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Mets, Matt Reynolds Agree To Minor League Deal

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Though the team did not formally announce it, the Mets agreed to a minor league contract with infielder Matt Reynolds earlier this month, tweets Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.

It’s a homecoming of sorts for the now-31-year-old Reynolds, a second-round pick of the Mets back in 2012. He spent parts of the 2016-17 seasons on the Mets’ big league roster and has since received very brief looks with the Nationals and Royals at the MLB level. In all, Reynolds is a .212/.282/.323 hitter through 251 plate appearances as a big leaguer.

Reynolds spent the 2021 season in the White Sox organization but hasn’t gotten a call to the big leagues since a that brief Kansas City audition in 2020. He played in 93 games for the ChiSox’ Triple-A affiliate last year, hitting at a solid .269/.373/.395 pace while splitting his time at the two middle-infield spots (in addition to a lone five-inning appearance in right field). In parts of seven Triple-A seasons, Reynolds is a .283/.363/.435 hitter.

Obviously, the infield is quite crowded in Queens, where the Mets have Robinson Cano, Francisco Lindor, Eduardo Escobar, J.D. Davis, Jeff McNeil and Luis Guillorme all slated for time on the big league roster. Reynolds will likely head to Triple-A Syracuse and see plenty of action at shortstop, though he also has experience at second, third and in all three outfield positions as well.

Mets Begin Second Round Of Managerial Interviews With Three Finalists

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Dec. 14: The Mets will begin the second round of interviews today, tweets Mike Puma of the New York Post.

Dec. 12, 4:17pm: Matt Quatraro joins Showalter and Espada as finalists, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link).

3:55pm: The Mets’ managerial search has moved on to the next stage, with Buck Showalter and Joe Espada making up the field of known final candidates, as per Ken Davidoff and Joel Sherman of The New York Post.  It isn’t known if a third candidate could also still be in the mix, or if Showalter and Espada are the only two who will now interview with Mets owner Steve Cohen.

There was no surprise over Showalter’s inclusion, and there is an increasing expectation that the veteran skipper will ultimately be the Mets’ choice.  As SNY’s Andy Martino puts it, a Showalter hiring “feels almost inevitable,” and “folks in the industry are convinced Showalter is getting the job unless something goes horribly wrong in final stages.”

While the 65-year-old Showalter has 20 years of managerial experience, the 46-year-old Espada has never been a manager at the big league level, though he has a long resume as a coach.  Working for the last four years as the Astros’ bench coach, Espada also has seven previous seasons of experience as a third base coach with the Yankees and Marlins, as well as stints as a special assistant to Yankees GM Brian Cashman and as a coach and coordinator in the Marlins’ farm system.

Espada has been a popular managerial candidate in recent years, and if Showalter does end up as New York’s next manager, it would represent another near-miss for the Astros coach.  Espada has been previously linked to managerial openings with the Blue Jays, Giants, Angels, Cubs, Orioles, Twins, and Rangers, and he reportedly came close to being hired by the Giants before they decided on Gabe Kapler.  Should the Mets pass on Espada, another opportunity might come quickly, as Espada has also recently spoken with the Athletics about their current managerial vacancy.

If Showalter and Espada are indeed the Mets’ final two, it is somewhat symbolic of how the club has weighed both experienced dugout voices and first-time candidates throughout their search.  Besides Showalter, the Mets also interviewed former Tigers/Angels manager Brad Ausmus and former A’s manager Bob Geren.  On the less-experienced side of the coin, the Mets also spoke with Dodgers first base coach Clayton McCullough, Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro, and they looked to speak with Pirates bench coach Don Kelly before Kelly took himself out of consideration.

Mets Interview Clayton McCullough

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The Mets have interviewed Dodgers first base coach Clayton McCullough as part of their ongoing managerial search, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. It’s expected to be their final interview of the first round of the search to replace Luis Rojas.

McCullough joins Dodgers bench coach Bob Geren as the second member of Dave Roberts’ staff to interview for the Mets’ vacancy. The other four known candidates are veteran skipper Buck Showalter, Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro, Astros bench coach Joe Espada and former Tigers/Angels skipper Brad Ausmus.

