Former Mets manager Buck Showalter 'trying hard' to land Angels' vacant hot seat, per MLB insider

With 1,727 career managerial victories, Buck Showalter is the winningest manager never to win a World Series. Now, after a disastrous 2023 campaign in the Mets' dugout, the 67-year-old is seeking employment.

Born in Florida, Showalter began his managerial career in the big leagues back in 1992 for George Steinbrenner's New York Yankees. Known for his hard-nosed and traditional style, he was let go by the Yankees in 1995.

Over the next three decades, Buck Showalter managed very successful teams. Randy Johnson's Diamondbacks, A-Rod's Rangers, as well as the Orioles of the mid-2010s all called Showalter manager.

In 2022, the New York Mets hired Buck Showalter as their manager. The team had recently been acquired by New York billionaire Steve Cohen and was willing to bring in an expert. However, after leading the team to their first 100-win season since 1988 last year, 2023 saw the team fall apart.

"Buck Showalter announces that he will not return as Mets manager." - MLB

After a horrendous 2023 campaign that saw the Mets finish with the eighth-worst record in MLB, Showalter announced that he would be leaving baseball's richest team. It was the final folly in a season that everyone in Queens is hoping to forget.

Meanwhile, another disappointing team was having similar internal conversations. After the Los Angeles Angels finished with just 71 wins to miss the playoffs for the tenth straight year, their manager was also given the boot.

In addition to losing ex-manager Phil Nevin, it appears as though the Angels will likely lose Shohei Ohtani and even possibly Mike Trout.

"Buck Showalter is trying hard to get an interview for the Angels managerial opening (Per @NY Post Mets) It is said to not be a desirable position due to the GM’s current contract." -

After Angels GM Perry Minasian announced that Nevin had been fired on October 2, many credible sources began to report that Showalter may be interested in the job. Apparently, Showalter has been "trying hard" to get an interview with the Mets in recent days.

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Buck Showalter needs patience if he wants to go to the Angels

While Showalter's move to the Los Angeles Angels is far from certain, he will be welcomed with a much different situation than the 2023 Mets. The Angels have already offloaded big deadline acquisitions like Lucas Giolito, CJ Cron and Randal Grichuk, indicating that it might be a long rebuild in LA.

If Showalter is up for a challenge, this may be the team for him. However, the veteran manager should not expect to win anything soon.