Who Will Manage the Mets?

[Benjamin Grimm]

This is going to be an ongoing conversation, so let's start it here.

It may or may not be Carlos Beltran. Apparently he turned down the interim job that went to Andy Green.

 

[metirish]

I saw that and honestly I'm surprised, he may not get this shot again with the Mets , of course he may well , but you're not Connie Mack 

[Benjamin Grimm]

One story has it that he didn't want to immediately replace Carlos Mendoza whom he respects. Another story said that his upcoming Cooperstown induction would have been a distraction from managing the team. Rumor has it that he's the Mets' first choice for the full-time gig. If there's a labor stoppage in 2027 it could give him plenty of time to get fired again before ever managing a single game.

[Edgy MD]

They've had a lot of (mostly) bad luck with first-timers — Mickey Callaway, Luis Rojas, Carlos Mendoza — in three of their last four hires, so I'm guessing experience.

Catchers who had long careers despite never being much of a hitter always make for safe selections, so ...

Experienced Manager + Long-Term/Weak-Hitting Catcher = Brad Ausmus

Math.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

We outplayed the other guys. How about that

Edit: Wrong thread, don't care

[Radar]

I want an experienced manager. No offense intended to Beltran. My guess it will be someone Stearns can control 

[Cowtipper]

I recently put my application in.

[Centerfield]

4 hours ago, Radar said:

My guess it will be someone Stearns can control 

yup

[Gwreck]

6 hours ago, Radar said:

My guess it will be someone Stearns can control 

1 hour ago, Centerfield said:

yup

What does this mean?  Serious question.

The GM/POBO of course “controls” the manager since the GM/POBO hires/fires the manager, but I don’t think that’s what you mean.  Not do I think you mean that the GM/POBO “controls” the manager through roster management (since that’s the case for every team).

There’s no evidence that Stearns or anyone else in the front office ever chose the lineup or made any in-game decisions for Mendoza.  Is that what you mean by “control”?

 

[seawolf17]

I think it's kind of the corollary to the "former player vs stathead" question.

We know we've seen game decisions "made by front office" types across all levels - notably, pitcher usage and pitch counts. Yes, managers are thinking about long term issues, but not like the front office would. The manager's job should be to win that day's game. But if the front office is saying "our starters don't go through the lineup a third time" or "this guy stops at 80 pitches even if he's throwing a no-hitter," those are management decisions.

Dollars to donuts Stearns is in Andy Green's ear reminding him to get Robert ABs so he's more tradeable, too.

[Edgy MD]

The manager's job perhaps should be to win that day's game, but clearly that isn't the priority.  It wasn't last night, it wasn't the before last night, it wasn't before Andy Green got the gig, and it hasn't been for a while.

The first job of the Mets' manager, and I imagine most managers, is sustainability — sustaining today's assets so they will be available for tomorrow, and usually, it's a tomorrow that never comes.

I reject that — every game is somebody's first and it's somebody else's last, and it should be played (and managed) that way — but it's the way it is in 2026.

[Benjamin Grimm]

It's unrealistic to expect that the manager would have total control, at least not in today's game.

Can Andy Green decide to make Christian Scott, for example, a relief pitcher without the blessing of the front office? Would Mendoza have been able to do that? Will next year's guy, whoever he is? I doubt it.

Going further back, if Davey Johnson had wanted to move Ron Darling to the bullpen, was that decision entirely in his hands, or would he have needed Frank Cashen's approval? I suspect he would have.

What about if Gil Hodges decided to make Gary Gentry a relief pitcher? Maybe in those days a manager could have acted unilaterally. 

I suppose we can be pretty certain that there were very few limits on what John McGraw or Connie Mack could do, but we're going back a very long time to their days.

[Edgy MD]

For what it's worth, Davey Johnson decided to make Roger McDowell a reliever, and if you believe his book Bats, the main guy he consulted on it was Keith Hernandez.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Do you think it's reasonable to expect a manager to have that kind of autonomy in today's game? I'm not defending David Stearns -- his shine has definitely worn off -- but I don't think it's fair to paint him as a puppet master while overlooking that his 29 counterparts very likely are also pulling strings.

[Centerfield]

12 hours ago, Gwreck said:

What does this mean?  Serious question.

The GM/POBO of course “controls” the manager since the GM/POBO hires/fires the manager, but I don’t think that’s what you mean.  Not do I think you mean that the GM/POBO “controls” the manager through roster management (since that’s the case for every team).

There’s no evidence that Stearns or anyone else in the front office ever chose the lineup or made any in-game decisions for Mendoza.  Is that what you mean by “control”?

