According to reports, Mickey Callaway has gone home, and his fate as the Mets manager should be determined over the next week. If the Mets were to fire him, Mike Puma of the New York Post names some interesting replacements across a broad spectrum of experience.
When the topic of Callaway usually arises, many first look towards Joe Girardi and Joe Maddon. With respect to Girardi, Puma notes there are real questions about his ability to “coexist with a hands-on front office” which goes so far as to text the manager with game decisions.
With respect to Maddon, it seems a fait accompli he is going to be the Los Angeles Angels next manager replacing the recently fired Brad Ausmus.
With respect to Ausmus, there are the group of candidates from the last managerial search. Two years ago, Ausmus had declined an interview with the Mets instead opting to take a year off of managing. It will be interesting to see if he has a similar reaction should the team reach out to him again.
Bob Geren was a longtime coach under Terry Collins, who is still a part of the Mets organization. After the Mets World Series run in 2015, Geren noted he joined the Dodgers staff to be closer to his family. At the moment, Geren has been noted as a candidate for the San Francisco Giants job which is much closer to Southern California than New York.
Another interesting name from the last search was Mark DeRosa. With respect to DeRosa, you do wonder how much of a fit he would be for this clubhouse. Notably, last April on MLB Central, DeRosa criticized Nimmo saying, “I get it. We’re grown men competing! Wipe the smile off your face! It’s game 14!”
Beyond the candidates from the previous managerial search, Puma suggests a number of managerial retreads including John Gibbons, Mike Matheny, and Buck Showalter. Overall, Puma does believe Showalter may prove to be a very good fit as the Mets manager noting a long-time friend said of Showalter, “Buck is one of the best politicians I’ve seen.”
With respect to Matheny, there should be red flags. One of the reasons he had been fired was not just his strong preference of playing veterans over young players, but his actively allowing what some may want to term bullying in the clubhouse. When asked about Bud Norris‘ constantly riding Jordan Hicks, Matheny would say, “Bud’s going to continue to do what he thinks is right as a veteran, so you respect that.” (Sports Illustrated).
There is also the chance the Mets do what they did with Callaway and hire someone without Major League managerial experience. Those candidates include Mets Quality Control Coach Luis Rojas, Astros Bench Coach Jose Espada, and Rays Bench Coach Matt Quatraro.
With respect to Rojas, there are a number of people in the Mets organization who are high on him, and it should be noted Rojas has managed 14 of the Mets players as they made their way up the minor leagues. Rojas also notably worked with Jeff McNeil during Spring Training to get him up to speed in the outfield quickly.
Another note on Rojas is his brother, Moises Alou, is a candidate for the San Diego Padres managerial opening. In the event Alou gets that job, he may well look to add his brother to his staff thereby costing the Mets a coach they believe should one day be their own manager.
The potential Alou dynamic serves to underline how there is a number of moving parts involved in any decisions any team makes in choosing their next manager. It will be interesting to see not just whether Callaway retains his job, but also how the Mets coaching staff will look next season.
