.
Tayce Jingler is a pajama-wearing non-entity, who was out of his depth as an MLB manager.
My vote is for Tony Pena but that’s just cuz I loved him as a player. I’ve no idea who the right choice is, as I’ve no idea how much actual autonomy the manager will have anyway.
Tony was one of my favorites growing up as a Pirate fan. I loved the way he would catch with one leg extended straight sideways instead of being in a full crouch… and he could somehow still pick runners off of first from that position. He ended up with a nice long career and most of the last half was as a journeyman backup, but for a number of years in the 80s he was one of the best all around catchers in the game.
Yea I loved watching him catch with the Pirates
With Stallings gone to Miami, Bucs ought to bring back Pena to catch in 2022 because there ain’t much for you to “love” with this team.
From 1981-1986 Tony was very good, the Pirates traded him at just the right time and got Van Slyke in return.
BTW – Tony did manage for the equivalent of 3 years with the Royals … it did not go well.
The 80s really did have a lot of great catchers.
Is Bobby Valentine available?
Bobby V. is a good man and he got more out of those flawed Mets teams than anyone else would have.
Exactly my thought
The problem with Bobby is he doesn’t mix with the new generation of high paid stars who are set in their way and have a certain view of self importance – cite to the failure within the Boston clubhouse.
It isn’t/wasn’t media related, although they didn’t help by publicizing the discord.
My guess is he’s better suited for a front office consultant than manager these days.
Why not Schildt? For those of you not familiar with the ex-Cardinal skipper, he’s a true baseball man. He’s developed players, an excellent game manager, does well with the press….never mind. He’s too good for New York.
Unless Schildt is deciding to take a year away before coaching again, I would have to think that either he’s interested or the Mets are, or at least they should be.
just in time for the Phillies opening, hopefully.
Girardi isn’t going anywhere. Until the Phillies get him a reliable bullpen, I won’t blame their plain vanilla finishes under Girardi on the manager. We had something like three dozen blown saves in 2021. Who can win with all that ineptitude strutting out of the bullpen?
This isnt the first time the front office has made stupid mistakes….
Give me buck
Good choice but will he wanna manage with a modern front office breathing down his neck?
If Dusty Baker can, why not Buck?
Well, if Alderson is in charge, he’s particularly hands on.
Joe Buck as manager would indeed be interesting.
Well at least there’s no way that they can have as many problems with this job search as they’ve had for their front office position… or is there?
Can we stop with the rookie managers? Give me Buck. Mike Schildt would be great too.
im certainly not Anti-Buck, but im surprised how many supporters he has for somewhat mediocre results.
Hes far from mediocre. His main problem like Baker is winning championships. Showalter has shown that he can get the most potential from a roster in a season. Playoffs are more about who gets hot then overall managing, though I do think a manager has more to do with winning then most people think
Managers have less to do with winning than fans think. But I have seen managers completely blow it in the playoffs where, because of different roster construction and scheduling strategy comes more into play, so I think I see your point.
Yeah, look at how many championships Bobby Cox lost.
Billy Martin and Davey Johnson disagree
Well, I was thinking, for example, Matt Williams.
Martin was awesome. Incidentally, I just had a property deal go through but I almost bought some land right around where Martin last lived and died. Same tiny “town”.
Grady Little was fired based on one decision, leaving Pedro in Game 7 which likely cost the Red Sox a league championship and possibly a World Championship.
If a manager makes a glaring and obvious mistake in the postseason that leads to elimination, there’s a good chance that manager won’t be around much longer.
Port Crane? I grew up not too far from there.
@Cosmo Kevin Cash 2020 World Series pulling Snell after 5 1/3 glorious 2 hit 9 K innings only to watch the pen blow it. Classic case of thinking you’re the smartest guy in the room only to watch your handy work cost your team a title.
That’s Cora in a nutshell, thinking he’s smarter than everyone else.
All the times he’s pulled a starting pitcher early despite total dominance and a very low pitch count, just because the analytics paint a false picture based on past performance.
What’s the point of even having a manager if decisions are made by analytics before the game even begins?
Yep, Port Crane
I hate to say it,but the most egregious mistake was when Casey Stengel started Bob Turley in game #1 of the 1960 World Series.Whitey Ford was left to start games 2 and 6 instead of games 1,4,and 7.Ford threw two shutouts on his way to breaking some guy’s record of consecutive scoreless innings in the 1961 World Series.
