Mets officially name Buck Showalter as manager

The Mets on Monday night confirmed Steve Cohen’s weekend Twitter scoop as they formally announced the hiring of Buck Showalter as their new manager.

Showalter, 65, will be introduced at a Zoom news conference at 1 p.m. on Tuesday.

With MLB in lockout mode, there is no major-league player news to announce, so the Mets had a clear field to interview six candidates, whittle the list to three and then hire the one person most of their fan base wanted to replace Luis Rojas in the first place.

"Buck has been one of the best baseball minds for the last two decades and he makes teams better," Cohen — who will not be on Tuesday’s Zoom call — said in a statement. "We have a lot of talent on this team and Buck is the right manager to take us to the next level and lead us to sustained success. I am excited he is our new manager."

The Mets already have had a busy offseason, hiring Billy Eppler as the general manager and signing free agents Max Scherzer, Starling Marte, Mark Canha and Eduardo Escobar before MLB shut the doors in its labor dispute with the players’ union.

Showalter has been a big-league manager for 20 seasons, beginning with the Yankees in 1992. He also managed Arizona, Texas and Baltimore. The three-time Manager of the Year has a record of 1,551-1,517 (.506).

Showalter hasn’t been in the dugout since 2018 with Baltimore. He spent this past season as part of the Yankees’ YES Network pre- and postgame crew.

Showalter has had a fine managerial career to date, but the Mets’ recent additions and Cohen’s seemingly boundless checkbook may give him his best opportunity to make and win the World Series.

"I’d like to thank Steve and Alex Cohen, Sandy [Alderson, the team president] and Billy for their confidence in me to lead this team," Showalter said. "This is a tremendous opportunity and a great responsibility to represent this organization, all Mets fans and this city. I’m energized and eager to get started."

Showalter’s first order of business will be to complete a coaching staff. Pitching coach Jeremy Hefner is the only holdover from the Rojas regime.

"This is a significant day for the organization," Eppler said. "Buck is one of the most experienced and accomplished managers in the game. He is the perfect baseball mind to lead this team and usher in the next era of Mets baseball. I look forward to working closely with him in the years to come."

Showalter will become the fifth man to manage both the Mets and Yankees, joining Casey Stengel, Yogi Berra, Dallas Green and Joe Torre.

By Anthony Rieber

anthony.rieber@newsday.comAnthonyRieber

Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.