Mets' manager interview schedule stops with Buck Showalter
Buck Showalter of the Baltimore Orioles watches the action from the dugout during the game with the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on September 7, 2018. Credit: Getty Images/Joseph Garnett Jr.
In the Mets’ final round of managerial interviews, they are saving the biggest name for last.
Longtime major-league manager Buck Showalter will sit down in person with owner Steve Cohen and others on Friday, a source confirmed on Wednesday.
He will go after Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro, who did the same on Tuesday, and Astros bench coach Joe Espada, who is scheduled for Thursday. The Mets didn’t have any of their three finalists in the building on Wednesday.
That means a decision on whom to hire could come at any point over the weekend or early next week.
The interview schedule was first reported by ESPN.
After various reports, citing anonymous Mets and other industry sources, identified Showalter as the favorite, he has become the odds-on betting favorite, too. BetOnline, an internet gambling company, had him listed Wednesday as the 1/5 favorite. The odds were much longer for Espada (3/1) and Quatraro (7/1).
Among the reasons for the buzz around Showalter: Cohen’s proclamation in November 2020 during his introductory news conference that "I'm not crazy about people learning on my dime." Showalter spent 20 seasons managing the Yankees, Diamondbacks, Rangers and Orioles, leading them to middling levels of success but winning Manager of the Year three times (1994, 2004, 2014).
Neither Quatraro nor Espada have managed in the majors, though Quatraro has done so in the minors and Espada in Puerto Rico’s winter league.
Of the six people the Mets interviewed, half had major-league managing experience: Showalter, plus Bob Geren (Athletics) and Brad Ausmus (Tigers, Angels). Geren, Ausmus and Dodgers first-base coach Clayton McCullough did not make it past the first round.
The Mets’ past three managerial hires were first-timers: Luis Rojas, Carlos Beltran and Mickey Callaway.
The past four World Series champions had managers in their first such job. They were Brian Snitker (Atlanta), Dave Roberts (Dodgers), Dave Martinez (Nationals) and Alex Cora (Red Sox).
Minors hire. The Mets’ new minor-league pitching coordinator is Jonathan Armold, a source said. He spent the previous five-years plus with the Rangers, including three years as the pitching coordinator. After pitching in the Brewers’ farm system in 2012-13, Armold transitioned to coaching. He has a master’s degree in organizational behavior and executive coaching, according to his LinkedIn page, and a postgraduate degree in data science and business analytics.
