NY Mets Rumors: 3 familiar faces to replace Buck Showalter, 1 to avoid at all cost

After another loss to the New York Yankees on Tuesday night, Mets fans think life without Buck Showalter sounds pretty nice.

If New York were to let Buck Showalter go midseason, there would be a number of obvious favorites to replace him. FanSided’s Kevin Henry outlined what like without Showalter would look like for the Mets.

Joey Cora, a Mets assistant who has garnered praise from Showalter and many on the staff, would likely get the first chance at replacing the veteran manager. Showalter complimented Cora in July of 2022, making it clear he’s a manager in the making.

"“You never have to push Joey forward. He is engaged,” Showalter said in this article. “I watch him sometimes in the dugout when [Francisco] Lindor or somebody jumps for a line drive. Joey jumps with them. “[Joey] is the only guy I ever had that goes and practices coaching third base during [batting practice]. He takes so much pride in his work. The players are willing to do a lot of things for him because he is so driven.”"

But beyond Cora, are there any former Mets who could fill the vacancy longterm?

NY Mets Rumors: Hire Carlos Beltran to replace Buck Showalter

Carlos Beltran played for the Mets from 2005-11, making the National League All-Star team four times. If that weren’t impressive enough, he was even in line to become the team’s manager back in 2020, but then chaos broke loose.

Beltran was named in the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal, with players suggesting he was one of the main conspirators. The 2017 Astros team cheated baseball, and won a World Series in the process. In the aftermath, Alex Cora and A.J. Hinch took a year off, Jeff Luhnow was unceremoniously dumped, and Beltran lost out on his opportunity.

Since then, Beltran’s reputation has recovered some. He was hired to a front office role in New York not all that long ago. A transition to the dugout with the organization that’s already paying him wouldn’t be a difficult one.