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The New York Mets have the highest payroll that MLB has ever seen. The result of such a massive allocation of salary money and stars at numerous positions and ages is a losing record roughly halfway through June. It's an understatement to say that they are a disappointment right now and that Buck Showalter is under pressure.
However, Showalter's job is safe at the moment, according to Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY. The insider indicated that the Mets are not likely to fire Showalter or general manager Billy Eppler midseason. He also said that the team is expected to hire David Stearns, the Milwaukee Brewers' general manager.
“The New York Mets may be struggling with the largest payroll in baseball history, but there are no plans to fire manager Buck Showalter or GM Billy Eppler. Their jobs are not in jeopardy, at least not during the season,” writes Nightengale. “They instead are expected to hire former Milwaukee Brewers GM David Stearns, whose contract expires after this season, for a high-ranking position in the front office.”
Showalter's steady presence has not made up for his tactical mistakes. Many of the Mets' players would be disappointments regardless of who the manager is but the veteran manager has not helped himself.
The Mets won 101 games last season but flamed out in the Wild Card round against the San Diego Padres. A 31-35 record has them in fourth place in the NL East and is keeping them only a few steps ahead of the Washington Nationals. Just about nothing has gone right for new addition Justin Verlander, who was expected to keep their pitching elite after Jacob deGrom's departure.
Team owner Steve Cohen has not indicated that he has not lost any faith in his Mets squad. Francisco Alvarez and Kodai Senga have both been quite good in their first full seasons with New York and Pete Alonso continues to smash home runs, though he is now shelved for a while due to a wrist injury. New York is not headed down a great path and has another choice but to turn it around as soon as possible.