That guy was Babe Ruth.
Stengel lost his job shortly thereafter.
Buck’s issue then is in some ways probably preventing him from getting his next manager’s job. He’s in control. He is as prepared as any manager I’ve seen, he’s great at taking young talent and incorporating them into the team, he’s an excellent on-field strategist. He’ll get into the head of the opponents. All his Orioles teams exceeded their expectations, well, that is until the last season when they decided to collapse and they didn’t need a high-paid manager. He’d have at least four championships (and I might argue one more that Torre screwed up) if he didn’t let his own ego get in the way. George told him to fire all his coaches in ’95 because of the loss to the Mariners. He said no. George fired him. George then tried to hire him back the next day but Buck would have none of it. He built up the core of that Yankee dynasty, which was gifted to Torre. He purposely had Jeter on the bench during the postseason even though he wasn’t on the team to prepare him for playoff baseball.
So the problem is Showalter will take all the data the front office and analytics team will give him, but once the game starts, it’s his game, and he won’t give that up, and front offices don’t like old-style managers like him.
If the Mets are smart and really are trying to change the club house culture, give Buck the job. He’s mellowed just enough, but he’ll still manage with an edge.
Yea I agree with all this
They need someone with gravitas and Showalter fits the bill, much like Dusty Baker being the perfect choice to step into the role in Houston.
Baker at least gets to the WS. Buck has won two playoff series and one was the 2012 WC game.
Why not a Mets favorite…a retired Mets Super Star Chico Esquela! Mr. Met could anchor down the thirdbase coaching job.
Sidd Finch as pitching coach!
Kaiser Soze as GM
Beisbol been berry berry good to him.
Mike Shildt and Buck Showalter should be the only managers that the Mets should be interviewing. Its getting a little bit ridiculous at this point that they are even considering first time managers
Of the 2 Schildt is 100 times better. He only wins.
If the choice is Ausmus or Showalter, then it’s Buck all the way.
My god. I can’t think of two very different managers. Ausmus is a horrible in-game strategist.
If it’s Ausmus they will be looking for another in 3 years as they will be worse then than now
John Farrell. Can’t you just picture Max Scherzer as a pinch runner? Makes my mouth water.
i can do better!
The Pirates bench coach? Who wants anything to do with an organization that loses 100 games a year? Espada or Quatraro are the only guys that warrant an interview on that list.
Kind of sad. May have great potential but stinks by association.
Pirates coaches can’t be blamed for lack of personnel.
I still think Mets should trade Davis to Rockies for right to hire Bud Black as manager. Mets would still have Smith if there is a DH.
My second choice is Schildt.
Don Kelly is from Pittsburgh, at least part of the reason he took the job was to come back to his hometown as he had other bench coach opportunities and has been interviewed for a few manager jobs. He seems to be highly thought of by other coaches, executives and players. I think he’d be a great manager and a lot of Pirates fans would much rather have Shelton working under him instead of the other way around. Well a lot of Pirates fans don’t want Shelton at all so there’s that too.
Showalter is the only one I’d have a problem with. Not excited about the possibility of Ausmus, but if it means that the dugout and front office will be better connected than in years past, I’m all for that.
Would prefer Beltran.
I’d be down for Granderson, too. As long as he has an experienced bench coach.
Yea I think Grandy would be a good idea. But maybe start him out somewhere like AAA or as a coach first.
Mike Scioscia is probably the best option
I honestly don’t understand why he’s not getting more pub. To me he’s the best choice.
He is the best choice. He just doesn’t want to manage.
A. Stupid Met fans would poop themselves (Scioscia hate) B. He probably isn’t interested
They should get Ted Lasso.
I don’t understand why people are mentioning Beltrans name as candidate. He shouldn’t be an option.
It’s a mystery. Why in the world would they want to turn the team over to an inexperienced manager?
Robinson Cano should avoid a 4th PED suspension and take over as manager.
Man this comment section is almost as bad as twitter
You, I and everyone on this website know that’s simply not true. Nothing is worse than twitter
That’s why I wrote almost as bad
Think we are all bored with lockout. This is the most exciting article of the day.
Welcome to the sandbox.
BTW Despite my pitch for Buck, I believe Espada will get the job. Wouldn’t be a bad choice. I really don’t believe they should hire a first-time manager, but Espada has done just about everything else. He’d no doubt be fine.
The BUCK stops here.
