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At least four candidates for the Mets' managerial opening have reportedly made the cut for second interviews.
According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports and The Athletic, Yankees special adviser Carlos Beltran, ex-Yankees manager Joe Girardi, Nationals first-base coach Tim Bogar and ESPN analyst Eduardo Perez are finalists for the position.
Girardi is the only one of the candidates to have major league managerial experience, not counting the 22 games Bogar spent as the Texas Rangers' interim skipper in 2014.
Beltran, 42, told reporters last week that he only wants to manage the Mets next season, adding that he turned down offers to interview with the Cubs and Padres.
Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA TODAY Images Beltran, who interviewed to be the Yankees' manager after the 2017 season, said he believes he's "ready" to manage in the major leagues and that, because he lives in New York, managing the Mets is "the right fit for me."
"I feel like I played long enough to have learned the game, and I do feel I have a lot of things I can contribute to the clubhouse," he said.
The Yanks hired Beltran as a special adviser to general manager Brian Cashman in December 2018.
Beltran's status as a finalist for the Mets job suggests that the friction that once existsed between him and the Wilpons toward the end of his Mets career is now a thing of the past.
USA TODAY Images He spent 10 seasons as the Yankees' manager, leading them to a World Series title in 2009. The Yanks had winning seasons every year under Girardi and reached the postseason six times. He also managed the Marlins in 2006, when he was voted National League Manager of the Year.
Girardi played 15 seasons in the majors for the Cubs, Rockies, Cardinals and Yankees, with whom the catcher won three World Series.
Bogar, 52, is a three-time Manager of the Year in the minor leagues and has worked on the big-league staffs of the Rays, Red Sox, Rangers, Mariners and Nationals.
He played nine years in the majors from 1993-2001 as an infielder with the Mets, Astros and Dodgers.
Perez, 50, enjoyed a 13-year major league career with the Angels, Reds, Cardinals, Devil Rays, Indians and Mariners.
Perez has managed the Puerto Rican and Colombian national teams. He was a hitting coach for the Marlins from 2011-2012 and a bench coach for the Astros in 2013.
Other known candidates to have interviewed to replace Mickey Callaway, who was fired after the season, are Diamondbacks Vice President of Player Development Mike Bell, Twins bench coach Derek Shelton, Mets quality control coach Luis Rojas and Padres first-base coach Skip Schumaker.