The weekend after the trade deadline, Buck Showalter sat in the visiting manager’s office in Baltimore and contemplated the task ahead for the almost two months the Mets still had to play.
Days earlier the team had completed a purge in which Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, David Robertson, Mark Canha, Tommy Pham and Dominic Leone were traded to playoff contenders, helping restock the Mets’ minor league system.
Many of the remaining veteran players were surprised and privately agitated that owner Steve Cohen and the front office had given up on the season.
“If I can hold this thing together it might be my best managing job,” Showalter said that day.
By holding it together, the manager meant ensuring the Mets wouldn’t become a three-ring circus in the clubhouse over the remaining 50 games and the focus would remain on the field.
It also meant the Mets would continue to compete and not become a punching bag for opponents.
In that regard, Showalter succeeded. Public controversy was avoided, and the Mets played admirably.
Showalter’s awareness of the potential embarrassment that lurked and his resolve to prevent it speaks to the value of employing an experienced manager in such a high-profile, pressurized job.
Showalter was fired Sunday, giving new president of baseball operations David Stearns the latitude to hire his own manager.
Showalter wasn’t worthy of the dismissal given his first-year success and management’s decision to gut the team on Aug. 1, but it’s also understandable that Cohen didn’t want to force an arranged marriage upon Stearns.
More troubling was the drone strike against Showalter, who was left to announce his own firing Sunday.
Stearns, who was under contract with the Brewers through Sunday, should have insisted on a Monday morning meeting with Showalter and could have announced the managerial change hours later at his introductory press conference. Showalter deserved better.
Stearns has never hired a manager — he inherited Craig Counsell with the Brewers — and now will begin a process that could take us into next month, after the World Series concludes.
Showalter’s vast experience and understanding of the situation in August only underscored the importance of experience when it comes to considering candidates for the New York pressure cooker.
The two managers that preceded Showalter in the Mets dugout, Luis Rojas and Mickey Callaway, were first-timers. Both tenures are remembered in part for episodes that brought chagrin to the organization.
In Rojas’ case that was a “thumbs-down” controversy that involved Francisco Lindor, Javier Baez and Kevin Pillar. By pointing thumbs-down to celebrate, Baez said, the players were booing the fans. Cohen wasn’t thrilled and Rojas nearly lost his job weeks before he was officially fired.
Callaway instigated his own mess by cursing out a reporter in the clubhouse. Jason Vargas reacted by threatening the reporter and soon had to be restrained by teammates from potentially throwing a punch.
Sure, these incidents could have occurred under the watch of veteran managers, but the old saying “you don’t know what you don’t know” applies in triplicate when considering candidates for the Mets.
Shared tactical vision with the front office will be important in a hire, but leadership and experience count heavily too.
Counsell certainly fits that mold and would be celebrated as at least an equal to Showalter if not an upgrade. My Post colleague Jon Heyman has suggested that perhaps Dusty Baker is taking his last whirl with the Astros and could be available. Again, it’s a logical choice for the Mets if he’s an option. Ron Washington and Joe Maddon are other names of that genre.
The longest-tenured manager in Mets history, Terry Collins, survived in part because he learned from his mistakes managing the Astros and Angels and could reflect on what he needed to change if he ever received another opportunity. Collins’ seven seasons is longer than the combined tenures of the last four Mets managers (Callaway, Carlos Beltran, Rojas and Showalter). Beltran departed before even managing a game after he was named in the Astros’ sign-stealing scheme.
Stearns has indicated he will consider first-timers for the job, and that’s the correct approach to take. Otherwise you risk overlooking an excellent candidate based on a résumé.
But when it comes time to pick, managing experience should count heavily for the home dugout at Citi Field.
As for Showalter, we’re reminded of Graig Nettles’ famous line that Yankees teammate Sparky Lyle “went from Cy Young to sayonara.”
Showalter went from Manager of the Year to out of here.
It can be a cruel business.