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MLBTR Poll: Is Buck Showalter The Right Leader For These Mets?

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Just before Christmas, the Mets made perhaps their biggest decision of the offseason (which is saying a lot) by hiring Buck Showalter as their skipper. The Mets have been the picture of instability in recent seasons, especially when it comes to their management team. From Carlos Beltran’s hiring-and-firing, to the Jared Porter debacle, to the Mickey Callaway debacle, to the Zack Scott debacle, it’s been a comedy of errors for the Mets – and with this one decision, they hope to turn the tide.

Enter Showalter, who not only is a veteran skipper, but he’s well-respected throughout the game. If nothing else, he ought to be able to finish his contact without committing a crime. And yet, that’s not enough for a franchise that’s put together a solid collection of baseball talent. Just ask Luis Rojas. This team wants to win, and if it does, Showalter will big one of the reasons why.

The track record is there, even if Showalter carries the unfortunate distinction of leaving two different stops the year before they won the World Series. Championships are hardly linear, of course. Whether it should be seen as a positive or a negative that the Yankees and Diamondbacks both won titles the year after he left is a debate for another day.

Let’s stick to the facts for a moment: He has a .506 career winning percentage as a manager over 3,069 games. His teams made the playoffs five times in 20 seasons. His best season, by record, was cut short by the strike in 1994. His worst season, by record, was his last, a 115-loss disaster in 2018 with the Orioles.

Mike Puma of the New York Post went through Showalter’s managerial history, looking back on his stops with the Yankees, Diamondbacks, Rangers, and Orioles. Wherever he went, Showalter was hailed as a solid tactician, incredibly intelligent about the game, and a strong communicator with his players. The latter may be the most important for a beleaguered bunch playing under the bright spotlight of New York.

Showalter has some of baseball’s best clubhouse veterans there to help him in Max Scherzer and Francisco Lindor. Along with Jacob deGrom, the Mets have the big names to match big expectations in the big apple. Having begun his career with the Yankees, Showalter knows a little something about what it’s like to play under those conditions.

The concern in hiring Showalter would be that he’s older now, and the last we saw of him in the dugout, he was perceived to be falling behind the times in terms of baseball’s analytics movement. Generalizations are stickier than comprehensive analysis, however, and there’s clearly more to Showalter’s time in Baltimore than just his decision to hold Zack Britton for a potential save that never came in the 2016 playoffs – even if that’s the moment that sticks.

The first test for Showalter is filling out his coaching staff. He appears to have made his first big decision by hiring Joey Cora to coach third base. Cora joins Showalter and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner on the staff. A lot more decisions are yet to come. Per the latest from MLB’s Anthony DiComo, Showalter said of filling out his staff, “There are so many good, qualified people out there. … We’re moving as fast as we can, but we don’t want to make a mistake. These are very precious and important jobs, and there’s got to be a collaboration with it.” 

Limited though our information may be, does the Showalter hire have the Mets on the right track? MLBTR readers, lend us your wisdom: is Showalter the right guy to lead these Mets? Let’s keep this simple for the poll and hash out the details in the comments.

(poll link for Trade Rumors iOS/Android app users)

Mickey Callaway Hired To Manage Mexican Winter League Team

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The Mexican League’s Acereros de Monclova announced that Mickey Callaway has been hired to manage their winter league team, according to reports out of Mexico.  This is Callaway’s first job in baseball since he was placed on MLB’s ineligible list last May, a ban that will last through the 2022 season.

Callaway was placed on the ineligible list and fired from his role as the Angels’ pitching coach following a league investigation into multiple charges of lewd behavior and sexual harassment.  The Athletic’s Brittany Ghiroli and Katie Strang (in a pair of articles) reported and chronicled accusations leveled against Callaway by multiple women, including members of sports media and employees of Callaway’s past organizations.  These accusations dated back over a decade to Callaway’s time as a coach in Cleveland’s minor league system, as well as his time with the Indians and Angels as major league pitching coach, and when he was managing the Mets from 2018-19.

Since the Mexican League isn’t affiliated with Major League Baseball, the Acereros were permitted to make the hiring.  Callaway apply for reinstatement from MLB’s ineligible list following the 2022 season, but even if he is removed from the list, it seems very unlikely that any clubs would look to add him to their organization.

