The New York Mets have been looking for a manager for a long time, since they decided not to bring back Luis Rojas early in the offseason. They brought in several star players and their new general manager, Billy Eppler, but so far, they haven’t decided who will lead the dugout and make in-game decisions. They are about to, however.
According to SNY Andy Martino, the Mets have narrowed down their search to three finalists after the first round of interviews: veteran Buck Showalter, Houston Astros’ bench coach Joe Espada and Tampa Bay Rays’ bench coach Matt Quatraro.
Six people were interviewed during the first round: the three mentioned candidates still have a chance, and Bob Geren, Clayton McCullough, and Brad Ausmus have been ruled out at this point.
SNY reports that Mets’ owner Steve Cohen is expected to be involved in the last round of interviews early this week, and a final decision is expected before next week.
Showalter is still the favorite to be the new Mets manager
Those with knowledge about the situation have said Martino that Showalter is the clear favorite to end up with the job. He is thought to be the guy unless something unexpected happens this week in the final round of interviews.
“Feels almost inevitable,†Martino said.
The Mets are trying to jumpstart their contention window after the finished the last two seasons with a losing record. Even though they were expected to make a deep playoff run this past campaign, they finished 77-85, including an ugly second-half collapse fueled by several injuries, including their best pitcher, Jacob deGrom, and their best position player (Francisco Lindor).
Cohen, Eppler and the Mets have already added outfielders Starling Marte and Mark Canha, infielder Eduardo Escobar, and star pitcher Max Scherzer to an already talented pool of players, and more moves are expected after the lockout with so much uncertainty surrounding the starting rotation.