By Jordan Long
The New York Mets had high hopes for this season. They were expected to compete for the National League East Division and make a deep run in the playoffs. Unfortunately, the Mets are 66-78 and are going to miss the postseason. Manager Buck Showalter’s job status is unknown at this point.
The Mets are hiring David Stearns as President of Baseball Operations. Stearns had served as President of Baseball Operations for the Milwaukee Brewers since January 23, 2019. This was after becoming their General Manager on September 21, 2015. Since he has been with the Brewer’s front office, Milwaukee has been to the postseason 4 times. His contract was set to expire once the season was over and the Mets decided to hire him. This is his dream destination. The Mets hope he will turn them into a winner.
Stearns’ first order of business is to figure out the future of Manager Buck Showalter. This is Showalter’s second season as Manager of the Mets. Last year, New York went 101-61. With that, Showalter earned Manager of The Year for the Mets’ turnaround. They were beaten in the Wild Card Series by San Diego in the best of 3, 2 games to 1.
This year, the Mets were supposed to do something special. The goal was to win the World Series for the first time since 1986. That is not going to happen as they sit at 66-78.
Showalter isn’t worrying about his future at this point. According to CBSsports.com, Showalter said, “This is not the time and place for my mind to be going there. If you choose to and your job description tells you you should, then God bless you. Go ahead.”
Stearns has two options. The first is to let Showalter manage the rest of his contract. Showalter has one more year left at $4 million. Stearns could allow Showalter to manage next year to show this year was a fluke. The other is to let him go now. The Mets would only have to pay him $4 million. The Mets have 18 games left in the season. Once their final out is recorded on October 1st, Stearns will have a major decision to make.
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