The Mets hired Buck Showalter as their new manager on Saturday and named a leader with 20 years of experience in the business, once again signaling the high expectations at Citi Field.
Mets owner Steve Cohen announced the decision on Twitter. The team plans to officially introduce Showalter as their manager on Monday.
Showalter, 65, just got a three-year deal and another chance to lead a team to the World Series. He guided the Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks and Baltimore Orioles for the postseason without winning a pennant, but is widely respected for his preparation and attention to detail. He won the Coach of the Year award three times in his league—with the Yankees in 1994, the Texas Rangers in 2004, and the Orioles in 2014.
The other finalists for the job were much younger than Showalter: Tampa Bay Rays reserve coach Matt Quatraro, 48, and Houston Astros reserve coach Joe Espada, 46. Neither Quatraro nor Espada was like Showalter’s New York predecessor, Luis Rojas. When the Mets hired him in 2020, Cohen is very similar to Luis Rojas, who had no major league manager experience before Cohen bought the team.
Rojas, now the Yankees’ third base coach, went 103-119 overall. He was fired in October after the Mets’ late summer collapse finished a second consecutive losing season under his leadership.
Hiring a manager with Showalter’s pedigree is consistent with the Mets’ off-season moves before the Mets suspended operations involving major league players on Dec. Cohen has invested $254.5 million in multi-year contracts for four free agents this winter: pitcher Max Scherzer, infielder Eduardo Escobar, and outfielders Mark Canha and Starling Marte. All will be at least 33 years old on opening day, and Scherzer, 37, landed a three-year deal with a record average of $43.3 million annually.