New York Mets fans received an early Christmas present this week, as the organization officially introduced Buck Showalter as the next manager.

Since Steve Cohen broke the news of the hire himself over the weekend, we’ve been seeing even more snippets about Showalter, allowing us to get a sense of what he’ll bring to the clubhouse in 2022. This quote from Trey Mancini certainly caught my attention:

It’s one of those unique qualities that successful managers have — finding a way to keep their players motivated without getting on their case about it at every turn. Then there were all these soundbites throughout Tuesday’s presser:

New York has tried — and obviously been unsuccessful — in tabbing first-time managers to lead the club in Mickey Callaway, Carlos Beltrán, and Luis Rojas since parting ways with Terry Collins following the 2017 season. There are plenty of rookie managers who find success with the right resources around them, but it was important for the organization to bring in someone with experience to lead this club.

Coming to Flushing will be Showalter’s fifth managerial stop, and there’s a clear trend in what he’s done with the New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers, and Baltimore Orioles. Our own Mathew Brownstein shed some light on this:

Each of these turnarounds was significant in its own way.

Looking at the Turnarounds

Between 1982 and 1994, the Yankees went through an uncharacteristic postseason drought. They finished with a losing record five different times, including four consecutive years from 1989-92. After his first year on the job, Showalter found a way to start changing the culture in the Bronx, which led to three straight winning seasons and a postseason appearance in 1995. He was gone before New York’s latest dynasty, but he helped lay the foundation for it. Oh, and the Yankees haven’t put together a losing season since that ’92 campaign.

He joined the Diamondbacks two years before they played their first MLB game, and the impact was a big one. In just his second year, the club won 100 games and became the fastest expansion club to win a division title. Showalter only lasted one more season in the desert, but that 100-win campaign began a string of five straight winning seasons, which included a World Series title and two postseason appearances.

After two straight trips to the playoffs in 1998 and 1999, the Texas Rangers were firmly cemented as a 70-win club. Between 2000 and 2003, they never won more than 73 games. Then, Showalter steered them to an 89-win campaign in 2004, earning his second of three Manager of the Year awards. Texas endured two losing seasons after that before Showalter was dismissed, but they were flirting with 80 wins instead of 70. They got themselves up to 87 wins in 2009 before four straight years of 90-plus wins, which included three trips to the postseason.

In Baltimore, Showalter took over in the middle of the 2010 season, and his first full year in 2011 included a 69-93 record. The following season watched that record completely turn around to 93-69, giving the organization its first winning season and postseason appearance since 1997. The Orioles would reach October two more times before Buck’s tenure was over.

Finding a Past Example in Queens

If there’s anything Showalter’s past managerial experience tells us, it’s he knows how to arrive in a new clubhouse and slowly cultivate a winning culture. With the Mets, he’ll end up having a more talented roster at his disposal than at the beginning of his other stops, so let’s hope the 2022 season can just skip straight to a winning campaign.

But still, I can’t help be think about how the Mets went about changing the clubhouse culture after bringing in Willie Randolph as manager for the 2005 season. New York had just suffered through three straight losing seasons between 2002 and 2004, with the last two having Art Howe steering the ship. Randolph, along with the signings of Beltrán and Pedro Martinez, were signaling a culture shift that needed to happen. Sure, Randolph was stepping into a managerial role for the first time, but he had been a base and bench coach for the New York Yankees during their latest dynasty — along with playing in the Bronx himself — so he knew a thing or two about taking care of business in the Big Apple.

It feels like the acquisitions of Showalter and Max Scherzer have the potential to do something similar for the 2022 Mets. At least, we can hope so.

But His Postseason Record

This managerial hire has been mostly met with cheers and excitement on social media, but if there’s one blemish on Showalter as a manager, it’s that he hasn’t had much success in the postseason. The only time one of his squads got past the Division Series was in 2014, but Baltimore got swept out of the ALCS by the Kansas City Royals.

Would it be better if he had experience getting deep into the playoffs and winning? Well, sure it would, but that by no means should be a downfall in his resume. Let’s not forget that Collins had never been to the postseason and had to wait 12 years to even get another chance to manage after the Anaheim Angels fired him in 1999. Just because it hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean he’s incapable of accomplishing it.

One doesn’t simply luck themselves into 1,500-plus regular season wins. The Mets already had high expectations for next season, and it’s only gotten higher since the club went on a spending spree before the lockout. They needed someone used to the pressure and someone who’s turned a club’s performance around in short order.

Showalter appears to be the best man for the job, and it’ll be interesting to see if he can engineer one more turnaround, along with finally being part of the last team standing.