Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Multiple reports Sunday revealed the three finalist for the Mets’ managerial position: Buck Showalter, Joe Espada and Matt Quatraro. Reports from Ken Davidoff, Joel Sherman and Tim Healey all contributed to the final list of names.
All three candidates will interview with general manager Billy Eppler again, only this time, owner Steve Cohen will be involved in the conversations.
Earlier in the day, SNY’s Andy Martino said it was “almost inevitable” that the Mets would hire Showalter, a manager for 20 seasons across four teams, as their manager based on industry belief. He sure seems to be the odds-on-favorite as an experienced manager with over 3,000 games leading a club under his belt. (He has a career .506 winning percentage but has managed just 23 postseason games.)
He’s going up against two strong candidates from smart organizations.
Espada has been the Houston Astros bench coach since 2018–their first post-cheating-scandal season–under AJ Hinch and Dusty Baker. He previously held coaching roles with the Miami Marlins and New York Yankees, as well as the Puerto Rican national team–one that featured Francisco Lindor. You can read MMO’s full profile of Espada here.
Quatraro, on the other hand, has been a bench coach for Kevin Cash and the Tampa Bay Rays. He, too, has been in the role since 2018–the last season Showalter managed in the majors. Quatraro returned to the organization after four years as Cleveland’s assistant hitting coach. (He was there during Lindor’s formative years.) He’d been with the Rays for nearly two decades before that in various coaching roles. MMO did a profile of Quatraro, too, and you can read that here.
The Mets will likely hold second round interviews over the coming days before settling on a candidate before the holidays.
