On Sunday, Buck Showalter announced to press he will not return as the New York Mets manager for the 2024 season. This is a huge opening on a team that is willing to do anything to win. Many MLB managers and former managers will try to jump at this opportunity of a lifetime.
No. 3 Replacement for Showalter as Mets Manager: Joe Maddon
Joe Maddon was a successful coach with a history of leading teams to the playoffs. Before ruining his career with the Angels, he took the Tampa Bay Rays to the World Series, which they lost to the Phillies in 2008. However, in 2016, he led the Chicago Cubs to destiny and broke the "Curse of the Billy Goat," ending generations of failure.
If you want to win, Maddon is one of the best options to pick up as a manager. In his career, he was successful with the Cubs but failed to take them far in the playoffs past the 2016 title.
Maddon was the skipper for the Tampa Bay Rays for years and turned them from a team losing 100 games a year to a team winning nearly 100 games a year. His career was filled with chances to go all the way, but they failed to win a World Series with him as the skipper and still haven't to this day.
His career will forever be tarnished from his tenure with the Los Angeles Angels, which is what ruined his legacy. But that is also where he got his coaching start in 1996 and 1999. He started his career with the Angels and so far is positioned to end his career with the Angels.
He has the potential this offseason to make a return. At age 69 and soon turning 70, who knows if he still wants to manage a team after already winning it all, while being a winning manager of the year three times also and being a successful manager.
No. 2 Replacement for Showalter as Mets Manager: Carlos Beltrán
In 2019, Carlos Beltrán signed a three-year contract to become the next manager for the New York Mets, replacing then-manager Mickey Callaway. The contract included a club option for a fourth season, but sadly he was never able to coach as manager because when the start of the year 2020 began, he and the Mets decided to part ways due to him being caught up in the Astros' sign-stealing scandal.
Beltrán had originally decided to become the next manager for the Mets, and with years gone from the Astros' scandal, plenty have forgiven him. So, this could be the best chance for him to get a shot as a manager now, with less pressure on the Mets to discipline him.
He is set to take over as in 2022 he joined the Yankees' "YES network" as a game analyst before leaving in early 2023 and joining the Mets front office.
As part of the Mets front office, it seems likely they could try to turn him into the next Mets' skipper. But instead of firing him again, they could give him a shot.
Beltrán will be a Hall of Fame player soon as a nine-time All-Star who won three Gold Gloves, two Silver Sluggers, Rookie of the Year, and the 2017 World Series with the Astros. His career was filled with success, and his coaching career could be too, as he has the ability to lead a team into the future. Hopefully, that will be with the Mets, but his lack of experience is very hard to overlook.
No. 1 Replacement for Showalter as Mets Manager: Craig Counsell
Craig Counsell has been rumored to become the Mets' next manager. Currently the Manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, he is set to become a free agent past this season, and joining the Mets could be the best thing for him.
One perk to joining the Mets is the almost unlimited amount of talent and payroll, which can get the best players a huge pay raise and pretty much everything you need to win games as long as you are a good coach.
Counsell joined the Brewers in 2015 and has turned the franchise into a contender. Before him, they were failing to make the postseason with Ron Roenicke. But since joining the Brewers, Counsell has helped turn them around into a division-winning team. They were never a dominant team before his tenure.
Under Counsell, the Brewers made the postseason four years in a row between 2018 and 2021. They barely missed the postseason in 2022. But in the franchise's history, they never went in four consecutive seasons before, and with his 2023 postseason clinching, he will now take the Brewers to the postseason for his fifth time, when prior they've only gone four times before.
Counsell will struggle in his first few seasons in New York, but overall, it will lead to more opportunities for him and will be better than sticking with the Brewers. However, many still question if he will leave the Brewers after this 2023 postseason run, in which they might be able to win it all for the first time in his career.
He is a talented coach, but still hasn't proved himself as one of the best as he hasn't won any awards or taken the Brewers into a deep playoff run. But the Mets could use a coach like him.
