NEW YORK – Buck Showalter will be back in a cave in New York.
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Nearly 30 years after managing the Yankees, Showalter was hired as manager of the Mets, the fifth club of which he will coach in the majors.
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Showalter replaces Luis Rojas, who left in early October after two losing seasons. Mets owner Steve Cohen announced the appointment Saturday afternoon via Twitter.
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Showalter received a three-year contract, according to a person close to the deal. That source spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the term of the agreement has not been announced.
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An official announcement from the club is expected in the coming days.
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Showalter has directed more than 3,000 major league games over 20 seasons. He will be the Mets ‘first experienced manager since 2017, when Terry Collins’ seven-year tenure ended.
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New York has since sought strong leadership, in the cave and in management.
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It is a fact that Showalter has credibility. In his career, he has managed to transform losing teams.
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No doubt that made him an attractive candidate in the eyes of new Mets general manager Billy Eppler and aggressive Cohen, who has spent lavishly on players and is eager to win with a franchise he bought in November 2020.
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Puerto Rican bench coach in Houston Joe Espada and Matt Quatraro, who holds the same position but in Tampa Bay, were the other finalists for the position. Neither has managerial experience in the majors, and Showalter would have been the favorite from the start.
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Each of the three hopefuls met personally with Cohen in the past week, during a second round of interviews.
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New York also chatted with Brad Ausmus, a former Tigers and Angels driver, as well as Bob Geren, who managed Oakland and is currently a bench coach for the Dodgers.
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Geren was the Mets bench coach under Collins when the team reached the 2015 World Series.
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Showalter, 65, joins three Hall of Fame drivers, Casey Stengel, Yogi Berra and Joe Torre, as those who have coached the Mets and Yankees. Dallas Green was also in charge of the two New York teams.
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In addition to building a winning group in the 1990s with the Yankees, Showalter has managed Arizona, Texas and Baltimore. His overall record as a major league manager in the regular season is 1,551-1,517-1 (.506), from 1992 to 2018. He won three AL Manager of the Year awards and led all of his teams to the postseason at less on one occasion, except in the case of Texas.
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