After they finish out their final 11 games, the Mets will officially enter the David Stearns era come October. One of Stearns’ first
major decisions will be whether or not to retain Buck Showalter as the team’s manager for a third season in 2024. Showalter, 67
led the Mets to 101 wins and won the NL Manager of the Year in 2022, but the team has regressed this season and will miss the playoffs.
Stearns may want to clear house to bring in his former employee in Milwaukee, Craig Counsell, but Counsell may take a year off after this season before managing again, which could put the Mets in a precarious position with a possible lame-duck manager next season.
If it was up to Francisco Lindor, however, the Mets would not be changing managers any time soon.
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“Buck holds everybody accountable, he’s a great leader, he’s outstanding at quieting the noise here in the clubhouse, which sometimes can be tough in New York, and he cares for the players,” Lindor told the New York Post’s Mike Puma. “He checks in with the players, he listens, he gathers information. There’s a lot of things I like about him. He’s been through good things and bad things and I think he’s an amazing manager, a Hall of Fame manager.”
When asked directly by Puma if Showalter would return, Lindor was clear about his preference. “The guy has been here two years and he won Manager of the Year one of them,” Lindor said. “One year that didn’t go as planned. He’s doing great. I don’t even think it should be a question.”
However, the Mets shortstop also said he didn’t intend to attempt to throw his weight around with Stearns right away, saying: “I don’t think my first conversation with him is going to be, ‘You need to change this, focus on this, don’t change this.’… “There was a new boss coming in when Steve Cohen bought the team and Luis [Rojas] stayed. It does not mean because there is a new boss that they are going to change everything that they have.”
A public endorsement from one of the Mets’ franchise players is at least worth listening to for Stearns, but ultimately it will be up to
him and Steve Cohen what direction the Mets choose to go in this offseason. Showalter is clearly a man of high baseball intelligence
that has earned the respect of his locker room. However, his in-game decision making and lineup decisions have been questionable this year, particularly when it comes to playing mediocre veterans over young players who need experience.
Along with what to do with Pete Alonso and how to revamp a thin pitching staff, Showalter’s fate will be one of the most pressing
items on Stearns’ agenda once he settles in. The Mets have not had a manager last more than two seasons since Terry Collins, and, at
this point, it feels truly up in the air whether Showlater will be back for a third stint in Queens in 2024.