New York Yankees announcer Michael Kay spoke with Bob Klapisch of NJ Advance Media about a handful of topics and addressed how some New York Mets players reacted to that organization’s decision to part ways with then-manager Buck Showalter last fall.
“I wonder if the Mets know their biggest stars were in Buck’s office crying on the day he was fired,” Kay explained.
Kay admitted during the conversation that Showalter is “a close friend that I’ve known for close to 40 years.”
Showalter officially joined the Mets in December 2021 and earned National League Manager of the Year honors after he guided the club to 101 wins in 2022. The Mets then entered last spring with big expectations hovering, but they routinely disappointed before team owner Steve Cohen signed off on a summer fire sale that sparked the beginning of the end of Showalter’s tenure with the organization.
Cohen later hired former Milwaukee Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns for that role with the Mets, and Stearns’ first unofficial piece of business was to move on from Showalter. Klapisch mentioned in November that “Stearns didn’t even give Showalter the courtesy of a face-to-face conversation” before having then-general manager Billy Eppler show the 68-year-old skipper the door.
“But doesn’t Buck Showalter – probably the game’s greatest manager who hasn’t yet won a World Series, a four-time Manager of the Year Award winner in both leagues – doesn’t he deserve the respect of being looked in the eye and hearing why he’s not being brought back? It was a bad look for Stearns,” Kay said. “He showed me nothing. It set the entire agenda there.”
Stearns seemingly wanted to replace Showalter with former Brewers manager Craig Counsell, but Counsell instead chose to sign with the Chicago Cubs. Meanwhile, first-year manager Carlos Mendoza had the 2024 Mets at 22-30 heading into Tuesday’s doubleheader with the Los Angeles Dodgers at Citi Field.
The Mets have problems unrelated to Mendoza that could’ve made things difficult for Showalter, Counsell or any other manager this spring. If they don’t quickly right the ship, some of Showalter’s former players could be made available to other clubs before the July 30 trade deadline.
