Mickey Callaway

A bleak season atop the Mets’ dugout continued Friday for second-year manager Mickey Callaway. His club opened the second half of the season with yet another forgettable performance in an 8-4 loss to the Marlins – the lone National League team with a worse record than New York’s. The Mets are an abysmal 40-51 after their latest defeat, but general manager Brodie Van Wagenen informed Tim Healey of Newsday and other reporters beforehand that he “absolutely” expects Callaway to stay on through the season.

“Mickey has done a difficult job very well,” said Van Wagenen, who added he’s “very satisfied” that Callaway “shows up to work every day with a passion to win and a desire to work and get better.” He also lauded Callaway for the way he has kept the clubhouse together during what “has not been an easy year for us.”

This is the second time this season that Van Wagenen has issued Callaway a public vote of confidence. The executive did the same back on May 20 in response to reports suggesting Callaway was on the hot seat. There have been some obvious changes to the Mets’ circumstances since then, though. For starters, while the Mets’ record was a subpar 21-25 when Van Wagenen came out in support of Callaway two months ago, they were still a manageable three games back of the National League East lead. But the Mets have continued their downward spiral dating back to then, having gone 19-26. They’re now an insurmountable 14 1/2 games back of the division-leading Braves and a potentially out-of-reach seven behind a wild-card spot.

Off the field, we’re only a week removed from Van Wagenen unleashing a tirade at the expense of the Mets’ coaching staff. Disgusted with another loss, Van Wagenen reportedly “lashed out” at the coaches, threw a chair and ordered Callaway to go conduct his “[expletive] press conference.”

It wouldn’t have been unreasonable a week ago to believe Callaway would lose his job this season. Now, if we’re to believe Van Wagenen, that’s not going to happen. Whether the Mets keep or fire Callaway, they have a multitude of other problems Van Wagenen will somehow need to fix in order for the team to escape the league’s cellar.

Though the fading Mets axed a pair of pitching coaches yesterday, reports indicate that skipper Mickey Callaway is likely to remain at the helm through season’s end. Mike Puma of the New York Post said yesterday that Callaway is considered safe barring a full-blown devolution of the season, while Andy Martino of SNY.tv writes much the same today.

It wasn’t long ago that Callaway was said to be on the hot seat. But GM Brodie Van Wagenen came in with a vote of confidence and hasn’t backed down publicly since in his support for the skipper. Puma writes that COO Jeff Wilpon “remains [Callaway’s] strongest backer in the organization.” Since Wilpon writes the checks, there won’t be a change at the helm of the dugout unless he says so.

Things certainly haven’t improved since they last came to a head in mid-May. The club has hovered at .500 ball since, but that hasn’t helped jump-start a move in the standings. The Mets sit five games under the mean and nine games back of the Braves. They were just passed by a Nationals team that dug a deeper hole but has been on a nice run of late.

None of that is terribly encouraging. The club remains in need of some kind of jolt — or just better, more consistent across-the-board play. But it seems the Mets’ top brass has decided that canning Callaway isn’t likely to spur improvement. Van Wagenen issued another public vote of confidence in the wake of the pitching coach change, saying that Callaway “has my full-blown confidence.”

There’s certainly an argument to be made that a managerial change isn’t the right way to go, though one could’ve said the same of the interim step of swapping out coaches. And it’s frankly not clear what can be done at the moment. As Marc Carig of The Athletic wrote this morning (subscription link), the “brunt of th[e] failure rests on the shoulders of Van Wagenen.” The new GM’s early moves haven’t worked out as hoped; now, he’ll have to deal with a complicated roster situation.

It was a busy day for Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen, who addressed reporters on the latest strange health twist from outfielder (and former client) Yoenis Cespedes and also issued a vote of confidence in manager Mickey Callaway. Matt Ehalt of Yahoo Sports was among those to cover the presser.

With the Mets still reeling ten days after COO Jeff Wilpon called a sit-down with Van Wagenen and Callaway, the temperature on Callaway’s seat in the dugout is warming. Van Wagenen met with players and the coaching staff today to make clear that Callaway remains in charge, then met with the media to make the same point.

As is often the case when head coaches and managers receive a vote of confidence, the message was somewhat mixed. Van Wagenen said that Callaway “has our full support to lead this team for the foreseeable future,” yet raised some doubt as to the meaning of the term “foreseeable” by stopping well shy of giving any assurances that Callaway would be entrusted with the reins for the remainder of the season.

Van Wagenen says that the club’s focus has been the unity between the players and coaching staff. Callaway scores well in that department in the eyes of the rookie GM, who says that his club’s manager “has the pulse of the clubhouse.”