Mickey Callaway Placed On Ineligible List Through At Least 2022

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Major League Baseball has placed Angels pitching coach Mickey Callaway on its ineligible list through at least the 2022 season, commissioner Rob Manfred announced. The league made the decision after investigating Callaway for harassment allegations that were levied against him. The Angels have fired Callaway, per a team announcement. Maanfred issued the following statement on his ruling:

My office has completed its investigation into allegations of sexual harassment by Mickey Callaway.  Having reviewed all of the available evidence, I have concluded that Mr. Callaway violated MLB’s policies, and that placement on the Ineligible List is warranted.  We want to thank the many people who cooperated with our Department of Investigations (DOI) in their work, which spanned Mr. Callaway’s positions with three different Clubs.  The Clubs that employed Mr. Callaway each fully cooperated with DOI, including providing emails and assisting with identifying key witnesses.  Harassment has no place within Major League Baseball, and we are committed to providing an appropriate work environment for all those involved in our game.

The allegations against Callaway first came to light in a report from Brittany Ghiroli and Katie Strang of The Athletic, who explained that five women in sports media accused him of lewd behavior. The Angels subsequently suspended Callaway, and Ghiroli, Strang and colleague Ken Rosenthal soon reported that even more women had come forward to make allegations against Callaway. In one case, Callaway was said to carry on an extramarital affair with a woman whose husband found out and made Cleveland president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti and general manager Mike Chernoff aware. The husband also reportedly contacted another of Callaway’s former employers, the Mets, to make a complaint, but nothing was done back then.

In response to the reports, Callaway admitted in March to multiple “infidelities” but maintained that some of the reporting was “inaccurate.” He also denied using his position to harass women, but MLB concluded otherwise during its lengthy investigation. Now, Callaway is facing a year-plus ban, and it seems hard to believe any MLB team will hire him when he’s eligible to return.

Additional Details On Allegations Against Mickey Callaway Emerge

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3:47pm: The Indians issued a statement in response to the report, saying (via Zack Meisel of The Athletic, on Twitter): “Our organization continues to actively cooperate with MLB on their investigation into Mickey Callaway. It is important we honor the confidentiality and integrity of that investigation. While we don’t believe the reporting to date reflects who we are as an organization, we will not comment further on the specifics of the matter. We remain committed to creating an inclusive work environment where everyone, regardless of gender, can feel safe and comfortable at all times. We will let our actions – not just our words – reflect our commitment.”

9:25am: As Major League Baseball’s investigation into harassment allegations against Angels pitching coach Mickey Callaway continues, new and even more troubling details about his behavior have surfaced in an additional report from Brittany Ghiroli, Katie Strang and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

Not only have additional women come forward to reveal that Callaway made unwanted advances toward them, but The Athletic report details that the husband of a woman with whom Callaway was having a consensual, extramarital affair repeatedly contacted the Indians organization and Major League Baseball in 2017 about “pornographic material” sent to his wife.

The report contains quotes from a recorded conversation between the wife and a Cleveland-based attorney indicating that the issue had been presented to manager Terry Francona. The Athletic report also indicates that Cleveland president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti and general manager Mike Chernoff were both aware of the man’s complaint against Callaway. A league security official involved in the exchange is quoted, too. The husband also managed to contact the Mets in Aug. 2018 to make the same complaint with Callaway’s new organization. (That timing, notably, would mean his complaint was filed after Mets president Sandy Alderson had left the team to undergo treatment following a cancer diagnosis.)

Ghiroli, Strang and Rosenthal conducted 22 interviews over the past month in gathering information for the latest report, which strongly support the idea that Callaway’s behavior dates back to his days as a minor league pitching coach in the Indians’ system.

Also concerning are the suggestions that higher-ups in multiple organizations were willing to look the other way due to Callaway’s reputation as a strong pitching coach. A former Indians employee said Antonetti’s claim that there were no complaints regarding Callaway filed to him, human resources or other organizational leaders “hit me the wrong way” due to the widespread knowledge within the organization of Callaway’s behavior. Another called Callaway’s behavior the “worst-kept secret in the organization,” and both a current and former Mets employee made clear to The Athletic that several in the organization were aware of Callaway’s behavior.

