Is Buck Showalter holding the Mets back from World Series contention?

How did Buck Showalter win Manager of the Year while simultaneously being among those responsible for one of the worst collapses in MLB history with the Mets?

That’s the question I’m still asking myself, all these months later.

The New York Mets are off to a wobbly 4-4 start to the 2023 season, but my mind remains stuck on last year. On June 1, 2022, the Mets possessed a 10.5-game lead in the National League East.

We all know what happened after that. The bottom fell out. The wheels fell off. Everything started rolling uncontrollably down the steepest hill on earth.

The Mets’ collapse truly started early in September as the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies simultaneously started figuring things out. As those two contenders picked up steam, New York stalled out against the likes of the Washington Nationals, Miami Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates — three non-contending teams.

New York Mets collapse highlighted Buck Showalter’s flaws

The Mets went 5-6 over a supposedly ‘easy’ 11-game stretch, while Ronald Acuña, Austin Riley, Matt Olson, Dansby Swanson and Michael Harris had the Braves’ high-powered offense cookin’. Kyle Wright, Max Fried and Spencer Strider were also getting the job done on the hill.

Over in Philly, behind Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto and Rhys Hoskins, manager Rob Thomson’s star-studded squad was quietly gearing up for a postseason run we couldn’t have possibly seen coming.

All the while, under Showalter, cracks were forming in the foundation of the Mets. Could the veteran manager do anything to stop the impending avalanche?

And sadly — as has always been the case in Showalter’s lengthy MLB career — the answer was no. The so-called Manager of the Year couldn’t figure a single thing out strategically. He had exactly zero tricks up his sleeve.

But how could that be? Shouldn’t the best manager in the league be able to help his players when they are struggling? Isn’t there anything that can be done, strategically?

Apparently not. And this is why Steve Cohen’s overpaid Mets will never win a World Series under Showalter.

Mets: History isn’t in Buck Showalter’s favor

With the New York Yankees, Showalter had a loaded team. You know these guys: Bernie Williams, Wade Boggs, Paul O’Neill, Don Mattingly, John Wetteland, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and more of the like. This was soon to be one of the greatest baseball teams ever assembled.

But somehow, Showalter just couldn’t get the job done in the postseason. Shortly after, he was let go by the great George Steinbrenner and replaced by the now-legendary Joe Torre. And we all know what happened after that: Torre led (mostly) the same players to one of the greatest dynasties baseball has ever seen.

And what about Showalter’s stint with the Arizona Diamondbacks?

Offensively, he had Luis Gonzalez, Tony Womack, Jay Bell, Steve Finley, Matt Williams and Danny Bautista, to name some.

On the bump, he had two of the greatest to ever do it: ‘The Big Unit’ Randy Johnson and ‘Bloody Sock’ Curt Schilling. At the time, the Diamondbacks looked like a stacked team ready to explode.

But again, somehow, Showalter just couldn’t get the job done. Arizona came up short with just 85 wins despite a lot of name value on its roster. Given the obvious underachieving, Showalter was promptly let go by the organization.

And then what happens? Bob Brenly steps in as manager of the Diamondbacks and wins the whole damn thing. Same players essentially, again! It can’t be a coincidence, can it?

Always a bridesmaid, never the bride, Buck?

We can’t forget about the Baltimore Orioles, either.

In 2014, under Showalter with excellent production from Nelson Cruz, Adam Jones, Nick Markakis and others, the Orioles won 96 games and looked like a team on a freakin’ mission. Credit Showalter for a strong regular season, at the very least.

But then again, the playoffs happened. After sweeping a pretty solid Detroit Tigers’ squad in the opening round of the postseason, Showalter’s Orioles appeared to be on a collision course with the World Series.

And then the train stopped cold. Right in its tracks.

Showalter, again offering no answers for adversity, allowed his high-octane Orioles to get swept by the upstart Kansas City Royals. Yankees, Diamondbacks, Orioles — could this all just be an unfortunate coincidence in Buck Showalter’s managerial career?

Look, I can be fair here. There’s absolutely no question that Showalter is a great regular season manager. He’s 19th all time in managerial wins, ahead of big names like Mike Scioscia, Tommy Lasorda, Earl Weaver and Joe Maddon. There’s no question there’s a lot of merit to what Showalter has accomplished in his career.

But as the old saying goes, the proof is in the pudding. If Showalter was ever going to win a World Series, wouldn’t he already have with those stacked Yankees, Diamondbacks and Orioles teams? Why not last season, when the Mets looked like the best all-around team in the MLB for most of the season?

In the end, at some point, the manager has to take some accountability. Based upon the pure facts of history, I simply do not believe the Mets can win a World Series with Buck Showalter as their manager.

There’s a small window remaining for Buck. At 66 years old, it’s now or never when it comes to rewriting the story of his managerial career.

John Frascella is a published baseball author who has been covering the MLB for 19 years. Follow him on Twitter @LegendSports7 for all things MLB, NFL and NBA.