Manager to lead, lean on analytics
Showalter insists that if N.Y. doesn’t succeed during time, it won’t be for ignorance
Long before Buck Showalter had access to analytics departments and all their graphs, spreadsheets and heat maps, he had his wife, Angela, handdrawing spray charts to inform defensive positioning for the 1987 Fort Lauderdale Yankees in the Class A Florida State League.
Is the New York Mets 65-year-old manager going to resist the info cooked up on his analysts’ computers? Just the opposite.
“There are going to be some guys there who are going to say, ‘Sheesh, can I get a break from this guy?’” he said.
Showalter insisted Tuesday at his introductory news conference that if the Mets don’t succeed during his tenure, it won’t be for sabermetric ignorance. He’s eager for advanced analytics, he said, even bemoaning the lack of data brewed up by Baltimore’s bare-bones front office when his previous job with the Orioles ended in 2018.
“If you think that I’m going to let somebody beat us by having better analytical information or because someone on staff doesn’t understand it, well, I’m not going to talk about it,” Showalter said. “We’ll show you.”
Thirty years after George Steinbrenner gave him his first big league managing job with the New York Yankees, Showalter is back in the Big Apple. His boss this time also has deep pockets and ambition to turn coin into championships.
Second-year owner Steve Cohen committed $254.5 million to ace Max Scherzer, infielder Eduardo Escobar and outfielders Starling Marte and Mark Canha before rosters froze when ownership locked out the players on Dec. 2. The club then turned its attention to finding a replacement for Luis Rojas after the 40-year-old manager was dismissed in October.
Showalter interviewed with general manager Billy Eppler and team president Sandy Alderson before meeting with Cohen as a finalist last week. Cohen tweeted Saturday that Showalter was his man. He beat out Astros bench coach Joe Espada and Tampa Bay bench coach Matt Quatraro — both known to be well-versed in baseball’s data revolution.
The edge went to Showalter, who convinced Mets leadership of his ability to adapt.
“We looked at a number of criteria spanning from culture
and connectivity with players and staff, to embracing new practices in both player performance and analytics,” Eppler said. “It was Buck’s ability to connect to a wide range of people, his drive to compete, his curiosity blended with his experience, and his overall adaptability that led us to naming him manager.”
Showalter, a three-time AL Manager of the Year, is 1,5511,517-1 (.506 winning percentage) in 20 seasons with the Yankees, Arizona, Texas and Baltimore. He’s been to the playoffs five times but never won a pennant.
This news conference came with an odd challenge — because of the ongoing lockout, team
representatives have been advised not to discuss players publicly, meaning Showalter wasn’t supposed to mention the names of any Mets. He made it through most of the hourlong session before slipping up a few times.
Showalter won’t be allowed to communicate with players until the lockout ends.
Showalter joins Hall of Famers Casey Stengel, Yogi Berra and Joe Torre as managers of both the Mets and Yankees. Dallas Green held both jobs as well.
“I just want everybody to know that it’s going to be a priority from Day 1 to put a product out there that we can be proud of,” Showalter said.