People close to Mets honcho David Stearns insist he is truly serious about considering first-time managers if he can’t lure his longtime manager Craig Counsell away from his hometown Brewers (a distinct possibility).
One Brewers person said he believes Counsell will stay if he gets the right bump from $3.5 million. Terry Francona and Bruce Bochy were the highest-paid managers in 2023 in the range of $4M-$4.5M (plus perks for Bochy). Counsell is looking north of that. The Mets won’t go to Joe Torre’s record $8M salary but should easily top Brewers’ salary offers.
The Mets have had no luck with neophytes — their only super-successful first-time manager was Davey Johnson — but Stearns is said to have noted how well Dave Roberts, Rob Thomson and even Aaron Boone have done as newcomer big-market managers.
The Mets started their search but are in the “early stages” as they wait on Counsell.
The Mets tried in-season to trade Daniel Vogelbach. No takers.
I told Tommy Pham that Mark Canha explained on The Post podcast “The Show” that Pham thought Mets position players didn’t work hard enough because he was comparing others to Pham, a notorious worker. Pham said no, that certain minimum standards need to be met.
While the Red Sox are struggling to find qualified front-office candidates to interview (Sam Fuld, Jon Daniels and James Click pulled out and Derek Falvey declined), they do have candidates. In the mix are Twins GM Thad Levine, readier now than when he pulled out of Philly for family reasons, former Marlins GM Mike Hill and, according to The Athletic, Craig Breslow, a Yale grad who pitched for Boston four years. Kim Ng, who hadn’t been discussed before her shocking Miami departure, could be someone to consider now, too.
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