New York Mets hire Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway as manager, per report

We have a hard time quantifying the impact that managers and coaches have on a Major League Baseball team, but this sure seems like a good thing for the Detroit Tigers. The New York Mets will hire Cleveland Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway as their new manager, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Callaway will take over for retiring skipper Terry Collins, who spent the last seven seasons in New York.

At just 42 years old, Callaway instantly becomes one of the youngest managers in baseball. He pitched in the major leagues for five seasons, but washed out in 2004 after just 130 ²⁄₃ mediocre innings. He pitched for a few more years in Korea, but retired in 2009 and joined the Indians organization shortly after. He has been Cleveland’s pitching coach since current manager Terry Francona was hired in 2013.

The Mets will be hoping Callaway can further develop a young, talented pitching staff. Many of their starters have suffered injuries in recent years, and the team hasn’t repeated the success they enjoyed when they made it all the way to the 2015 World Series.

While a pitching staff headlined by Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, and Andrew Miller will only fall so far, losing Callaway is still a bad thing for an Indians club that amassed an incredible 31.7 fWAR in 2017. They have led the American League in strikeout rate in each of the past three seasons, and are first in the AL in nearly every meaningful statistical category since Callaway took over in 2013.