Mets hire Buck Showalter as new manager

The New York Mets hired Buck Showalter as their new manager, as announced owner Steve Cohen on Saturday on his Twitter account.

The Mets fired Luis Rojas after a season in which the team was first in their division for 103 days, then went 77-85 and missed the postseason.

I’m pleased to announce Buck Showalter as the new manager of the New York Mets

– Steven Cohen (@ StevenACohen2) December 18, 2021

Puerto Rican coach of the Houston Astros bench Joe Espada and fellow coach of the Tampa Bay Rays bench Matt Quatraro were also finalists for the position, sources confirmed to ESPN.

Showalter, 65, has been a major league manager for four teams between 1992 and 2018. He won the American League Manager of the Year award while with the New York Yankees, Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles. He also managed the Arizona Diamondbacks. He has a lifetime record of 1,551-1,517.

His most recent managerial performance was with Baltimore, where he spent more than eight seasons from 2010-18. Showalter guided the Orioles to three playoff appearances, a division title and a spot in the 2014 American League Championship Series, where they were swept by Kansas City.

Since then, Showalter has worked as an analyst for the MLB Network and on Yankees broadcasts with YES. Previously, he had a similar role on ESPN. Strong-willed but with a sense of humor, Showalter is known for his baseball acumen, stubborn preparation, and meticulous attention to detail. He is already at ease in New York’s large and pressurized media market, with relationships dating back decades when he led the Yankees.

The Mets hired new general manager Billy Eppler last month after a long search for someone to lead baseball operations under team president Sandy Alderson, and they scrambled to sign four free agents totaling $ 254.5 million: the ace pitcher Max scherzer ($ 130 million in three years), the center fielder Starling mars ($ 78 million in four years), the also gardener Mark Canha ($ 26.5 million over two years) and the All-Star infielder Eduardo Escobar ($ 20 million in two years).

The deals were completed in the days before baseball’s employment contract expired on Dec. 1, prompting a lockout that halted transactions and froze Major League Baseball rosters. That allowed Eppler, who also spent years with the Yankees, though not until after Showalter’s tenure ended, finally turn his attention to finding a manager. Showalter becomes the fifth in command of the Mets in just over four years.

Showalter takes over a team that has endured four losing seasons in five years and 10 in the past 13. New York has made the playoffs twice in the past 15 seasons, advancing only in 2015 on its way to an appearance in the World Series.

Showalter, who has never won a pennant, will need to fill out his coaching staff. The Mets announced in October that Jeremy Hefner will return as pitching coach next year, but the other coaches are expected to be replaced.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.