Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports
The second round of managerial interviews begins today. The remaining candidates are Buck Showalter, Astros bench coach Joe Espada, and Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro.
The Mets have narrowed down their candidate list, eliminating Bob Geren and Brad Ausmus from the search. New York is in no rush to hire one of the three candidates because of the present MLB lockout and only one other team with a managerial opening.
Showalter is the assumed frontrunner for the managerial position. With 20 years of experience at the helm of an MLB team, he has over 3,000 games managed for four different teams in three decades and two millenniums. He last managed in 2018 with the Baltimore Orioles, a position he held for nine seasons.
Espada is presently the bench coach for the Houston Astros. He hung up his cleats in 2005 after never reaching the majors in nine minor league seasons and has coached his way up the Yankees and Astros organizations. He coached for the Puerto Rican national baseball team in 2017 for the World Baseball Classic which featured current Mets Francisco Lindor, Seth Lugo, and Edwin Diaz.
Espada has been the Astros bench coach since 2018, remaining in that role when Dusty Baker became manager in 2020.
Quatraro is on his second stint with the Rays organization. He was drafted there in 1996 and began coaching in their minor league system in 2004. He briefly left for a role with Cleveland and has been the bench coach since 2018. Six present major league managers have ties to the Tampa Bay organization.
Quatraro is also a candidate for the manager job in Oakland, having already interviewed with them.