Whether that will remain the standard by which Callaway is judged moving forward isn’t clear. All that does seem clear is that the second-year skipper won’t be canned in the next few weeks. That’d make for a rather embarrassing change of direction after today’s statements. Beyond that, it’s anyone’s guess whether and when a change might take place.

The Mets hired manager Mickey Callaway in October 2017 with the hope that he’d immediately help the franchise rebound from an awful final season under predecessor Terry Collins. Nearly a season and a half later, the Mets are still waiting for Callaway’s tenure to yield positive results, and it seems they’re running out of patience with the former Indians pitching coach. Callaway will manage the Mets on Sunday, but the ax could fall on the 44-year-old after that, per reports from Joel Sherman of the New York Post, fellow Post scribe Mike Puma, and Matt Ehalt of Yahoo Sports.

Callaway’s seat looks particularly hot in the wake of yet another listless Mets performance Saturday, when they mustered just one hit in a 2-0 loss to the lowly Marlins. They’re guaranteed a series loss in Miami, having dropped the opener Friday, and now own a 20-24 record on the season and a 97-109 mark since hiring Callaway. Moreover, the Mets have fallen in four of seven games to a pair of struggling teams (the Nationals and Marlins) since COO Jeff Wilpon met with Callaway and general manager Brodie Van Wagenen on May 10. At that point, Wilpon reportedly let his two underlings know that the Mets’ performance wasn’t acceptable.

If Wilpon was fed up eight days ago, then he may be livid now, which could hasten a decision on Callaway. In the event Callaway does go, bench coach Jim Riggleman – an experienced manager who was the Reds’ interim skipper for most of 2018 – as well as quality control coach Luis Rojas could be names to watch, Puma relays. On the other hand, though, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal says (video link) the Mets might go outside for their next manager, listing Joe Girardi, Buck Showalter and Dusty Baker as out-of-work dugout chiefs with terrific resumes. Rosenthal notes it’s up in their whether the Mets would be willing to pay any of those guys in addition to Callaway, though Puma points out they’d be eating a relatively small sum in firing him. With an annual salary of $850K, Callaway is among the majors’ lowest-paid managers.

So far, the beleaguered Wilpons have gotten the type of basement-level results commensurate with Callaway’s salary, though that’s not to suggest he’s the lone source of blame for this mess. Van Wagenen’s aggressive offseason maneuverings haven’t really panned out to this point, and a neglect of pitching depth has helped doom the club. Second baseman Robinson Cano, relievers Jeurys Familia and Justin Wilson, and catcher Wilson Ramos – all expensive additions – have each struggled. Meanwhile, $20MM infield signing Jed Lowrie hasn’t been healthy enough to debut, and center fielder Keon Broxton is now in DFA limbo after bombing over 53 plate appearances.

While other winter pickups Edwin Diaz and J.D. Davis have done their part, neither their quality performances nor the presences of Michael Conforto, Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Brandon Nimmo, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler, Seth Lugo or Robert Gsellman – all inherited by Van Wagenen – have been enough to pull the Mets from the doldrums. Now, with the team in dire need of a quick turnaround, Van Wagenen’s solution may be to throw Callaway overboard. Van Wagenen did not hire Callaway, whom previous GM Sandy Alderson put in place, which may make it easier for BVW to go in another direction.

Earlier today, Mets COO Jeff Wilpon held a sit-down with GM Brodie Van Wagenen and manager Mickey Callaway, according to a report from Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The ninety-minute session was conceived of in hopes of preventing a second-straight early-season collapse.

Things are off to a promising start tonight, as the club is pouring it on early against the Marlins. That’s likely happenstance, though it’s always nice to see a response after such a moment. The Mets entered play today at 17-20, a particularly disappointing mark considering the club’s 9-4 open to the year.

It’s not entirely clear what was actually discussed in the meeting. Sherman says that Wilpon delivered the message that “the current play is unacceptable and that the need [sic] finding remedies is critical.” Callaway was reportedly encouraged “to apply whatever means he thought workable to improve the results,” though it’s not really evident whether any specific concepts will be put into action.

Notably, Sherman writes that Wilpon never threatened Callaway’s job or set any strict performance demands. The organization would obviously rather not drop Callaway in the middle of his second season at the helm of the dugout. And with good reason: it’s hard to lay too much blame upon him for the fact that the team has limped to a -27 run differential that lags all but six other MLB teams. (Today’s onslaught seems likely to tip that back in a more favorable direction.) Though Callaway is safe for the moment, the meeting does seem to serve as notice that ownership is anxious to see things pointed back in the right direction.