Mickey Callaway Fired as Mets Manager

Some important baseball news came out of New York on Thursday, and surprisingly, it didn’t have to do with the Yankees.

The New York Mets announced that, after a tumultuous season where they narrowly missed out on a playoff spot, they were parting ways with manager Mickey Callaway. In his two seasons managing the Mets, Callaway was plagued by inconsistency.

The Mets started their 2018 season with an 11-1 record, and the hopes for the team were promising that they could have a successful season. However, that did not last long, as injuries hurt the Mets the rest of the season, and they finally ended the season with a 77-85 record in fourth place in the NL East.

The struggles would continue in the first half of the 2019 season, as well, until the Mets went on their run for the playoffs.

While injuries did play a big part, Callaway had also made some questionable decisions, such as mismanaging the bullpen, especially towards the end of the 2019 season, when the Mets could have made the playoffs if they had won those crucial games. To Callaway’s defense, the Mets bullpen had pitched poorly all season. Closer Edwin Diaz, who was acquired in December of 2018, was expected to have the same success he did with Seattle the previous season, did not live up to expectations at all. He had a 2-7 record in 2019 and seven blown saves. Also, Jeurys Familia, who had been brought back after being traded to Oakland due to poor performance in 2018, continued his decline in 2019, contributing to the Mets subpar bullpen.

While the Mets did bounce back in the second half of 2019, which made it exciting for the team and Mets fans, the team still has a lot of mistakes to fix, and while Callaway may have rallied this team to the playoff hunt, they still needed to improve and a new direction may have been necessary.

There are a few names already rumored to be the next Mets manager, and one of them is former Yankees manager Joe Girardi. Personally, I think Girardi does make sense for this Mets team because they do have a lot of young talent and he is the type of manager to get the best out of his players. Plus, he has proven that he can manage a bullpen well during his tenure with the Yankees. Given those two attributes, along with his track record, Girardi may be the ideal fit for the Mets.

Another name talked about that has a good chance of being the next Mets manager is Carlos Beltran. Beltran played for the Mets from 2005-2011 and has a strong knowledge of the game, which was displayed as a player and even after his career ended. The Yankees interviewed him and he was a top candidate to replace Girardi and was a special advisor for the Yankees in 2019. He would also be able to connect with the players, since he is only two years removed from playing, and would especially have a connection with the Latin players, considering he is from Puerto Rico.

While Callaway is gone now, and despite the timing of his firing, this needed to happen. Although he did a good job leading the turnaround in the 2019 season, he was not the right fit, and the Mets will need to look for a manager that can lead this team, which has a lot of potential, to the playoffs.