The 2021 season was the first on a Major League coaching staff for the 41-year-old McCullough, a former minor league catcher who’d previously spent close to a decade as a minor league coach and manager in the Blue Jays system. The Dodgers hired him as their minor league field coordinator in 2015 and promoted him to the big league coaching staff this past season. McCullough also interviewed for the Giants’ managerial vacancy prior to the team’s hiring of Gabe Kapler.

While the first wave of interviews was conducted via Zoom by new general manager Billy Eppler, per SNY’s Andy Martino, the second round of interviews will be conducted in person and will include owner Steve Cohen. He adds that the field is expected to be whittled down to three finalists prior to in-person interviews. At the moment, Showalter is seen as having a “strong chance” to secure the position, per Martino, but it seems as though two more candidates will have the opportunity to sway Eppler and Cohen before anything is finalized.

Mets Interview Joe Espada In Managerial Search; Don Kelly Withdraws From Consideration

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The Mets have interviewed Astros’ bench coach Joe Espada as part of their ongoing managerial search, reports Andy Martino of SNY (Twitter link). He becomes the fifth known interviewee, joining Matt Quatraro, Buck Showalter, Brad Ausmus and Bob Geren.

Espada, 46, has spent the past four seasons as the Houston bench coach. His first two years were under A.J. Hinch, and he retained that position even after the club moved on to Dusty Baker in the wake of Hinch’s firing for his role the 2017 sign-stealing scandal. Before his time with the Astros, Espada spent four seasons in the Yankees’ organization, the latter three of which came on Joe Girardi’s coaching staff. Espada’s time in the Bronx partially overlapped with that of current Mets’ general manager Billy Eppler, who worked as an AGM with the Yankees from 2012-15.

To date, Espada has no big league managing experience. He’s long been regarded as a viable candidate to land a top position at some point, though. Over the 2018-19 offseason, he reportedly interviewed for managerial positions with the Twins, Angels and Rangers, and he was reported to be a finalist for the Blue Jays’ job that eventually went to Charlie Montoyo. The following winter, he met with the Cubs and Giants — making a strong enough impression with the latter organization that he was once reported to be the front-runner for a position that ultimately went to Gabe Kapler.

Espada has also drawn interest from the other club with a current vacancy in the dugout. Britt Ghiroli and Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported earlier this week that he’s expected to sit down with A’s brass as part of their efforts to find a replacement for Bob Melvin.

Of the six known candidates for the Mets’ position, five have now interviewed. The other — Pirates’ bench coach Don Kelly — appears to be out of the running. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported this evening (on Twitter) that Kelly has pulled his name from consideration for personal reasons. Presumably, that means he’ll reprise his role as Derek Shelton’s top lieutenant in Pittsburgh in 2022.

That’s not to say the group of five known to have interviewed are the finalists for the position. Mike Puma of the New York Post tweets that the Mets have an interview with an additional unknown candidate scheduled for tomorrow morning.

Mets To Interview Bob Geren

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Dec. 8: Geren’s interview will take place today, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

Dec. 7: Dodgers bench coach Bob Geren will interview for the Mets’ managerial vacancy this week, according to SNY’s Andy Martino (Twitter link).  Geren is the sixth known candidate for the job, joining Buck Showalter, Brad Ausmus, Joe Espada, Don Kelly, and Matt Quatraro as names on the Amazins’ radar.

Like Showalter and Ausmus, Geren has some past big league managerial experience on his resume, as he posted a 334-376 record while working as the Athletics’ skipper from 2007-11.  He has also previously worked in the Mets’ dugout, serving as the club’s bench coach from 2012-15.  Geren has worked as manager Dave Roberts’ bench coach with the Dodgers for each of the past six seasons.

Geren has been linked to several other managerial jobs since his time in Oakland, such as the Dodgers’ job that went to Roberts, the Red Sox vacancy that went to Alex Cora, the Giants’ job that went to Gabe Kapler, and even one of the Mets’ recent managerial searches.  Before New York hired Mickey Callaway prior to the 2018 season, Geren was reportedly one of the early contenders as a possible replacement for Terry Collins, though it didn’t appear as if Geren made it too deep (if at all) into the interview process.

