The New York Mets recently welcomed their new general manager, Billy Eppler, after a long search that included no less than 10 candidates. He has extensive scouting experience and was the GM of the Los Angeles Angels from 2015 to 2020.
One of Eppler’s first things to do in his new position is finding a new manager to lead the Mets “for years to comeâ€. Asked whether he would prefer a skipper with more analytics-based thinking or an old-schooler, he said:
“I’d love to find somebody that checks every single box and is great in all areas. It’s interesting that you bring it up, because over this past year just learning and reading and kind of re-thinking some of the ways that you approach things, I wanted to be able to sit down with the senior baseball ops group, and then sit down with Steve [Cohen] and Sandy [Alderson] and kind of all collectively talk about what kind of criteria we think might be important for the next manager of the Mets.
“I have a little bit of my own feeling on that, but I’d rather hold back on giving exactly what that criteria is at this moment in time because I want to have the group engaged. And get a sense of, do you value, for example, tactical in-game management as your primary criteria or primary element? Do you value analytic in-game probabilistic thinking as your No. 1 criteria? Or your ability to connect with the media and fan base, obviously that’s critical, and clubhouse culture.
The Mets are considering at least five names
SNY reported that the Mets are currently considering at least five names: Brad Ausmus, Joe Espada, Eric Chavez, John Farrell, and Buck Showalter.
However, Eppler told media over the weekend that he doesn’t anticipate a quick resolution, and thinks the Mets will take their time to pick the manager that will replace Luis Rojas.
“As far as the manager process, I don’t expect it to be done overnight or even be done in the next week,” Eppler said. “I know we’re about to embark on a holiday week. Starting to have those conversations and carve out time each day to meeting a candidate, I think could be done simultaneously, just as you manage your time.”