The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
What’s next for Mets?
NEW YORK — The search for a new manager begins after the Mets officially dismissed Mickey Callaway of his managerial duties Thursday afternoon.
Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen has plenty of options for Callaway’s replacement in the coming weeks. It would be in the team’s best interest to go the route of an experienced manager to ensure another learning curve does not erase the progress the Mets made in 2019.
Experienced managers available on the market, should they be interested in taking a job on New York’s intense stage, include: Joe Maddon, Joe Girardi, Buck Showalter and Brad Ausmus.
Some other names tossed around in previous years include former Mets centerfielder Carlos Beltran, Mets inhouse qualitycontrol coach Luis Rojas and Astros bench coach Joe Espada.
Van Wagenen said in a conference call Thursday that the Mets have an “expansive list of potential candidates.” The club will begin reaching out to the people on that list in the coming days during what the GM said will be a “thorough and deliberate process.”
“We certainly will be considering managers with experience and success at the major league level,” Van Wagenen said. “We may be considering people that have minor league managerial experience. And we’ll certainly be open to outsidethebox ideas of people that are upandcoming, or they can provide different perspectives. But I think when we put the formula all together, the goal is to have the best person regardless of his resume.”
The next Mets manager will have the weighted responsibility of working under the watchful and involved eyes of Mets ownership. Jeff Wilpon and Van
Wagenen are heavily entangled in the manager’s daily decisionmaking process (as evidenced by Van Wagenen reportedly texting Callaway midgame to remove Jacob deGrom from a start this past season).
When asked what characteristics Van Wagenen is looking for in his next manager, the GM said the traits will build off some of the qualities Callaway possessed. Certainly, verbal altercations with reporters and illogical ingame decisions are not expected to be on that list.
“We’re looking for strong leadership, we’re looking for a voice that can keep our clubhouse culture going in the right direction, can keep this team unified, and that can accelerate our path here,” Van Wagenen said. “Someone who is able to continue to collaborate and take all of the available resources that we have and help us find additional resources that can put us another step forward in 2020.”
Limited contract money could be an issue for an experienced manager to sign on for the gig. The Mets owe Callaway $850,000 next year to complete his threeyear contract. The Wilpons will likely refrain from shelling out the $3 million that someone like Girardi or Showalter would command.
Jeff Wilpon was asked how much money the Mets are willing to spend on their next manager. He deferred the question to Van Wagenen by saying, “That’s a better question for Brodie in terms of what the search is going to bring about and what he thinks is the right person for this job.”
Van Wagenen said he is not concerned about the price tag on his next manager. That is, after all, hard to believe after the Mets released superutility infielder Adeiny Hechavarria the day before he was owed $1 million for signing bonus money in August. Hechavarria wound up in the 2019 postseason with the division rival Braves.
“In making this decision about Mickey, I never asked a question to Jeff about price,” Van Wagenen said. “I didn’t make recommendations based on what was either owed to Mickey or what the expectation would be for the new manager. The game plan and the goal is to find the right person to take us forward. We haven’t contemplated a financial component to what is the right person.”