Three candidates with solid résumés remain, but only one will be chosen as the next Mets manager.
On Tuesday, the team began a final push to find Luis Rojas’ replacement by beginning a second round of interviews for the job. Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro became the first finalist to receive an audience with team owner Steve Cohen, who has joined the vetting committee after sitting out the first round.
The second-round interviews have been scheduled for late-afternoon/early evening, according to a source, so Cohen — who runs the investment firm Point72 — isn’t interrupted from his day job.
Joe Espada and Buck Showalter are the other finalists for the job and will receive second interviews this week. Espada, according to a source, will receive his interview on Thursday. It’s believed Showalter will get his meeting with Cohen on Friday — a source, without divulging the order, indicated the three finalists are receiving interviews over a four-day stretch that began Tuesday. Showalter, a 20-year major league managing veteran who has New York experience on his résumé from his time with the Yankees, is considered a strong front-runner for the job.
Quatraro spoke with general manager Billy Eppler and his staff last week on a Zoom call. He also has reportedly interviewed for Oakland’s managerial vacancy after he received consideration in previous offseasons for vacancies with the Tigers, Giants and Pirates.
An upstate native who attended Bethlehem Central High in Delmar before playing at Old Dominion, the 48-year-old Quatraro has a background as a hitting instructor — he served as Cleveland’s assistant hitting coach under Terry Francona before joining the Rays as third-base coach following the 2017 season. He has spent the last three seasons as bench coach under Kevin Cash, for a team that has won two straight AL East titles and reached the World Series in 2020.
Espada, 46, has served as the Astros bench coach for the last four seasons. He is connected to Eppler from their time together with the Yankees, where Espada was a special assistant before becoming the third-base coach. Eppler at the time was the assistant general manager. With Espada as the bench coach under Dusty Baker, the Astros reached the World Series last season.
“Joe has always won, and when you show up to the ballpark every single day expecting to win, that is a really good feeling,” former Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira told The Post this week. “You want your manager to be optimistic every day and always look at the bright side. A manager these days has so much support staff and they have analytics being thrown at them, the best thing a manager can do is put his players in the best position to win and Joe has won a lot, which I think is a real good for his résumé.”
Espada has also interviewed for Oakland’s managerial opening and in recent offseasons was considered for the Rangers and Cubs manager’s vacancies.
Showalter, 65, has managed the Yankees, Diamondbacks, Rangers and Orioles, guiding all but Texas to the postseason. After his departure from Baltimore he interviewed with the Phillies — that job went to Joe Girardi. He was also the preference of Eppler (then the Angels GM) to replace Brad Ausmus, but Angels owner Arte Moreno wanted Joe Maddon.
Ausmus, Dodgers bench coach Bob Geren and Dodgers first-base coach Clayton McCullough all interviewed with the Mets in the first round last week.
— Additional reporting by Ken Davidoff