 

I can't speak for Radar.  What I meant is that I believe the manager will be a "yes man" for Stearns, rather than someone who acts autonomously, or even pushes back against his directives.  And I understand that in today's game, there are few, if any, that act autonomously, but on the spectrum of autonomous to yes man, I think the new hire will be closer to "yes man".

And I think there's plenty of evidence that Stearns controls, or at least has a say, in the in-game decisions.  There is direct evidence, including the story that broke this week about the Mets use of AI Ipad programs.   There are the post-game press conferences where Mendoza is asked about a player decision (one example is whether Senga would stay in the rotation), and Mendoza cites the need to have conversations with the front office, and how that decision will be made collectively.  And there is David Stearns himself stating in his post-2025 season press conference that he has a say in every decision made in the organization.

There is anecdotal evidence, from anonymous sources, to guys like Eric Chavez and Adam Ottovino.  And you can give that evidence whatever credibility you want, but it's still evidence.  And there's tons of circumstantial evidence.  Like Stearns immediately firing the veteran manager and hiring the guy with no experience, who is less likely to push back.  There are the personalities of David Stearns (again, the "every decision" guy), and Carlos Mendoza, who is without a doubt a very nice guy, but perhaps the epitome of yes man.  There is Stearns full-throated support of Mendoza, and Cohen ultimately describing his firing as a "mercy firing".  There is Zac Thornton being sent down after shutting out the Phillies, and the fact that two separate managers thought it was a good idea to play Brett Baty in the OF.

I think if you're weighing the evidence, there's so much more that points to Mendoza being a puppet than having actual autonomy, or even having sufficient authority to push back.

And I'm not naive enough to think we're going to hire Jim Leyland who would tell a GM to fuck off if he ever told him how to manage, but I do think part of the reason we are here is because there's no one in the organization that will push back on David Stearns and say "WTF are you doing.  Why are you playing Baty in RF".  Or "David, why are you changing the arm angle of Jonah Tong when everyone in baseball feels it's his arm angle that makes him special".  Everyone needs checks and balances. 

[smg58]

I'm for whoever comes to the interview and makes the interviewer think, "this guy knows things that I don't."  I'm hoping that's not a low bar to clear.

[Edgy MD]

1 hour ago, Benjamin Grimm said:

Do you think it's reasonable to expect a manager to have that kind of autonomy in today's game?

I don't expect it, but I desire it.

That said, a dude should at least consult the GM in such cases, so they aren't working at cross-purposes.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

As far as I'm concerened the manager only needs to do 3 things

1-coax the best performance out of the roster he's given. So, lineup and position and timing and matchups, but also motivation and discipline.

2-sell the team to the writers and fans

3-call umpires cough sufferers

[Frayed Knot]

I think some of you are tying yourselves up in knots to trying to support conclusions already reached.

Baseball has come to the realization over the last few decades that the idea of having the field manager set company policy as far as what type of team they'd be and strategies they'd favor, was both outdated and inconsistent with what are now multi-billion dollar corporations anymore than any other corporation would turn towards middle management to set their agenda.

So is Stearns involved in every aspect of of the club's operation? Of course he is! It's all kind of implied in the POBO label whether it's called that specifically or by some other title. So things like, Senga to the pen, or limits on pitchers coming back form injuries or in consecutive day usage, are all going to come from the top although hopefully with input from all those connected to those decisions.

I don't believe this means he's calling pitches, making PH decisions, or directing specifically when a pitching change is made. Nor do I think this makes him different from his counterparts on other teams.

[Centerfield]

I don’t know how everyone missed the story that came out this week about the Mets use of an AI program for in-game decisions and how this led to a ban of such use. And since it’s reported that roughly a third of baseball teams were guilty of this, that means yes, Stearns is different than his counterparts on other teams. I mean, there was an actual MLB rule change and you’re accusing me of fabricating a narrative. 
 

Is he on the phone making the decisions in real time?  Probably not. Does he spell out specific protocol to be followed?  Almost undoubtedly yes. Is he handing out IPads and saying hey use this program when making decisions?  Proven yes. 
 

You talk about “input from all those connected to those decisions”. Like I mentioned in my prior post, there’s a difference between a guy that says “are you crazy? Putting Baty in the OF is stupid” and a guy that says “great idea!”

They just fired a “great idea” guy. It’s not outlandish for me to think they’ll hire another one. 
 

And maybe you think Mendoza wasn’t a “great idea” guy. Maybe you think it was Mendoza that went to Stearns and said “hey look at this cool AI program I found”. I said earlier why I think that isn’t the case. But if you want to cite to examples of Mendy’s autonomy and fierce independence I’m all ears.