John From Albany - Mets Manager search, comparing Eduardo Perez and Tim Bogar

At one point on Saturday night, it was said that the Mets would name Eduardo Perez the next manager.  Then is was said it was not the case.

Now it has been stated that Brewers bench coach Pat Murphy is the Mystery candidate.  Some have reported that their may be more than one mystery candidate.

The Mets are also looking at Carlos Beltran and Derek Shelton.

The favorites are said to be Eduardo Perez and Tim Bogar.   

It has been said that the Mets will conduct their third round of interviews this week.

Focusing on the favorites, I tried to search the internet to try and get as much information about them as possible.

First, they both have Wikipedia pages.  Maybe every former major leaguer has one, but that struck me as a little odd.

Looking at Eduardo Perez’ page it mentions his seven pinch hit homers including three in 2002.  Perhaps that would mean that Eduardo would be able to help bench players do well when called upon. 

Eduardo was most recently manager of the year in the 2008-2009 Puerto Rico baseball season as he took Leones de Ponce to the league championship.  He managed Columbia in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

Since 2006 he has been an ESPN baseball analyst and Sirius XM morning show co-host with Steve Phillips. This experience gives him the media savvy that the Mets are said to be looking for (even if it makes it look like they are copying the Yankees Aaron Boone hire).    

Tim Bogar last won Manager of the year award for the Akron Aeros in 2006 in the Eastern League.  He took the 2006 Akron team to the best record in the Eastern League but lost in the playoffs to the Portland Sea Dogs.  He took Akron back to the championship game the next year but lost to the Trenton Thunder.

Looking at the 2006 Akron team one thing stood out.  First, they stole 176 stolen bases to lead the league.  That was 42 more than the next highest team.  Plus, since that time, no other team in the Eastern League has stolen more.

Granted, Baseball, right or wrong, has changed a lot since 2006 but that was an impressive stat.  It could mean that as a major league manager Tim Bogar would emphasize he running game. 

Also, if you look at their 2006 Roster, the Akron Aeros only had one name that stood out  as a future Major League player, Tony Sipp.

So, Tim Bogar won with speed and won with a team with not a lot of prospects.  Dave Magadan recently gave him a voice of support in the paper, and others have been impressed with his previous experience.

Looking at the records for both Bogar and Perez, it stood out to me that yes, both of these candidates won manager of the years but both of these came over a decade ago.  Since then, both have been around major leaguers as coaches and broadcasters but being a manager is very different than being a coach or broadcaster.

Too bad the Mets didn’t have an in house option that recently won a championship (maybe as recent as 2019) by stressing fundamentals, defense and speed.  If so, media savvy or not, he would clearly be the best candidate.