Callaway himself was contacted for a quote on the story, wherein he acknowledged multiple “infidelities” but called much of the reporting around his actions “inaccurate” and pushed back against the idea that he has ever “[used] his position to harass or pressure a woman.”

The Athletic report should be read in its entirety in order to fully grasp not only the alarming and inappropriate nature of Callaway’s alleged behavior but also the mounting number of troubling indications that many around him were, to varying degrees, aware of the issue.

Angels Suspend Pitching Coach Mickey Callaway After Accusations Of Lewd Behavior

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TODAY: The Angels announced that Callaway has been suspended.  According to Alden Gonzalez of ESPN, Callaway “has denied any wrongdoing,” thus preventing him from being fired without an investigation.

FEB. 1: Five women in sports media have accused Angels pitching coach Mickey Callaway of lewd behavior, Brittany Ghiroli and Katie Strang of The Athletic report. Callaway “aggressively pursued” these women over the span of at least a half-decade and was part of three different organizations during that time.

The 45-year-old Callaway is accused of sending three women inappropriate photographs and requesting naked photos in return from one of them, per Ghiroli and Strang. He’s also accused of making them uncomfortable in other ways, including thrusting his crotch in a reporter’s face while she interviewed him and telling another woman he’d provide information about the Mets if she got drunk with him.

Callaway’s alleged behavior has apparently been well-known in some corners of baseball, as one of the accusers told Ghiroli and Strang, “It was the worst-kept secret in sports.”

Callaway responded to The Athletic in an email, writing: “Rather than rush to respond to these general allegations of which I have just been made aware, I look forward to an opportunity to provide more specific responses. Any relationship in which I was engaged has been consensual, and my conduct was in no way intended to be disrespectful to any women involved. I am married and my wife has been made aware of these general allegations.”

The Angels issued their own response to the story.

“The behavior being reported violates the Angels Organization’s values and policies,” the team said. “We take this very seriously and will conduct a full investigation with MLB.”

Callaway is entering his second season as the Angels’ pitching coach, but he may not retain the position (the Mets fired GM Jared Porter last month after he was accused of sexual harassment). Before joining the Angels, Callaway served as the Indians’ pitching coach from 2013-17 and the Mets’ manager between 2018-19.

Angels To Hire Mickey Callaway As Pitching Coach

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9:30 pm: Though the club is still yet to announce the deal, Joel Sherman of the New York Post characterizes Callaway’s hiring as “official” (link). Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com also confirms the hire (link).

2:22 pm: The Angels have hired former Mets manager Mickey Callaway to be the new pitching coach, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network. He’ll join newly-minted manager Joe Maddon’s staff in Los Angeles. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale first mentioned that the two sides were close to an agreement. Per Nightengale, Callaway is stilled owed $1.05MM for the 2020 season by the Mets, who terminated his contract early.

Fired by the Mets just more than three weeks ago, It didn’t take long for Callaway to attract interest as a pitching coach, the role in which he made a name for himself. Though he’s drawn his fair share of criticism for his work leading the Mets over the last two seasons, he earned that position on the back of a half-decade of stellar work with the Indians’ pitching staff, which garnered him a reputation as one of the finest pitching coaches in the game.

Although Callaway and Maddon have never coached on the same staff, Callaway pitched for the Angels in parts of the 2002 and 2003 seasons, when Maddon served as the team’s bench coach. He also coached in the Indians’ dugout during the 2016 World Series, when his Indians were opposed by Maddon’s Cubs.

Between 2013-2017, the five years that Callaway served as the Indians’ pitching coach, no American League team managed a lower overall ERA than the Indians’ 3.65 mark. By all measures, Callaway’s Cleveland teams consistently ranked among the best pitching staffs in baseball. Of course, no small amount of that performance is owed to the superlative talents he had at his disposal: Corey Kluber, Andrew Miller, Carlos Carrasco, and others certainly put Callaway in an enviable position. Still, much of the development of Kluber, Carrasco, Danny Salazar, and Trevor Bauer came with Callaway at the helm; when he took over in 2013, Kluber was virtually anonymous, while Carrasco was a 26-year-old who had posted a 4.93 ERA in just 33 career games.

