The New York Mets fired Manager Carlos Mendoza two weeks ago, and it’s clear that Andy Green will not be taking over as the team’s full time skipper in 2027 and beyond. Green was never expected to be more than just the interim, but as Steve Cohen and David Stearns look ahead to the offseason, they have most likely already started putting together a preliminary list of candidates that they are interested in interviewing. The duo will start doing background research and asking around the league on these prospective candidates before the end of the current season.
Names have already been thrown out as pure speculation. Guys such as Carlos Beltrán, Alex Cora and Albert Pujols have been just a few of the names on early lists. It’s no secret that being the lead man in New York (regardless of sport) is a different animal. There are more eyes on you than any other city in the United States. For that reason alone, many prefer a seasoned veteran (Alex Cora fits that bill), but just like any search (not just in sports), the Mets can’t afford to leave any stone unturned.
As I mentioned in previous articles, MLB experienced unprecedented turnover this past offseason when a third of teams changed skippers. A large chunk of these managerial hires might have been seen as commonplace.
The Atlanta Braves promoted Walt Weiss from bench coach. Weiss also had experience as the former manager of the Colorado Rockies from 2013-2016. Similarly, the Texas Rangers gave Skip Schumaker a second chance at being a manager after he was the Miami Marlins skipper just a few years ago. The Baltimore Orioles hired Cleveland Guardians' bench coach Craig Albernaz to lead their organization this past offseason as well. Hiring someone who was just a bench coach or field manager is the most common path, but for better or worse, it is not the only road.
Although it has not worked out thus far (in fact, it has been a disaster), I still commend the San Francisco Giants from bucking the trend and turning to the college ranks when Buster Poesy and company hired Tony Vitello. Maybe it was also destined to fail, but we see professional teams hire from the college ranks all the time in other sports. I get that unlike most sports, baseball draftees spend years in the minor leagues before reaching the big leagues, but I still believe teams need to take chances.
Another unconventional hire this past offseason was the NL East rival Washington Nationals hiring Blake Butera, the youngest MLB manager in half a century. Butera did manage a few seasons in the low minors but had since been high up in the Tampa Bay Rays’ player development department over the previous couple of seasons. The Nats have not had a perfect season by any stretch, but for a team that was predicted to lose 100-plus games and be in contention for the worst team in baseball, Butera and the rest of the staff have helped the team play well above expectations.
So what does all of this mean for the Mets? Most likely, they are going to heavily pursue someone like Cora or a current MLB bench coach. That might be the right course of action, especially given the aforementioned climate in the big apple. With that being said, Cohen and Stearns would be doing the organization a disservice if they only looked at one type of manager. Of course, this is subject to change if you can get Cora to sign on the dotted line. One of the biggest reasons to conduct a broad managerial search isn’t even necessarily to hire a guy but to get an honest outside perspective on the organization.
As we enter the back half of the 2026 season and will eventually turn our attention to 2027, I still don’t understand why other assistant coaches are not given a more serious look to lead a franchise. It appears only bench coaches and field coordinators are serious candidates on a major league staff to be plucked. That shouldn’t be the case.
One of the prime candidates that comes to mind is Kyle Snyder, the pitching coach for the Rays since 2018. Tampa Bay does more with less on a yearly basis. Once again, they were predicted to finish near the bottom of the AL East and now see themselves as standing atop of the entire American League. The Rays develop pitching like just about no other organization (the Guardians and Milwaukee Brewers would like a word). Wouldn’t you want to at least interview the pitching coach behind all of that? Griffin Jax was a really solid reliever, who had a marvelous 2024 campaign. After the Rays acquired him at last year’s trade deadline, they have turned him into a really good starting pitcher. Jax has a 2.89 ERA since he became a full-time starter in Tampa's rotation. The jump from pitching coach to manager is a big step. I understand the two positions require separate skillsets, but the fact that teams don’t dive into this market is puzzling.
Another name I would throw out there is Chris Hook of the Brewers. Like Snyder, he was hired as his team’s pitching coach in 2018, when Stearns was running the team’s baseball operations. Under Hook’s leadership, we have seen studs like Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff blossom and reach their full potential. Jacob Misiorowski always had other-worldly raw stuff, but he has been completely unleashed under Hook and the rest of the staff. He has also been responsible for revitalizing the career of Kyle Harrison, who is one of the top All-Star snubs this season.
Hook and Snyder are just two examples across the MLB landscape. Teams have put together complex hitting and pitching labs. Nobody would have expected the Nationals to be the best offensive team in baseball heading into the midsummer classic. Maybe it doesn’t make sense for the Mets to pursue this type of candidate given the unique nature of the New York market, but it doesn’t hurt to pick up the phone and bring in these types of candidates for an interview. In an era and an age where teams aren’t afraid to be unconventional and where teams will look to find talent under any rock, I still have not put together why teams don’t hire more pitching and hitting coaches to be managers. Maybe the Mets will be one of the first organizations to seriously explore that avenue and unlock that route for managers moving forward.
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