{"id":71650,"date":"2025-12-15T23:16:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T23:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/71650\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T23:16:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T23:16:07","slug":"exclusive-former-mets-manager-mickey-callaways-warning-after-star-exodus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/71650\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive | Former Mets manager Mickey Callaway’s warning after star exodus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pete Alonso was \u201cthe next David Wright<\/a>.\u201d Brandon Nimmo was a stalwart in the making \u2014 who needed cooking lessons.<\/a> Edwin D\u00edaz was the prized All-Star closer who \u201ccouldn\u2019t get it going<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mickey Callaway was at the helm for plenty of drama during his two years as Mets skipper and knows better than most the consequences of losing in New York.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why, in the midst of the Mets\u2019 transformative offseason, Callaway understands why his former team moved on from three franchise pillars.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I look at this, it seems to me the front office \u2014 David Stearns and probably [Steve] Cohen \u2014 are looking at guys and going, \u2018Hey, these guys were our main players for six or seven years, and we haven\u2019t won with them,\u2019\u201d Callaway told The Post in a phone interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo maybe they\u2019re saying, \u2018We need a change of scenery, a change in culture, some new leaders, because we\u2019re spending too much money to be a mediocre team.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Former Mets skipper Mickey Callaway weighed in on the Mets\u2019 transformative offseason in an exclusive interview with The Post. Bill Kostroun\/New York Post<\/p>\n

Callaway, 50, managed the Mets from 2018-2019, posting middling results as the team missed the playoffs both seasons while compiling a 163\u2013161 record before his dismissal.<\/p>\n

However, the Callaway era also helped lay the foundation for three perennial All-Stars and fan favorites.<\/p>\n

Nimmo enjoyed his first breakout season in 2018, slashing .263\/.404\/.483 with 17 home runs before missing time the following spring after undercooking some chicken \u2013 which was later debunked.<\/a><\/p>\n

Callaway was the Mets\u2019 skipper in Alonso\u2019s rookie year in 2019, when he set the MLB record with 53 home runs by a rookie. AP<\/p>\n

The following year, Alonso delivered a historic rookie campaign<\/a>, setting an MLB record with 53 home runs and prompting Callaway to dub him \u201cthe next David Wright in this organization, there\u2019s no doubt in my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

That same season, D\u00edaz \u2014 who arrived from the Mariners in a blockbuster seven-player trade \u2014 struggled mightily in his Mets debut, blowing seven saves while pitching to a 5.59 ERA.<\/p>\n

Nimmo\u2019s breakout season came in 2018 with the Mets, Callaway\u2019s first season as manager. Paul J. Bereswill<\/p>\n

Nimmo and Alonso remained fixtures in the Mets\u2019 lineup, while D\u00edaz overcame his rocky start to become one of baseball\u2019s elite closers \u2014 and, according to Callaway, the most surprising of the three to depart.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the last couple of years with Alonso and all the stuff in the press, I thought there was a chance he could leave at some point,\u201d Callaway said. \u201cAlthough I think he would have loved to stay, because I know he loves it there.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the one that really shocked me was Edwin. The way he\u2019s been closing for them the last few years, that\u2019s a big hole to fill. It\u2019s a big gamble, but I guess they just wanted to move on, move forward and see what else they can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

After coming to Queens in a seven-player blockbuster, Diaz struggled his first season with the Mets, posting a bloated 5.59 ERA. for the NY POST<\/p>\n

The Mets have added former Yankees closer Devin Williams and began their post-Alonso reset by inking versatile veteran infielder Jorge Polanco<\/a> over the weekend.<\/p>\n

The Mets are also engaged with the San Diego Padres on several pitching options<\/a>, The Post\u2019s Jon Heyman reported. <\/p>\n

Callaway, who was suspended in 2021 over sexual harassment allegations<\/a> while a member of the Angels staff, is the latest ex-Met to weigh in on the offseason; former third baseman Todd Frazier eviscerated the team<\/a> for not retaining the beloved trio \u2013 and questioned their entire approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll right, now you\u2019re not all in, now what are you gonna do?\u201d Frazier asked. \u201cWhat is the next step for the Mets? There\u2019s not that many out there.<\/p>\n

\u201cGuess what, those guys have gotta say, \u2018You know what, I\u2019ll come there.\u2019 But who would want to go there now knowing what they do?\u201d<\/p>\n

As the remainder of the winter unfolds, Callaway said he \u201ccan\u2019t blame\u201d the Mets\u2019 approach \u2014 but cautioned them to find the right replacements.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they\u2019re just going in a different direction to get some steam built up to be the team they want to be,\u201d Callaway said. \u201cI can\u2019t blame them for that. They\u2019re great players, put up great numbers and were great Mets. But at some point, you have to go a different route if things are not working.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt better work,\u201d he added with a chuckle. \u201cThose fans are going to be really mad if it doesn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pete Alonso was \u201cthe next David Wright.\u201d Brandon Nimmo was a stalwart in the making \u2014 who needed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71651,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27920,19920,14766,36557,20,9,11,320,10,5419,319,3929],"class_list":{"0":"post-71650","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-brandon-nimmo","9":"tag-david-stearns","10":"tag-edwin-diaz","11":"tag-mickey-callaway","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-headlines","15":"tag-new-york-mets","16":"tag-new-york-news","17":"tag-pete-alonso","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-steve-cohen"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}