Mets Fire Mickey Callaway

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The Mets announced Thursday that they have fired manager Mickey Callaway. The decision comes two-thirds of the way through a three-year deal for the former Indians pitching coach, who compiled a 163-161 record in his two seasons as the Mets’ skipper.

Mickey Callaway | Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

“We want to thank Mickey for his consistent work ethic and dedication over the last two seasons and I’m certain these characteristics will serve him well in his next opportunity,” Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen said in a statement accompanying today’s press release. “A decision like this is never easy, however, we believe it is in the best interest of the franchise at this time.”

Callaway’s departure from the Mets creates a seventh managerial vacancy throughout the league, as two managers (Kansas City’s Ned Yost and San Francisco’s Bruce Bochy) have opted to retire while Callaway joins Brad Ausmus (Angels), Andy Green (Padres) and Clint Hurdle (Pirates) as managers who were fired despite having time left on their current contracts. The Cubs, meanwhile, opted not to re-sign Joe Maddon after the expiration of his contract.

Generally speaking, the Mets have underperformed in each of the past two seasons, although injuries and roster construction missteps by a pair of different front-office regimes have obviously contributed to the team’s consecutive playoff misses. The 2019 season proved to be particularly tumultuous, as the team got out to an awful start and found itself 10 games under .500 at the time of the All-Star break. A torrid run to open the second half thrust the Mets back into the Wild Card mix, however, and although a Cinderella second half didn’t prove to be in the cards, the Mets improbably finished the season ten games above the .500 mark — good for third place in the division.

Along the way, however, there was no shortage of discord. Stories about Noah Syndergaard’s preference to pitch to Tomas Nido leaked out into the public eye, while Callaway made numerous conflicting statements about usage restrictions on embattled closer Edwin Diaz. Callaway himself came into a particularly negative spotlight for cursing out a reporter in the clubhouse and subsequently refusing to apologize for his actions the next day — only to then seemingly be forced into doing so by the organization a short time later. Former Mets left-hander Jason Vargas had to be physically restrained during that particular altercation, and the entire incident obviously did not sit well with Mets’ higher-ups.

Of course, things aren’t always as they seem in the public eye, either. The New York Post’s Mike Puma reports, for instance, that Callaway’s early insistence on saving Diaz for the ninth inning and refusing to use him for more than three outs was a “direct order” from COO Jeff Wilpon. But, Puma also details some player feelings on Callaway’s communication skills and his lack of hands-on instruction with the pitching staff (despite a half decade building a reputation as one of the game’s better pitching coaches in Cleveland).

Regardless of one’s thoughts on Callaway and whether he deserved to stay or go, it’s become increasingly difficult to ignore the near-constant state of turmoil surrounding the Mets as an organization in recent years. From myriad reports about the Wilpon family’s habitual involvement in nearly every aspect of the club (e.g. Diaz’s usage) to the repeated vague and conflicting medical updates provided under former manager Terry Collins, to the aforementioned Vargas debacle this past summer, a general sense of chaos seems to permeate the organization each year. While one could argue that a strong, veteran voice is needed to command the respect of both the clubhouse and ownership, it’s also fair to wonder whether some seasoned managers would prefer not to be caught up with the drama.

Van Wagenen To Speak With Callaway Before Managerial Decision

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The Mets continue to mull their next steps after falling short in 2019, but it seems some decisions will come down soon. GM Brodie Van Wagenen is slated to chat with skipper Mickey Callaway today before reaching a final decision on who’ll run the dugout next year, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

MLBTR readers are ready to see Callaway depart, but the team has taken its time deciding. The skipper has one year left on a three-season pact. With several other organizations already making firm calls on their own managers, the Mets are on the clock. They also now have a bit of a better idea of what alternatives might be out there.

That it isn’t seen as a cut-and-dry decision is now obvious. Otherwise, the plug would already have been pulled. And perhaps that’s a reasonable stance. Callaway did enjoy the confidence of Van Wagenen and ownership all year long. He rewarded the decision not to fire him in the middle of the season — our readers were out for blood then, too — by overseeing a strong performance down the stretch. It wasn’t enough, but the front office can’t reasonably have expected more under the circumstances.