Mets should consider Buck or Bochy
BUCK! It’s easy BUCK
Buck is too controlling for a veteran team like the Mets. I think Espada or Beltran is a better fit. Ausmus is also a better fit.
Taking away a bit of that veteran control and centralizing it in a manager’s hands might be just what the team needs.
Agreed, and veteran doesn’t always mean mature, and that clubhouse could use a dose of that and some accountability
BUCK;
Seriously why doesn’t Ron Washington get another manager job?
The answer is as white as snow
Only the real ones get this
Did he have a Pepsi problem?
No coke! Petsi!
While he’s proven to be an AMAZING asset to the Braves, and he’s one of the best infield defensive coaches in MLB, I think alot of GMs/teams are afraid that if he’s put back into a really high pressure situation that he may relapse.
I think Wash would make an excellent manager, and I have faith that he could do fine with another shot, but also, selfishly, I love him on Atlanta’s staff. The same goes for Weiss.
When the night is long and you want to ride on…
Please be Ausmus lol lmao
I agree with you Butt Head. Wash should get another shot but I don’t know if either of these openings is the best for him. Buck would be good for Mets as others have said, and A’s, of course, need someone young and cheap. Unless they talk poor Rick Renteria into rebuilding another team only to be fired when they return to contention
Ozzie Guillen or we riot
I hate the Mets … that being said the best choice for them to win it all is buck showalter. I know everyone is into young managers but he is one of the best
Robin Ventura
I wonder if Eppler is going to reach out Mike Scioscia his former mgr. in LA. With a veteran club trying to win it all in the next 2-3 years I think they will select an experienced manager.
Good point
Ozzie Guillen. Then have a camera crew follow him out to the mound as he’s about to take the ball from Scherzer in a 2-0 ballgame.
I’m saying this mostly to trigger a response.
What about Carlos Beltran?
The Red Sox gave Cora another chance, why not Beltrán?
I’d go with Buck. Bring a little credibility to this circus.
Manage the Mets I will. Not afraid of failure, scrutiny, or an impossible mission am I.
-yoda
Otherwise I am bored with this and will look forward to whoever they hire being fired…it’s the Mets way.
“I find your lack of faith disturbing.”
What ever happened to Clint Hurdle?
I think he’s too old and retired for declining health, if I remember correctly
No, he had the hip fixed. Moved to Florida after being unceremoniously dumped here. I like Clint. Seemed to be a good communicator and was unfortunate situation to be the bag holder when ownership decided to dump salary. Don’t know if he’s completely retired
I think that Clint wore out and wore out his welcome.No enthusiasm at the end.He definitely needed to go as they needed more energy in the position.He may very well not even want to manage anymore.
How about Wally Backman?
That comment is for anyone who lives around here who used to listen to Mike Francesa
Why not John Farrell?
The Mets are probably just looking for a Yes Man for the owner.
Wrong.
I like Eduardo Perez. I know he was a top finalist for the Mets before the ill-fated Beltran hiring. Under a different regime of course, but I always thought he might make a good manager. He will always be able to connect with the Latin players, he’s not far removed from the game himself which seems to be a positive trend in manager hirings, and he definitely eats sleeps breathes baseball his whole life. If you’ve heard him for years on his MLB radio show, he definitely knows what’s he’s talking about. I’d be excited if the Mets gave him a shot. Mark DeRosa might not be a bad look either. Another guy they’ve interviewed in the past.
Kind of a tough job for a rookie manager, with all the hoopla AND in New York. Buck seems the logical choice. He’s been there, done that, dealt with ego maniacal owners and GMs. And, given his age and already accomplished achievements, it’ll be a low stress gig for him.
He might even bring Mike Lowell along with him; Buck seems to think Lowell’s the next great thing, based on what he talks about on the network.
I think he’s got that one right.
Buck Showalter would make sense for this team. They need someone in the dugout that has had success managing before. Their last two choices hadn’t managed before and they crashed and burned.
Wow plenty of other teams fans wishing upon a star that the Wilpons were still the owners of the Mets and not Steve end Alex Cohen and their 17 billion children.
Super Joe McEwing !!!!
Given the dumpster fire this organization has been all year i think they need a veteran manager in the dugout. Buck would be ideal but if not maybe John Gibbons or go waaaayyy outside the box and embrace the dumpster fire and hire Ozzie Guillen
Ozzie Guillen would be taking a dumpster fire and spraying gasoline. We would all strain our necks watching that accident on the side of the road.
