You can be upset that Craig Counsell, who many believed was the next manager of the New York Mets and was wanted by a lot of fans, chose to go to Chicago and the Mets chose Carlos Mendoza instead.
“I had believed since about July that Craig Counsell was inevitably going to manage the Mets if David Stearns took over,” Evan Roberts said Monday, hours after Counsell was named Cubs manager instead. “I'll make this very, very clear about managers: I think managers can be vastly overrated, so there’s a reason why I'm not gonna scream and yell like a lunatic today – because at the end of the day, it's a manager, and it's about the players that are on your team.”
Counsell would have been the “safe and comfortable” choice, which is why Evan wanted him for the most part, because you know what you’d be getting.
“I'd be willing to offer him the most money for him to come here not because he's the only choice, but because he’s safe,” Evan said. “Craig Counsell is a proven major-league manager. I would feel comfortable with Craig managing this team. Sure, you could create a scenario where he's Art Howe 2024, but I would, overall, feel comfortable that a guy who's had nothing but success in Milwaukee would come here to New York and manage the room well – and based on the roster that's put around him, Craig Counsell would be fine as manager of the New York Mets, which is why he was my No. 1 choice.”
So, yes, Evan was disappointed when “we were all swerved” and Counsel went to Chicago…but don’t take that out on the guy the Mets did pick, Carlos Mendoza, because he’s a newcomer.
“I preferred him, and once they don't hire him, yeah, there's gonna be a drop-off, because you're gonna bring somebody in that comes as a complete wild card,” Evan said. “But I cannot sit here and destroy Carlos Mendoza as somebody that's gonna fail as the New York Mets manager because we're scarred because of Luis Rojas or Mickey Callaway – there were two other guys in the history of the New York Mets that were also first time managers.”
Those men? Willie Randolph, who won 96 games “and should’ve won the whole damn thing” in Year 2, and Davey Johnson, who did win it all in 1986.
So, we don’t know what Mendoza will become, and it’s not wrong to worry, but he could be more Davey or Willie than Luis or Mickey – and don’t judge a book by, in this case, the library you got it from.
“I’m disappointed that they don't have the safe choice, but hey hired someone who we have no right to think is gonna be a buffoon,” Evan said. “Why? Because he was they Yankees bench coach? That doesn’t mean anything! So, I hope for the best, and I remind myself that really what matters is putting the talent on the field, and now the tough work begins for David Stearns. Congratulations to Carlos Mendoza; I am disappointed they didn't seal the deal on Craig Counsell, but to act like this is the end of the world and David Sterns is a disaster? Pipe down!”
Tiki joked that “real Mets fans didn’t want Counsell anyway after last week,” but did have a question for Evan about that: do you think the Mets were the highest bidder, even as Counsell got the richest contract for a manager in baseball history?
“I think they were right there, but ultimately, he preferred to get the best of both worlds,” Evan said. “He can stay local from a geographic standpoint, and now, he gets the big payroll, the big expectations, the big market, and the money – he got everything he wanted.”