Mets Passing on Joe Girardi Fully Proves the Front Office and Ownership Want a Puppet in the Dugout

When the New York Mets fired Mickey Callaway, the overwhelming thought was they'd go after an established manager with experience. Let's say, Joe Girardi, who publicly gushed over the job and barely even needed to state his case.

Comfortable in New York? Yeah, check.

Well, instead of paying for someone like Girardi, who has a long resume and knows how to manage in this very specific pressure cooker, the Mets let his services expire, and supposedly didn't even make an offer before he waltzed in-division to Philadelphia. At this point, it's fair to say it looks like they'll hire someone with no experience, again.

You can say ownership is being cheap, and you're right, but it also proves that the Mets want a puppet they can control in the dugout.

Why else would they be considering the likes of Eduardo Perez, Derek Shelton and Tim Bogar to take the position, all relative unknown first-timers without enough relevant experience to argue against being submissive?

Paying big money for a manager doesn't necessarily lead to wins, but we aren't talking about the Kansas City Royals, where the pressure to succeed isn't as immense. This is New York we are talking about, and even seemingly qualified candidates can't handle it (i.e. Mickey Callaway, a pitching guru who couldn't fix pitching, to the point where we're left to wonder whether he had any control, either).

GM Brodie Van Wagenen is blustery and far from old school. Much like other front offices around the league, he and his front office want more control on who plays and where they're placed in the lineup. I'm not telling you that successful skippers around the league don't take input from the front office, but the good teams let the guy in the dugout make the final call.

If they hire a first time manager, I highly doubt that man will have full carte blanche on what happens in the day-to-day. So, yeah, they want someone they can control. You know, like a puppet.