Shid I completely forgot they don’t even have a manager yet. Oof
Might as well give it to Bobby Bonilla, they’re already paying him.
It doesn’t matter who manages. When the session starts they should have made additions to where the Mets are a 95-105 win team
Heh, honestly, they could sign Donald Duck and decide to play without a third baseman and you’d predict 95-105 wins, wouldn’t you?
They can have any lame duck manager for one year. After all they’ll win 100 games and the world series easily. Then next year when they sign David Stearns to a 10 year/100 mil contract he’ll being over Counsell to manage.
Buck fills out the card.
Grandyman on the bench.
Please don’t hire Granderson. I don’t want to see one of my favorite players managing this bunch.
Ok, I’ll take the bait: wuh?
Cito Gaston
He was able to manage a couple of WS clubs with ownerships who tried to buy their way to the top
Experience matters
Great manager, but at his age?
I think Don Kelly would be a perfect fit. He’s always been a fan favorite for the Tigers when he played even with all the stars around him because of the way he played the game. He was more of a bench guy so he learned a lot from Jim Leyland and probably would manage in the same way.
Can’t smoke in the dugout anymore
The ole Leyland sneak-a-smoke is still the best.
Booooooo
John Gibbons
I remember him as a Met catcher. Prospect.
Please pick Showalter. It would be fun to watch that fool and the Mets crash and burn together.
I’m old school so I go with Buck who I respect and know is the top choice outside of Bruce Bochy.
Go outside of the org and hire Eric Sogard
Granderson. I’m not sure how you can say no to the guy or not offer him the job. He’s that person.
Experienced mlb manager. But they won’t.
Top 10 Veteran Managers for the Mets:
#10 Mike Hargrove, Age 72, 1,188 wins and 2 AL Pennants. The “Human Rain Delay” was ahead of his time as a player, and ushered Cleveland from laughingstock to contender.
#9. Paul Molitor, Age 65, 305 Wins, Hall of Famer that went from 2017 AL Manager of the Year to 2018 fired…maybe the HOFer should get another shot.
#8. Ned Yost, Age 67, 1203 wins and a WS title with the Royals (yep, that WS!……)
#7. Ron Gardenhire, Age 64, 1,200 wins and the SS on the 1982 Mets! Managed some bad teams, but seemingly very well respected as a Manager
#6. Ron Washington, Age 69, 664 Wins & 2 AL Pennants. Rough ending in Texas, there would be a barrage of cocaine jokes, but he sure seemed to have a great influence as a Braves coach.
#5. Ozzie Guillen, Age 57, 747 wins and a WS title. The Fiery Choice, he would be animated, and he does have a WS win.
#4. Mike Scioscia, Age 63, 1,650 wins and a WS title. Managed for Billy Eppler, and has a ton of wins.
#3. Buck Showalter, Age 65 1,551 Wins, understands the NY media & pressures. Many seem to love him as the choice, and he is a good choice, but third on this list.
#2. Bruce Bochy, Age 66, 2003 wins and 3 WS titles. That’s two thousand and three wins and three world series titles……………..
#1. Willie Randolph, Age 67, 302 wins, best manager career winning % of any on the list (yes, really). Mistakenly let go by Omar Minaya in 2008. As respected of a player as there ever was, Yankees 3rd Base and Bench Coach for 11 years including 4 WS titles. .More than likely won’t get the job, but he’s #1 in my book!
I like Willie and I like Terry… I’m not very popular amongst Met fans
I prefer Buck, however…
Scioscia is an interesting option.
Surprised, he hasn’t come up in the conversation a little more often.
The Eppler connection.
Former MLB Catcher.
Experienced MGR.
I like it.
First, gotta find a guy who WANTS to manage today. No matter who wears the manager cap, he doesn’t have the same power and control he did even 15-20 years ago. Who is going to bench or bat 8th the player who makes more than many small American towns?
Look at Cano playing every day hitting third at .180 and Lindor batting second every day hitting .210. If you are in control and trying to win, that just can’t happen.
