Outside The Confines: The Mets get Buck wild

The long hunt for the Mets' new manager has come to an end, and the new skipper will be none other than former Orioles manager Buck Showalter. Showalter has agreed to a three-year contract with the Mets going into the 2022 season.

Showalter hasn’t managed in the majors since leaving the Orioles in 2018, but has previously won the AL Manager of the Year award three times. He’s also jokingly best known for leaving both the Yankees and Diamondbacks right before they each won the World Series.

Showalter has a reputation for helping turn teams into contenders over a short period, which likely made him appealing to the Mets in spite of the long run of losing seasons for the Orioles. Showalter had a 1551-1517 managerial record over with the four teams he has managed to date.

Here are some connected links to the story:

• Andrew Gastelum looks at the signing for SI.
• Buster Olney thinks that Showalter is a win-now manager for a win-now team.
• The Athletic staff chat about the big signing. (The Athletic subscription required.)

And now on to the rest of the links.

• The Bowling Green Hot Rods are helping raise money for tornado relief with a pretty cool auction.

• The number 34 jersey formerly worn by Nick Adenhart will now be donned by Noah Syndergaard. Story by Sam Blum. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Ben Clemens revisits some incredible 2021 home runs.
• Ichiro Suzuki struck out 17... against high school batters (but you’ve never seen someone more excited to be hit by a pitch.) Story by Michael Guzman.
• Alden Gonzalez assesses some of the potential landing spots of Kris Bryant.
• The Sports Illustrated staff look at some of the rules that might change in the new CBA.
• Why does David Ortiz seem to be getting more support from HoF voters than Sammy Sosa? Ken Rosenthal asseses the votes. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Andrew Simon breaks down the next 5 years of Hall of Fame ballots.
• David Laurila walks us through his Hall of Fame ballot choices.
• This kind of makes me sad.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.