PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Nobody has to tell Buck Showalter he’s going to have to manage his butt off this season if he is to get Steve Cohen’s $336 million Mets back to October and beyond. Quite simply it is going to be an Edwin Diaz-less adventure for 162 games.
We were standing on the sidelines watching the Mets going through some pre-game drills at Clover Park the other day and, as it is with every conversation with the Mets manager this spring, it is hard not to bring up the elephant in the room. Showalter is moving on, as he has to, from the devastating turn of events of Diaz tearing the patellar tendon in his knee celebrating at the World Baseball Classic, but the void is immeasurable.
“Look,” he said, “in my opinion, Edwin had the greatest season of any closer in the history of baseball last year. I would challenge anyone to come up with a greater one.”
