Laura Albanese: Mets can take hiring lessons for the next manager from some of Andy Green's successes
Mets interim manager Andy Green before a game against the San Diego Padres at Citi Field on Monday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The plan is still The Plan.
It doesn’t matter that the Mets went into Monday’s tilt against the Padres having won nine of their last 12 games. It doesn’t matter that this span somehow coincides with the evisceration of their bullpen, without Juan Soto and Devin Williams, and while they continue to try to develop their young talent.
There is still every expectation interim manager Andy Green returns to the Mets front office at season’s end, president of baseball operations David Stearns said Monday during his regularly scheduled homestand news conference. But still, you can’t help but appreciate the work that he’s done, and have it inform decisions to come.
“I think he’s done a great job here,” Stearns said. “It helps that he’s had that familiarity with some of those players who are coming through our system. They know him. He knows them…and I think any time a manager steps into a new role, having those preexisting relationships is definitely a benefit.”
You can’t begrudge Green his choice. He enjoyed his role as senior vice president of player development and laid every card on the table during his introductory news conference two months ago.
When Carlos Mendoza was fired, Green played good soldier and stepped into a role he didn’t necessarily want. He’s been there, done that, having served as the Padres skipper from 2016 to 2019. He likes the flexibility his old role afforded him, and the time he got to spend with his family. Back in June, he said he looked forward to the freedom of what was billed as a lame duck role — there was no baggage involved, unlike his time in San Diego, where “my identity was at stake.”
You see that reflected in his managerial style, and even if Green really does step down, Stearns would do well to use this stretch to inform his future choice.
Asked if he would do that, Stearns acknowledged it was “a fair question.”
“I think when we get to that point, I’ll be able to talk more broadly and more holistically about what we could be looking for in the next manager,” Green said. “I don’t think right now is the right time to be having those conversations.”
But it actually feels like right now is exactly the time to at least begin those conversations. Going into Monday's game, Green has managed the Mets to a 22-22 record despite a poor start, little to play for, a coaching staff he had nothing to do with assembling, and a roster that was set on fire during the trade deadline.
Some of it certainly comes down to the players getting hot at the right time, as well the emerging rookie core that can give fans reasons to hope. But you can also credit his emotional intelligence, a seeming ability to know when to challenge his players and when to back off, and that contagious sort of fearlessness that the Mets were sorely lacking for so much of this lost season.
None of this is an indictment on Mendoza, who was undoubtedly dealt a bad hand. But Green’s appointment maybe highlighted some blind spots that Stearns can look to address.
For one, Green's experience and steady hand indicates the Mets might very well be better suited to hiring someone who already has major league managerial experience. This team tends to do better when their leader has a little fire, and someone who’s been around is more likely to push back on decisions with which he disagrees. Managers need to feel empowered in a city like this, where it always feels like you’re a bad decision or two from being on the unemployment line.
Both Mendoza and Green also underscored the value of hiring someone with a player development background, and you can’t deny the influence that’s had on Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing, Christian Scott, Nolan McLean and Zac Thornton. The latter three have all but secured their spots in the rotation next year, and Benge and Ewing are the outfielders of the future. But they’re still growing, and sophomore years are notoriously tricky on young players whose weaknesses have now been exposed to a league itching to exploit every last one.
And you need someone who isn’t afraid to take a risk. It’s unclear whether the decision to move Kodai Senga to the closer role came from the coaching staff or the front office, but regardless, Green has shown a willingness to take a big swing and see if it works. So far, the Senga experiment is a success, and one that may continue to pay dividends next year. He took a risk when, in July, he publicly challenged Scott to go longer in games. He took a risk when he continued to believe in Sean Manaea.
And frankly, whether he believes it or not, he took a risk when he said yes to this job.
Back when he was hired, Green essentially said his reputation wasn’t on the line. But his legacy was. He had a hand in developing each and every one of these young players, and the last thing he would have wanted was to see them become inured to the idea of failure.
So he led by example. Sure, he’s not playing for a job, but he's managing like he is, and he expects the same from his roster to play to win, even if the only thing at stake is pride.
“They’re trying to win every single day,” Francisco Lindor said Saturday, speaking of the young players. “It’s been a tough year for everybody here, but we’ve got to play to win. There’s an [expectation] to come here and play as hard as you can, day in and day out.”
And then hope it means something next year. A good start would be to find a manager who can foster that as well as this one has so far.
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