This past connection to the Mets certainly makes Geren a known quantity to both president Sandy Alderson and owner Steve Cohen, whereas the other known candidates don’t have any past ties to Queens.  Ausmus and Espada did previously work with GM Billy Eppler, creating an interesting mix of familiarity and entirely fresh voices within the group of six.

Mets To Interview Buck Showalter

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The Mets are scheduled to interview Buck Showalter tomorrow as part of their managerial search, reports Jon Heyman of the MLB Network (Twitter link). That’s hardly a surprise, as Showalter was reported to be on New York’s radar last week. Perhaps of more interest is that Heyman adds that some around the industry see Showalter as the favorite, although he notes that other candidates are expected to sit down in the coming days.

Few around the game can match Showalter’s experience and credentials. He landed his first big league managerial job with the Yankees nearly three decades ago. Showalter spent the 1992-95 campaigns in the Bronx and went on to log stints leading the D-Backs from (1998-2000), the Rangers (2003-06) and the Orioles (2010-18).

Now 65, Showalter is a three-time Manager of the Year award winner, claiming that honor in each of 1994, 2004 and 2014. He’s overseen five playoff clubs (including three division winners), leading the 2014 Orioles to the AL Championship Series. Baltimore posted a winning record in five of his first seven seasons at the helm, but the club nosedived in 2017, leading to the complete rebuild from which the organization still has yet to emerge. That’s not entirely or even primarily the fault of Showalter, but the O’s nevertheless dismissed him after the 2018 campaign. He hasn’t managed since, yet he’s continued to express openness to a return to the dugout.

Showalter will become the fourth known interviewee with the Mets. New York has also spoken or scheduled interviews with Rays’ bench coach Matt Quatraro, former Tigers’ and Angels’ skipper Brad Ausmus and Dodgers’ bench coach Bob Geren. Ausmus and Geren both have prior MLB managing experience, but neither has as extensive a resume as Showalter.

The latter’s long list of accomplishments figures to hold some weight in the clubhouse, and Pat Ragazzo of Sports Illustrated reports (on Twitter) that newly-signed ace Max Scherzer has indicated to the club he’d prefer Showalter land the position. It’s not clear the front office will place much or any stock into the reported preferences of individual players, but Scherzer is certainly an important figure in the organization both from an on-field and locker room perspective.

Interestingly, the Mets aren’t the only New York team to consider a pursuit of Showalter this offseason. Heyman adds that the Yankees kicked around the possibility of making a run at bringing him back earlier in the winter. That ultimately proved not to be, as the Yankees decided to stick with incumbent skipper Aaron Boone, signing him to a three-year extension in mid-October.

Update On Mets’ Managerial Search

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Not long after reports of the A’s conducting their first managerial interview surfaced, the Mets have begun an interview carousel of their own. SNY’s Andy Martino reports that the Mets conducted their first managerial interview today, and expect to keep the process going Tuesday. Among the identified managerial candidates include a trio of bench coaches— Houston’s Joe Espada, Tampa Bay’s Matt Quatraro, and Pittsburgh’s Don Kelly— as well as two veteran managers, Buck Showalter and Brad Ausmus.

Martino notes that the current list of candidates still has room to grow, but throws cold water on the notion that beloved Mets alumni Curtis Granderson and David Wright will interview after their names surfaced in earlier discussions. Whoever makes the shortlist and earns a shot at interviewing will meet with newly-minted GM Billy Eppler and his staff. Owner Steve Cohen will meet with vetted candidates some time after the initial round of interviews.

The identity of today’s interviewed candidate was none other than Brad Ausmus, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Ausmus has quite a few things going for his candidacy that surely helped net him the first opportunity to meet with Mets decision-makers. One such factor working in Ausmus’s favor is his relationship to Eppler, as Ausmus served as a special assistant to Eppler before being promoted to dugout manager in 2019 while the two were with the Angels. In other networking news, Fansided’s Robert Murray also notes that Ausmus is a Dartmouth alum like Mets president Sandy Alderson and assistant GM Bryn Alderson.

