The New York Mets officially have their MLB coaching staff in place for the 2022 season. They’re so excited about it that both general manager Billy Eppler and manager Buck Showalter wanted to speak with the media about it on Monday afternoon.

Well, maybe they were excited and maybe they weren’t, but with the lockout still in effect, there isn’t much else to do at the moment, right? As a brief review, here’s who Showalter will be going to war with each night during the upcoming regular season:

Even with no Collective Bargaining Agreement in sight yet, Showalter and Eppler plan on heading to Port St. Lucie on Wednesday of this week. When Showalter was formally introduced as the Mets’ new manager, he did mention a desire to get down to New York’s spring training complex early to get the lay of the land. So far, he’s a man of his word. Speaking of spring training, the current labor strife within the game is bringing uncertainty as to whether it’ll start on time or be delayed.

With that in mind, Showalter also shared with the press that he’s preparing for various scenarios depending on how things pan out with labor talks. Although it happened a long time ago, Showalter was managing the New York Yankees during the 1994 strike, so it’s nice having someone in charge that’s been through this before.

Every managerial opportunity is different, and Showalter also mentioned how the resources at his fingertips with the Mets in the form of analytics are already ahead of anything he had at his last managerial stop in Baltimore.

Hefner came to the Mets with a reputation for being able to take information from the analytics department and share it effectively with the pitching staff. As we know, Hefner played in the big leagues himself, which is something he and new hitting coach Eric Chavez have in common. Chavez was on Eppler’s radar for a while, as he and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman had a discussion about him before the Bronx Bombers announced he’d be coaching for them.

Of course, the Mets then sniped him from the Yankees’ staff for their own. Eppler said during the presser that New York interviewed a lot of options for its hitting coach opening, but Chavez having big-league experience was a plus. Sounds like it was a difference-maker regarding whom the Mets decided to pursue to fill this position.

Then there’s the state of the Mets’ roster, and what the front office could potentially do from the standpoint of making additional acquisitions once the lockout finally ends. It’s safe to assume that the following is the kind of soundbite every fan wants to hear:

Eppler won’t stop trying to find ways to improve the club ahead of Opening Day (whenever that is), but he did mention that he felt comfortable in New York being a playoff contender in 2022. Things are currently stalled because of the lockout, but that’s not stopping the coaching staff and front office from doing what needs to be done to compete next season.