Agreed @jim stem, Baseball Managers are given strategy for situations instead of formulating strategy for situations. Same goes for the players. The quality of the data and data analysts that guides the decisions is the make or break of a team or a player. If we believe Sonny Gray, he didn’t have an issue playing in NY. He had an issue with the number of sliders he was being told to throw. The analytics were either misinterpreted or based on inaccurate data. It’s possible that Luis Rojas wasn’t making inexperienced manager in game errors. Maybe the strategy being dictated to him just wasn’t good, either from poor data or poor interpretation of the data. So what do Baseball Managers do in today’s game? Control the controllables, motivate the players, create a winning culture, make the clubhouse feel comraderie first, mentor and guide at the right time to make sure that mentally, the team is ready to win. That’s why Dusty Baker wins. It would take an extraodinary rookie manager to accomplish this out of the gate, and Cohen is clear he wants to win now, so it seems like all the rookie candidates being named wouldn’t fit the position. Scioscia, Buck, Boch, all fantastic options. (I still vote for Willie!)
Yea, the manager takes the blame for decisions someone else made. Thankless job. Well, it pays well so maybe there is some glory
Agreed @Cosmo2, Listening to Aaron Boone when he is not going over a specific in game instance, the guy knows baseball inside and out. Maybe the analytics help him more than it leads to poor decisions, maybe not. A candidate for the Rays, or Astros or Dodgers etc Managers jobs can probably have pretty good confidence that the analytics teams are stellar and the strategy they will be told to follow will be good. The Mets? When Director of Analytics Ben Zauzmer was hired last winter from the Dodgers, the Mets didn’t have much of an analytics team. The Mets have expanded the analytics staff and continue to do so based on the help wanted ad they have on the fangraphs site, but, it’s hard to think that the data driven strategy the new Mets manager will get will be as good as the data driven strategy Kevin Cash, Dusty Baker and Dave Roberts gets in the short term. Seeing how Steve Cohen has spent on players, long term its hard not to think he will put ample money into giving the Mets the best Analytical team money can buy.
Why is the conversation not stopping w/Buck?
Because the conversation stops somewhere else?
Because the buck does not stop here.
Cohen has a deep pockets and will need to find a experienced manger to get to the playoffs.
Did they forget they needed one of those too???
Honestly I think Ausmus deserves another shot.
He had some good lineups in Detroit, but pitching staff was a mess. The one year he had a solid staff they finished 1st. But they moved on from Price and Sherzcher after that. It was Verlander and not much else.
Granderson would be interesting…
Think out of the box , and hire Yogi Berra .
Catchers make good managers. Need someone with previous managerial experience. Someone with ties to the organization to make fans happy.
all signs point to …Joe torre.
Ladies and gentleman the next manager of the Mets is Phily native Mike Scoiscia!
Mets need to think 21st century and go AI for the next manager.
Granderson is great and all Met fans have fond memories of him but the team needs some who has managed before. Someone who is a presence who isn’t learning as he goes. That didn’t work with Callaway or Rojas, even Collins had had limited managerial experience. That’s why we’re seeing teams go the LaRussa, Dusty Baker route for younger teams. Showalter should be the guy if they’re serious about contending.
Are you saying the Mets are a young team?
Believe nothing Martino says. Hes one of the biggest liars out there today.
Here’s the deal all. It’s all about optics in this day and age we live in, especially New York, the new Mets manager will either be a woman or a gay or someone with dark melanin in their skin cells. I be super surprised if Showalter, Weiss, Don Kelly, or Ausmus were hired
The Mets should let a sports writer manage the team just one season. It won’t undo their false feeling of omniscience but the 19 – 143 record , the childish antics and disorganized press conferences can be thrown in their face forever after.
the manager will start spilling club secrets and then realize that they arent an “insider” anymore.
So now news is who we AREN’T considering? Yup, desperate for something to write about.
This team needs a disciplined individual with actual coaching/managing experience. Back him up with the data guys and former respected players as base coaches and instructors.
The managing picture around baseball is as muddled as contract negotiations. I’m not even sure anyone is managing in minor league systems that has what it takes to deal with millionaire superstars who run their own shows.
Can’t imagine how CEO’s entrust the winning ways on the field to guys who have never dealt with running a club daily at any level. I think I’d be looking at guys who filled in as interim managers who have at least sat in the dugouts next to the successful managers for a few years.
George Lombard. Tigers (Dodgers before that) bench coach
tl;dr
Granderson is under consideration
(10 minutes later) Granderson isn’t under consideration
Bartolo Colon!
Holy crap yes!!!!!
He should be the outfield coach/instructor.
Two words. Bruce Bochy.
No dog in this fight but Buck Showalter would be my pick for the Mets, out of this group.