Unlike some of the candidates who have yet to interview, Ausmus also has a track record as a Major League manager. Between his time with the Angels and Detroit, he has compiled a 386-412 record as a manager, including two winning seasons at the helm and a playoff appearance. It probably also doesn’t hurt Ausmus’s case that his best season in Detroit coincided with Max Scherzer’s last season in the AL. Scherzer, one of the Mets’ marquee pickups this offseason, owns one of the game’s more fiery personalities and is perhaps best handled by a dugout operator who’s familiar with his tempo.

If Quatraro’s name rings a bell it may be because he interviewed with the A’s within the past couple of days. That the Tampa Bay bench coach has landed interviews for 100% of this offseason’s managerial vacancies is no surprise. The Rays have proven their division’s winningest team during Quatraro’s time as bench coach, no small feat considering the powerhouses that reside within those same confines. Martino reports that Quatraro is in line for a Tuesday interview.

There aren’t many updates for the remaining candidates of Espada, Kelly, and Showalter, though they all remain highly credible options in the wake of MLBTR’s profile of their candidacies last week. Jon Heyman does note (via Twitter) that Espada and Eppler share a “strong link” dating back to their time in the Yankees organization, and calls Espada a “serious contender”.

Matt Quatraro Interviews With Athletics; Interview With Mets Likely To Follow

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The A’s have interviewed Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro within the past few days as part of their search for a new manager, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He becomes the first known candidate to sit down with Oakland brass.

Quatraro, 48, has been regarded as a potential manager of the future for the past few years. Kevin Cash’s top lieutenant over the last three seasons in Tampa Bay, he interviewed with the Pirates and Giants over the 2019-20 offseason and sat down with the Tigers last fall. Quatraro, who played professionally for seven seasons and topped out at Triple-A, has never managed in the majors. He does have nearly two decades of coaching experience in the Rays’ organization (in addition to a 2014 stint as Indians’ assistant hitting coach). That includes four years managing in the low minors in the Tampa Bay system.

Oakland is on the hunt for a new manager after Bob Melvin’s surprising departure to take over the dugout in San Diego. For the first time in more than a decade, the A’s will go into a season without Melvin leading the charge. Former bench coach Ryan Christenson is departing to assume the same role under Melvin with the Padres, removing one potential in-house option from the mix.

The A’s are one of two teams in search of a new skipper. The other club, the Mets, has also expressed interest in Quatraro. Buster Olney of ESPN reported this morning (on Twitter) that New York was requesting permission from the Rays to interview him. Topkin reports that Tampa Bay has granted that request, writing that Quatraro could sit down with members of the New York front office as soon as tomorrow.

The Status Of The Corner Outfield Market

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Free agent outfielder Kyle Schwarber is said to be asking for a three-year, $60MM contract, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. The Marlins were exploring contracts with both Schwarber and Nick Castellanos before the lockout, ultimately coming to a four-year, $53MM agreement with Avisail Garcia instead. Miami also offered Starling Marte a four-year, $60MM offer before he signed with the Mets, notes Jackson.

The market for Schwarber remains robust, however, with many teams throughout the league in need of corner outfield help. The Red Sox – his most recent club – may be a less clean fit for Schwarber after re-acquiring Jackie Bradley Jr. and making the lineup that much more left-leaning, writes Rob Bradford of WEEI.com. The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey isn’t as sure that Schwarber’s being a left-handed hitter really represents a problem.

Beyond Schwarber and Castellanos, there remain a plethora of free agents capable of stationing in an outfield corner. Kris Bryant is the biggest name of the bunch, though his strongest suitors are likely to at least appreciate his glovework at the hot corner. World Series highlight generators Jorge Soler, Joc Pederson, and Eddie Rosario remain available. Michael Conforto is the other big name still out there, though he has a qualifying offer attached, which may affect his market.

