Mets fire manager Buck Showalter
Showalter revealed to reporters that he will not return as manager next season.
Just over an hour before the Mets’ final game of their disappointing 2023 season, Buck Showalter surprisingly revealed to reporters that he will not be back as the club’s manager after this afternoon’s game.
“It’s not the ending I wanted,” Showalter told reporters. “But I still love the city and the players.”
Based on the way this news was initially revealed and from Showalter’s early quotes, it was pretty clear that this was likely a team decision to let him go rather than a mutual parting of ways. The team announcement that came afterwards from owner Steve Cohen and general manager Billy Eppler confirms that assumption.
“We are heading in a new direction, with a new President of Baseball Operations and we let Buck know we’ll be parting ways,” Cohen said in the team statement. “We will begin the search for a new manager immediately.”
While Showalter cannot be blamed as the main reason things didn’t go right for New York this season, he was still the man at the helm for what is likely the most disappointing season in franchise history. It does not come as a huge surprise that the organization felt that a change was the right way to go at this time, especially with a changing of the guard underway.
“As we look toward the next chapter for the New York Mets, we felt that making a managerial change was the right course of action,” Eppler said int he statement. “We are grateful for Buck’s dedication, professionalism, and leadership, and for his work in guiding the 2022 Mets to a 101-win season.”
With the hiring of David Stearns as the organization’s new President of Baseball Operations scheduled to be officially announced tomorrow at 12pm, it makes sense that the new architect of the New York Mets would prefer to start fresh with a manager of his choosing. Stearns is likely going to be interested in a younger manager who is more in line with analytics, and there will surely be quite a bit of speculation regarding a reunion with Craig Counsell, who has managed the Brewers under Stearns for the last nine seasons.
In two seasons as manager with the Mets, Showalter went 175-147 with one playoff appearance and no playoff series wins. Following an encouraging 101-win season last year where Showalter was awarded as the National League Manager of the Year, the club massively undershot their expectations, finishing over 10 games under the .500 mark in 2023.
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As a union person, I am never happy to see anyone lose their job, even someone in management.
However, moving on from Buck is the right move for the franchise.
No need to go into the past as to why this was the correct move - it is time to move forward.
I have no ideas on a replacement, though in terms of strategy, I prefer someone who wants starters to go at least 7 innings, uses the hit and run/steal/bunt more often, and stresses striking out less on offense and walking fewer on defense.
The person can be young or older, experienced or not.
LGM