New York Mets find their Man in Buck Showalter
The Mets have hired Buck Showalter to be their next manager, owner Steve Cohen announced on twitter Saturday.
Showalter returns to manage for the first time since being fired by Baltimore in 2018. He is receiving a three-year deal from the Mets after beating out finalists Joe Espada and Matt Quatraro, who also met with owner Steve Cohen earlier this week during the second round of interviews. Now, 65-years-old Showalter takes over for Luis Rojas, who was fired after a season in which the team held on to first place for 103 days but floundered down the stretch finishing 77-85 and missing the playoffs.
Mets are set to open the 2022 season currently with a franchise-record $263MM payroll, a number that is currently the highest in all of baseball, according to RosterResource.
The expectations will be very high for Showalter with a talented roster and increased payroll after signing free agents Max Scherzer, Starling Marte, Mark Canha, and Eduardo Escober this off-season. Those additions along with stars already in place in Jacob deGrom, Brandon Nimmo, Francisco Lindor, and Pete Alonso give Showalter plenty of firepower to win division that has belonged to Atlanta the past four years.
In the coming weeks Showalter will need to fill out his coaching staff, while pitching coach Jeremy Hefner is said to be the only member on the previous coaching staff to be retained. In Showalter, the Mets are hoping that he can be a stabilizing figure they need to capitalize on their potential and get to the postseason for the first time since the 2016 season.
