winstonwolfe:

I am going to go out on a limb and predict that Clint Hurdle will be your next New York Mets manager. The Post story essentially says that with the 3 finalists they have, it came down to the Mets brain trust(isn’t nice to nice to be able to actually use that phrase again with the Mets without snickering?) wanted a skipper with prior experience as the head man at the big league level. The Post also claims that Terry Collins is the front runner—he had five 2nd place finishes in his six season managerial career, in addition to strong ties to DePodesta and Sandy Koufax—but I just have a hunch the pick will be Hurdle.

It sounds as if Wally Backman performed well during his interviews, but there are still pretty big concerns with him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he and Chip Hale end up as part of the Mets coaching staff, with the rest being made up of coaches already familiar with the guy who gets the job or coaches the front office would like to develop as potential managerial candidates in the future.

If I were handicapping this race, I would put Hurdle as the overwhelming favorite, with Collins and Melvin second and third respectively.