Even though the Mets had some talent, and had a roster filled with “big names,” the team performed horribly. They had just about reached the pinnacle in 2006, but fell just short or making it to the World Series, and remained competitive under Willie Randolph. His tenure was sandwiched around turmoil – Art Howe’s miserable stint before him, and then Manuel after him.
It’s that time period afterwards that Green got to experience while toiling for a short time in the Mets organization. So he is no stranger to the constant state of flux that is the New York Mets.
Green appeared in 140 games in the Major Leagues, all but four with the Arizona Diamondbacks, all over a three-year span from 2004-2006, with very little success after being a 24th round draft pick.
Green’s began managing in the minor leagues in 2011 with some success, and was brought back to the Diamondbacks organization as their third base coach for the 2015 season. Green was hired by the San Diego Padres as Manager for the 2016 season, but he was in a bad position, coming in for an overhaul and rebuild. It was no surprise that the Padres would be saddled with a losing record during the 2019 season and he was ultimately dismissed.
Green joined David Ross’ staff on the Chicago Cubs for the 2020 season. But when Ross was replaced with Craig Counsell, Green chose to join the Mets front office. And Green had maintained that he had no desire to manage the Mets, had no desire to move from the interim role into a permanent role. And when it was posted on social media that he had been given the three-year contract, nobody believed it. But it was, in fact, true.
I don’t know enough about Andy Green to say whether or not he is a good fit as manager for the New York Mets. Truthfully…how much does a manager REALLY mean in today’s game? Lineups are no longer made by the manager…rather…they are constructed by some geeks in the analytics departments and signed off on by the general manager. It appears that the managers are nothing more than glorified babysitters who speak nightly non-offending rhetoric to the press.
So what is the criteria that makes for a good manager…in today’s game? From what is obvious to the average fan…the person must be willing to simply be a “good soldier” and not question anything and simply go along with the whatever is handed down to him…just toe the line and give a great appearance.
I know that I could NEVER do that. Let’s see if Andy Green can do that. He has as good a chance as anyone.
