Mickey Callaway is not going anywhere, at least not this season.

Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen, addressing reporters on a number of topics before Friday's game against the Miami Marlins, was asked if Callaway is his manager the rest of the season.

"Absolutely," he said.

The Mets are 40-50 as they open the second half of the 2019 season in Callaway's second year as Mets manager. They have the second-worst record in the National League and are 13.5 games out of the NL East lead and seven games out of the second Wild Card spot.

"I think Mickey has done a difficult job very well," Van Wagenen said. "I think our results in the standings are not where we wanna be. I know he shows up to work every day with a passion to win and desire to work to get better and I've been very satisfied with that."

While Callaway may be sticking around for the remainder of this season, it is not likely to last beyond that. SNY's Andy Martino reported earlier this week that the Mets have begun doing research on other managers, such as Joe Girardi, as they try to get through the rest of the season with Callaway at the helm. There was one point on Friday when Van Wagenen was asked if Callaway was merely a puppet for the Mets GM.

"I don't see Mickey as a puppet at all," he said. "I think ... we collaborate and we work together. I think that Mickey has had challenges in front of him because of the adversity of the roster, because of some of the performance of the players that we brought in and that is not on him. I think the puppeteering -- I understand the question, I don't agree with the premise."

Much of the problems that have plagued Callaway and the Mets this year have stemmed from the bullpen -- which has a league-leading 21 blown saves. Yet there have been other issues, too, such as Callaway blowing up at a reporter and Van Wagenen himself chewing out the manager and the coaching staff after a loss last week. Still, Van Wagenen had plenty of praise for Callaway.

"He's managed that clubhouse," Van Wagenen said. "This has not been an easy year with the expectations that we had and the shortcomings of our performance. He has held clubhouse together and I think that is one of the best characteristics a manager can have."

Popular in the Community