Why Mark Teixeira Believes Buck Showalter Is The 'Smartest Man In Baseball'
The hype continues to increase for the favorite to land the Mets' managerial job.
Before signing a massive eight-year, $180 million deal with the Yankees and serving as a key piece in helping them capture their last World Series title, former three-time All-Star first baseman Mark Teixeira burst onto the scene in 2003 with the Texas Rangers, slugging 26 home runs, 84 RBI and posting a .811 OPS as a rookie.
Ironically, Teixeira's manager for the first four seasons of his MLB career (2003-2006) was none other than Buck Showalter, the current frontrunner in the Mets' managerial race.
And based off his prior experience playing for Showalter in the early-portion of his 14-year career, Teixeira had high praise for his ex-skipper.
“I think Buck Showalter is the smartest man in baseball, and that is not hyperbole,” Teixeira told The New York Post on Monday. “When you sit down and talk to Buck about the game, he is just so sharp looking at it from all different angles and his record speaks for itself and there is not a more prepared manager as well. You take his intelligence and his preparation and I think he’s a great manager. Just look at what he’s done with so many franchises, building them up from the bottom.”
Showalter, 65, managed the Yankees, Diamondbacks, Rangers and Orioles across 20-years as a big-league skipper. However, the Rangers were the only team that he did not lead to the postseason.
Regardless, Teixeira appreciated his time with Showalter due to his approachability and style of running the clubhouse in Texas.
“Every manager says they have an open-door policy, but Buck truly does,” Teixeira said. “Buck is not somebody who will walk through the clubhouse all day long kind of bothering guys, but that door is open and any time you need something you go in there and talk to Buck and he’s going to do whatever it takes to make the team better.”
Although Showalter is considered to be an old-school type manager, Teixeira doesn't think this will be a major hurdle for him.
“I didn’t think that until I saw what Dusty Baker has done with the Astros,” Teixeira said. “Any smart baseball guy like Dusty or Buck is going to realize there is absolutely a place for analytics. At the same time, the 40-plus years of experience Buck has in professional baseball, he is going to rely on that, too. I think meshing those two together like Dusty has with the Astros is a really good place.”
In addition to Showalter, Teixeira also played for another finalist in the Mets' managerial search, Joe Espada. Espada, 46, was a special assistant to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman in 2014, while Mets current GM Billy Eppler was assistant GM. Following this campaign, Espada joined Joe Girardi's staff as third base coach from 2015-2017. Teixeira retired at the conclusion of the 2016 season.
“We always had a veteran team with the Yankees and we all loved [Espada],” Teixeira said. “It’s because he is willing to put the time in with the young guys, but he’s also smart enough to understand when you have to back off the veterans. When a veteran says, ‘Hey, this is kind of the way I want to do this,’ and Joe says he trusts you. He’s good enough to be able to handle both.
“He is one of those guys, the new school — if you want to call it that. He is the right way to go about managing or being a coach of the new school: Aaron Boone or Alex Cora or A.J. Hinch, these types of guys. I see Joe Espada, once he gets a job — because he will get a job soon, whether it’s with the Mets or somebody else — I see him having that type of success.”
Espada has spent the past four seasons as the Astros' bench coach, replacing Cora who left to become the Boston Red Sox manager prior to 2018.
Along with Showalter and Espada, Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro is the third finalist in the Mets' managerial search. The Mets were expected to begin the second-round of the interview process today, which team owner Steve Cohen will be involved in. New York hopes to make a hire by the end of this week or next week.
Espada and Quatraro also interviewed for the Oakland Athletics' managerial vacancy as well.
