Mets Part Ways with Manager Buck Showalter

The New York Mets officially parted ways with Manager Buck Showalter, with the latter announcing he is stepping down during his daily pre-game press conference before Sunday's regular season finale.

"We got some new leadership coming in," an emotional Showalter said. "Billy and the organizaton in fairness to me gave me the option to stepping aside... I appreciate that. The new leadership are going in a new direction with the manager next year."

And just like that, the man who won 101 games and was the N.L. Manager of the Year in 2022 is out the door one year later.

It was a disappointing year for the Mets in 2023 for sure. The team fell well short of expectations, winning only 74 games. The Mets gambled on uniting veterans Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer at the top of the rotation, and by August 1 both pitchers were traded to Houston and Texas respectively.

The catastrophic injury to Edwin Diaz in the World Baseball Classic back in March certainly didn't help, and early season slumps by Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor proved to be too much to handle.

When Steve Cohen ended his yearlong pursuit of David Stearns to be his new President of Baseball Operations, the future of Showalter was certainly a question mark. Many suspected that Stearns would want to bring in his own guy to manage the club. He will get that shot.

Rumors have swirled for weeks that current Brewers manager Craig Counsel could be a target for Stearns.

Counsel is a free agent after the season ends for Milwaukee, who are NL Central Champs.

As he gave out his final lineup card as Mets manager, the entire team poured out of the dugout to give Showalter an emotional ovation.

In two seasons, Showalter won 159 games with the Mets. His .554 winning percentage is  second highest in Mets history among full time skippers trailing only Davey Johnson, who finished with a .588 winning percentage.