Brett Gardner, Andrew McCutchen, Tommy Pham, Brian Goodwin, Alex Dickerson, and Corey Dickerson are some of the more attractive options out there with recent starting experience. In terms of specialists, Ender Inciarte, Roman Quinn, Kevin Pillar, and Jake Marisnick may fit the bill. There are also a fair number of multi-positional utility men out there, such as Niko Goodrum, Josh Harrison, Marwin Gonzalez, Danny Santana, and Brad Miller.

Latest On Mets’ Managerial Search

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10:04 pm: Martino tweets that while Granderson’s name had come up in initial discussions, he is not expected to interview for the position.

9:49 pm: Robert Murray of FanSided reports (on Twitter) that longtime big league outfielder Curtis Granderson is also under consideration for the Mets. The 40-year-old announced his retirement from playing in 2020 following a 16-year big league career that included a trio of All-Star appearances and a Silver Slugger Award.

Granderson had emerged as a respected veteran presence in clubhouses over the course of his career. He currently serves as the president of the Players Alliance, a nonprofit organization aimed at increasing accessibility within the sport for Black athletes. Granderson played four seasons with the Mets during team president Sandy Alderson’s time as the club’s GM. Prior to that, he spent four years with the Yankees — a stint that overlapped with Eppler’s time in the club’s front office.

6:35 pm: The Mets declined an option to bring back skipper Luis Rojas shortly after the end of the 2021 season. Two months later, they remain without a manager. After spending a significant chunk of the early offseason in the search for a new GM that eventually landed Billy Eppler, the Mets turned their attention to the player market last week in advance of the lockout. With clubs barred from making major league transactions for the duration of the work stoppage, the Mets and the Athletics, the other team currently without a manager, figure to zero in on those respective searches in short order.

Andy Martino of SNY reports some preliminary candidates, naming Astros bench coach Joe Espada, Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro, Pirates bench coach Don Kelly and former MLB managers Buck Showalter and Brad Ausmus among those under early consideration. Martino cautions that’s not an exhaustive list, and it’s not clear whether everyone in that group will get an interview.

No one from that group registers as much of a surprise. None of Espada, Quatraro or Kelly has managed at the big league level, but they’ve all been rumored as part of searches elsewhere. Espada, 46, has been the bench coach in Houston for the past four seasons, working underneath both A.J. Hinch and Dusty Baker. He’s interviewed for a few different managerial openings in recent years and at one point even looked to be the favorite for the Giants job that eventually went to Gabe Kapler.

Quatraro’s name has come up a few times over the past couple offseasons. Kevin Cash’s top lieutenant over the last three years in Tampa Bay, the 48-year-old Quatraro has interviewed with the Giants, Pirates and Tigers in winters past and was reportedly a finalist for the Pittsburgh job that went to Derek Shelton. Kelly has worked underneath Shelton in the Steel City over the past two seasons. The 41-year-old interviewed with the Tigers and Red Sox last offseason and was reported to be among the top handful under consideration for the job that went to Alex Cora.

Showalter and Ausmus, meanwhile, come with significant managerial experience. The former has been one of the more accomplished skippers of the past couple decades. Showalter, now 65, landed his first big league managerial job with the Yankees in 1992. He spent four years in the Bronx, managed the D-Backs from 1998-2000, the Rangers from 2003-06 and the Orioles from 2010-18.

Over his career, Showalter won Manager of the Year Awards at three of those four stops. He’s overseen five playoff clubs (including three division winners), taking the 2014 Orioles to the AL Championship Series. Showalter hasn’t managed since being dismissed by Baltimore after the 2018 campaign, but he’s continued to express openness to a return to the dugout.

Ausmus, meanwhile, has managed at two separate stints. He spent the 2014-17 campaigns at the helm of the Tigers, then managed the Angels in 2019. That stint in Anaheim overlapped with Eppler’s tenure as Angels’ GM, fueling immediate speculation upon the latter’s hiring with the Mets that he could look to bring Ausmus to Queens.

Prior to that stint as skipper, Ausmus spent the 2018 season as a member of the Los Angeles front office. Eppler’s Angels fired Ausmus after just one season in the managerial chair, but it was reported at the time that call was made by owner Arte Moreno (perhaps not coincidentally just one day after it was announced Joe Maddon was leaving the Cubs).

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