The New York Mets will reportedly hire a new manager by the end of the week with Buck Showalter, Joe Espada and Matt Quatraro as the team’s three finalist.
Former Yankee Mark Teixeira, who has played for Showalter and Espada, believes that one sticks out above the rest.
“I think Buck Showalter is the smartest man in baseball, and that is not hyperbole,” Teixeira told Mike Puma of the New York Post. “When you sit down and talk to Buck about the game, he is just so sharp looking at it from all different angles and his record speaks for itself and there is not a more prepared manager as well.
“You take his intelligence and his perparation and I think he’s a great manager. Just look at what he’s done with so many franchises, building them up from the bottom.”
Listen to New York sports talk now on Audacy and shop the latest Mets team gear
Showalter has managed the Yankees, Diamondbacks, Rangers and Orioles and took over all four teams when they had losing records. He’s reached the postseason with the Yankees, Diamondbacks and Orioles and turned the Rangers into an 89-win team in his second season in Texas.
It was in Texas where Teixeira played for Showalter.
“Every manager says they have an open-door policy, but Buck truly does,” he added. “Buck is not somebody who will walk through the clubhouse all day long kind of bothering guys, but that door isopen and any time you need something you go in there and talk to Buck and he’s going to do whatever it takes to make the team better.”
Showalter is 65 years old and would be returning to a game that is more analytically driven than ever before, but Teixeira does not believe that will faze the manager.
“I didn’t think that until I saw what Dusty Baker has done with the Astros,” Teixeira said. “Any smart baseball guy like Dusty or Buck is going to realize there is absolutely a place for analytics. At the same time, the 40-plus years of experience Buck has in professional baseball, he is going to rely on that, too. I think meshing those two together like Dusty has with the Astros is a really good place.”
Related
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram