By Josh Finkelstein

Mike Puma of the New York Post spoke with Tony La Russa this week in which the former Athletics’ and Cardinals’ manager intimated that the Mets managerial opening could be one of the most enticing.

“The Mets have been struggling, but you look at what they have and they don’t have and I have to start with the fan base,” La Russa said. “They have a very loyal and passionate fan base, just like that year they went to the World Series [2015] with Terry Collins.

The fan base’s passion was well covered last week when it was reported by Neil Best of Newsday that the Mets had the fourth-highest increase in attendance across the game after finishing the season 86-76 which put the team three games back of the second NL Wild Card spot

“You look at the other things they have, they have done a great job of developing pitchers and now you have got core young hitters, so I think it’s a combination of the history, the support, and the winning hasn’t been consistent there lately, but that is a great opportunity. You have some assets there. I think a lot of people would like to manage that club.”

The next Mets’ manager should at least have Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Marcus Stroman, and Steven Matz at their disposal pitching-wise while having the appealing core of hitters alluded to in Pete Alonso, Michael Conforto, Jeff McNeil, Brandon Nimmo, Amed Rosario, and J.D. Davis.

La Russa, who has been with the Boston Red Sox the past two seasons, believes that his organization would be a great place for the Mets to look for a manager as he believes that both Ron Roenicke and Carlos Febles would be good fits.

“Ron is one of the best baseball men in the game today,” La Russa mentioned when speaking about the team’s bench coach and former Brewers’ manager (2011-2015). “You look at his résumé and now I have watched him firsthand for a couple of years. There is no man with experience out there that’s better than Ron. He’s right at the top of the list.”

“I have really been impressed with [Febles’] knowledge, he does infield work and he’s shown really good judgement coaching third,” said La Russa regarding the Red Sox third-base coach. “Fenway Park is one of the toughest places around. But more importantly, he’s got a way of connecting with players. He’s very good on relationships, which is one of the keys nowadays. You have got to get to know players and connect with them.”

Puma notes that Mets’ assistant GM Allard Baird could be key in orchestrating such a hire if the team were to pursue either of them given his prior connection to the Red Sox, who he worked for prior to joining the Mets organization.

We’ve heard Joe Girardi, Luis Rojas, Carlos Beltran, Dusty Baker, Joe Espada, Buck Showalter mentioned as possible candidates for the Mets’ newly open position and La Russa believes that whichever one gets it will have a lot to work with.