Mets hire Buck Showalter as manager

NEW YORK — Buck Showalter has been hired as the New York Mets manager, bringing him back to the Big Apple to take over his fifth major league team. The former Yankees skipper replaces Luis Rojas, let go in early October following two losing seasons. Mets owner Steve Cohen announced the move Saturday afternoon on Twitter.

Showalter has managed more than 3,000 big league games over 20 seasons, giving the Mets an experienced bench boss for the first time since Terry Collins’ seven-year tenure ended after the 2017 campaign.

New York has been searching for solid leadership ever since — in the dugout and the front office.

Showalter certainly carries credibility, with a long history of turning around losing teams. No doubt that made him an attractive candidate to new Mets general manager Billy Eppler and Cohen, who is spending freely on players and eager to win quickly since buying the bungling franchise in November 2020.

Houston bench coach Joe Espada and Tampa Bay bench coach Matt Quatraro were the other finalists for the job, according to media reports. Neither has any major league managing experience, and Showalter was thought to be the frontrunner all along.

In addition to building a winner across town during the 1990s with the Yankees, the 65-year-old Showalter has managed the Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles.