Courtesy of Robbie Noble
On the day of their very last regular season game, upper management of the New York Mets fired Manager Buck Showalter from their staff. This comes amidst several massive changes made to the franchise over the last couple months. Where last year the team had a 100+ win season, this year it went sputtering down a rabbit hole of wasted money and disappointments galore. In the face of this, the front office needed a scapegoat, and who better to blame than the manager himself?
Buck Showalter is a solid and successful manager, however, bad luck has followed him all 22 seasons spent managing Major League teams. Despite only coaching 9 losing seasons out of 22 and a career win rate of .509, the 4 time Manage of the Year has never seen a World Series despite having led teams to the postseason 6 times. In fact, after being fired from the New York Yankees in 1995 after leading the team to the American League Division Series, the Yankees would win the World Series the following year as well as in ‘98, ‘99, and 2000. This same misfortune followed him again when, after being fired from the Arizona Diamondbacks following a disappointing 2000 season, the team would win it all the very next year.
This season marks the second time that Showalter has been shown the door after a disappointing season that came just after a 100+ win season. In 1999, Showalter led the Diamondbacks to a 100 win season, losing in the National League Division Series to the Mets. The subsequent season saw a regression to 85 wins and Showalter was fired at the end of the season.
Deja vu has struck Showalter again this season with the Mets. Last year, the New York Metropolitans were a true force to be reckoned with until they lost their momentum at the end of the regular season. The Mets, with the highest payroll in baseball history, won 101 games last season. Though they were overtaken by the Braves who clinched the division at the end of the season and lost in the Wild Card round, Showalter earned his 4th Manager of the Year title.
In contrast, 2023 was a complete disaster. Though the Mets were off to a good start, they began to collapse in June, and ended the regular season in 4th place in the National League East with 75 wins and 87 losses. Multiple factors contributed to this downfall with inconsistent hitting, a tremendously poor bullpen, and a misuse of the farm system. Unfortunately, Showalter was forced to make do with the cards which he was dealt, and social media, the fans, and inevitably the Mets front office put the blame at his feet. As a result, it was announced on October 1st that he would be released from the team.
Was this travesty all Buck Showalter’s fault? The answer is a resounding no. The blame can be attributed to the Mets’ General Manager himself, Billy Eppler. In his 5 years with the Los Angeles Angels from 2015 to 2020, the team never made the postseason, and his only achievement was bringing 2021 American League MVP Shohei Ohtani to America. In 2023, the Mets traded away many familiar faces at the trade deadline, including recent Eppler acquisitions Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander with their $87 million dollar contracts. Additionally, poor use was made of the farm system, with stellar talent being left until the very end of the season to simmer in Triple-A Syracuse while the big league team continued to field duds. Following the season, Eppler too would leave the team, resigning mere days after Showalter’s exit.
Though Showalter is no longer a part of the Mets organization, the team may have a bright future. With Eppler gone, the Mets brought in its first President of Baseball Operations in franchise history, lifelong Mets fan and former Milwaukee Brewers President, David Stearns. With these changes and a stronger farm system than in previous years, the Mets may be a team to look out for in the coming years.
As for Showalter, no word has come out on the future of his career. Will he retire as the winningest active manager in the Major Leagues to never win a World Series? Or will he seek employment with another team in the hopes of leading them to win it all?