The decision on Callaway is obviously of great importance to the organization. But it’s also one that shouldn’t be allowed to distract from the many other challenges facing Van Wagenen and company. It remains to be seen how the club will address its needs after having already dedicated significant resources to building out a roster that wasn’t quite good enough in the just-completed campaign.

Managerial/Coaching Notes: Callaway, Cubs, Ibanez, Bucs, Shelton, Reds

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Let’s take a look at several managerial and coaching updates from around the majors…

  • The Mets could decide beleaguered manager Mickey Callaway’s fate as soon as Wednesday, David Lennon of Newsday reports. Callaway just wrapped up his second season in New York, which improved from 77-85 to 86-76. The Callaway-led Mets were a mess prior to a second-half tear, though, and indications are the ax will fall on him in the wake of a another non-playoff season.
  • The Cubs will consider Raul Ibanez for the managerial post Joe Maddon just lost, according to Jon Morosi of MLB.com. Ibanez, a former major league outfielder, has no managerial experience. However, the 47-year-old has stayed in the game since his playing days ended in 2014 by serving as a special assistant in the Dodgers’ front office and a broadcaster. The work Ibanez has done in his post-playing career has made him an appealing possibility to skipper-needy teams over the past couple years, though he turned down managerial interview requests from clubs last offseason.
  • The Pirates, who fired manager Clint Hurdle on Sunday, will “likely” consider hiring Twins bench coach Derek Shelton as his replacement, Morosi tweets. Currently in his second season with the Twins, the 49-year-old Shelton has garnered extensive coaching experience over the past decade and a half. Plus, as Morosi notes, Shelton has an important Pittsburgh connection in general manager Neal Huntington. The two of them worked in the Cleveland organization together from 2005-07.
  • The Reds’ player development system is undergoing significant changes, Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer details. Outfield/baserunning coordinator Billy Hatcher, Triple-A manager Jody Davis, Triple-A pitching coach Jeff Fassero, Double-A pitching coach Danny Darwin and hitting coordinator Milt Thompson are all on the way out. The longest-tenured Red of the bunch was Hatcher, who was one of the organization’s coaches for 14 years.

Managerial Rumors: Angels, Callaway, Bochy

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The Padres have already moved on from skipper Andy Green, whereas Ned Yost has announced that this’ll be his final year managing the Royals. There’s been some recent chatter surrounding the fate of Pirates manager Clint Hurdle, as well, which stemmed largely from none other than Hurdle himself. It’s the time of year that’s typically filled with managerial/coaching/front office turnover, and there won’t be any shortage of rumblings on that front over the next several days. Here’s some of the latest from that arena…

  • Although Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic recently suggested that the Angels would “consider” moving on from Brad Ausmus after just one season in order to pursue Joe Maddon (should he become available, as many expect), Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times writes in her latest Angels mailbag column that Ausmus is will be back in 2020. Torres adds that she’s received no indication that any members of the coaching staff are in particular danger of being replaced, either. Ausmus is signed through the 2021 season under a three-year contract he agreed upon just last offseason.
  • The Mets’ second-half Wild Card push fell short but was enough to at least raise speculation about Mickey Callaway surviving the offseason and returning for a third year. Nevertheless, SNY’s Andy Martino writes that multiple people connected to the team will still be surprised if Callaway is retained after the season. New York won’t make any final announcement on the matter until after the season has wrapped up, however, and team decision-makers are expected to discuss the manager’s future into early next week. Callaway himself campaigned a bit for his job prior to last night’s loss, per Mike Puma of the New York Post, telling the Mets beat: “I think a manager’s job is to get guys going in a direction and I think these guys never wavered from that, so I am definitely proud about that. … I understand the rigors of the job and I try to deal with it the best I can and try to stay even-keeled for the organization’s sake and for our players’ sake.”
  • There’s been speculation that Bruce Bochy could pursue other managerial jobs once he steps away from the Giants — some from his own players, even — and the future Hall of Famer discussed that speculation with John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle this week. While Bochy doesn’t have any immediate plans to seek out other opportunities, he conceded that there’s no telling what the future holds. “Later on, when you get away from the game, who knows how you’ll react?” Bochy asked rhetorically. “I’m good with my call. I’d be lying if I didn’t say it’s been tough here at the end of the season realizing it’s ending. No, I’m fine with it. I can’t tell you what’s going to happen in the future because I don’t know.”
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