Pittsburgh Pirates bench coach Don Kelly is withdrawing his name from consideration of the Mets manager opening due to personal reasons, Joel Sherman reports.
Kelly was scheduled to possibly interview Thursday for the opening, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post.
Kelly played in the majors from 2007-2016 and has been coaching at the major league level since 2019. Kelly began his coaching career as the Houston Astros’ first base coach and left for his current position with the Pirates a season later.
Kelly’s withdrawal leaves the Mets with five known candidates for the manager job. As of Wednesday night, it is believed they’ve completed interviews with all five of Buck Showalter, Brad Ausmus, Astros bench coach Joe Espada, Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro, and Dodgers bench coach Bob Geren.
Geren and Showalter interviewed on Wednesday and Espada earlier this week.
The Mets are one of two teams with a current managerial opening. The Oakland A’s have expressed interest in some overlapping candidates, including Quatraro.
