Joe Girardi, Mike Bell, and Carlos Beltran will interview in person for Mets managerial position

According to reports, the Mets plan to interview Mike Bell, Carlos Beltran, and Joe Girardi in person for their managerial vacancy. Ken Rosenthal also notes that there are other candidates under consideration.

Of these three candidates, Bell is probably the most surprising and had not come up amongst the rumor mill of names talked about in the immediate aftermath of Mickey Callaway’s firing. The 44-year-old Bell currently serves as the Diamondbacks farm director and interviewed for both the Orioles and Rangers jobs last offseason. However, he does have a notable Mets connection; he played for two seasons in the Mets minor league system. He is the younger brother of Reds manager David Bell.

Beltran has no prior managerial experience but has been regarded by many in the baseball community as a future managerial candidate. He currently serves as a special adviser to the General Manager in the Yankees organization and played under Girardi himself during his Yankees tenure. Indeed, Beltran interviewed for the Yankees managerial position that ultimately went to current manager Aaron Boone. Beltran played for the Mets for seven seasons, including the 2006 NL East Champion Mets, and made five All-Star Games over that span. In 838 games as a Met, Beltran hit .280/.369/.500 with a 124 wRC+, all while playing stellar defense in center field. He hit 149 home runs as a Met, drove in 559 runs, and scored 551 times. Despite all of that, there was abundant skepticism that Beltran would consider the Mets job due to his notably fraught relationship with Mets brass since his departure from the organization. Beltran has already declined an interview for the open Padres managerial job.

Joe Girardi has made it no secret that he wants to manage again. In a somewhat surprising decision, the Yankees fired Girardi after ten seasons in the fall of 2017, despite a 910-710 record as manager and six playoff appearances with one World Series title. Since then, Girardi has been a television analyst, currently serving as a color commentator for a subset of the 2019 postseason broadcasts. He was even asked about the Mets job by his colleagues during an ALDS broadcast. His ample experience as a manager in New York makes him a natural fit for the Mets and many consider him to be the frontrunner for the job at this stage, although the Mets themselves have not revealed anything on the matter as of yet.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the Mets “have feelers” out on other candidates besides Bell, Beltran, and Girardi and that they plan to interview at least five candidates. Buck Showalter, Dusty Baker, and John Gibbons are all names that have been connected to the Mets in recent days, among others. The Mets are reportedly looking to reach out into “all buckets” when it comes to background and experience.