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1) Buck Showalter
After two years of the young and inexperienced Luis Rojas, the Mets decided to go in a totally different direction. On December 18, 2021, the New York Mets hired Buck Showalter as their manager, signing him to a three-year contract. The 65-year-old Showalter was highly regarded around MLB, having previously managed four teams over the course of his 18-year career. Buck's reputation as a field leader included three Manager of the Year Awards. Expectations were high and as always, hope springs eternal.
Buck Showalter got the Mets off to a fast start in 2022 and at one point lead their division by ten games. However, their division lead was gradually whittled away. They made the post season as a Wild Card entry but were eliminated in the first round. Their total of 101 wins was the second best in franchise history and resulted in Showalter receiving his fourth manager of the Year award, the first for any member of the Mets in the history of the franchise.
The 2023 season proved to be disappointing as the team would only win 75 games and finish in fourth place. Showalter’s performance became under scrutiny by the fan base, so much so that team majority owner Steve Cohen held a press conference on June 28, 2023, to state that Showalter’s job was safe at least for the remainder of this season. On October 1, 2023, the Mets announced that they had hired David Stearns as president of baseball operations. On this same day it was also announced that Buck Showalter had been fired, with one year still to go on his contract.
Perhaps Showalter received too much credit for the team’s 101-win season, although MLB didn’t think so when they awarded him his fourth Manager of the year Award. You could also say that he received too much blame for the 75-win season. Be that as it may, I believe that a man of his stature and reputation deserved to at least finish the final year of his contract.
I wonder how much sports talk radio has factored in some of these quick exits. The airwaves have become over saturated with combative hosts searching for ratings by fighting with various callers about any and every move made by their favorite team, 24 hours a day. I guess we will never know.