Mets Turn To?

The Mets don't have a lot of time to hire a new manager.  What would normally take months has now been compressed into weeks.

"This team is one that we believe in," Mets GM Brody Van Wagenen said. "This team is one that we believe can contend, and we want to make sure that we have the right support system around them to achieve their success."

Having gone through a manger search three months ago, the Mets should be able to hire a manager quickly.  Especially since Spring Training is less than a month away.

With this in mind, let's look at some names that could come up:

  
Luis Rojas

Rojas would be able to engineer the most seamless transition possible.  He's the only managerial candidate the Mets interviewed in November from their own coaching staff, and he's spent the past two months working alongside Carlos Beltrán to prepare for this season.  A member of the well-regarded Alou family, the 38-year-old Rojas has plenty of Minor League managerial experience, is popular in the clubhouse and is widely considered a future big league manager.  The downisde is that he has only spent one season on a big league staff, giving him much less experience than some other names on this list.

Tony DeFrancesco

The Mets thought enough of DeFrancesco to promote him from Triple-A Syracuse manager to big league first-base coach under Beltrán.  Also popular among Mets who played under him in the Minros, DeFrancesco interviewed for the manager's job in November but was not a finalist.  He has prior MLB managerial experience, serving as the interim manager in Houston in 2012.

 Hensley Meulens

This is my choice for Mets manager.  Meulens was Beltrán's choice for bench coach.  He spent a decade working on Bruce Bochy's coaching staff in San Francisco, where he had a first-hand look at one of the most successful managers in recent baseball history.  Mets officials were excited about the hire of Meulens, who speaks five languages and was a runner-up for the Yankees job that went to Aaron Boone in 2018.  Meulens may also be a candidate for the Red Sox's managerial vacancy.

Eduardo Perez

Perez was the runner-up to Beltrán the first time around (I'm sure the Mets wished they had hired him now instead of Beltrán).  He's charismatic, popular and would almost certainly handle the media responsibilities of the job with ease, which is no small task in the pressure cooker of New York.  Perez offers a complete resume, with experience as a player, a manager in Puerto Rico, a Major League coach and a front-office employee.  But, like several others on this list, he doesn't have any Major League managing experience.

Tim Bogar

Another finalist for the job that went to Beltrán, Bogar just won a World Series ring with the Nationals.  he has past ties to the Red Sox, making him a potential candidate there as well.  Like DeFrancesco, he also has experience as an interim manager, serving in that role in Texas.  The Nationals recently promoted Bogar to bench coach, however, perhaps incentivizing him to stay.

Joe McEwing

A finalist in 2017 for the job that went to Mickey Callaway, McEwing has always been hugely popular amongst Mets fans since playing for the team from 2000-04.  He's extremely close with David Wright, who is now an advisor in the Mets front office, and he has ties to the Northeast after playing high school ball in Eastern Pennsylvania and college ball in New Jersey.  He has loads of experience, both as a Minor League manager and as a coach for the Chicago White Sox.  The Mets didn't appear to give McEwing a long look back in November, but if they pursue anyone who wasn't a prime candidate at that time, McEwing may make the most sense.

The Mets never really pursued veteran managers like Buck Showalter, Bruce Bochy and Dusty Baker back in November.  Brody Van Wagnen said, "I don't think the values that we're looking for have changed."  Those comments seemed to indicate nothing has changed in that regard, so it appears unlikely the Mets will suddenly have interest in Showalter, Bochy, Baker or anyone else in the "decades of experience" category.  Still, for as long as they are unemployed, they will have backers.

The clock is ticking in Queens.  Let's see what happens when it strikes midnight.