PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. _ A year after putting a bull's-eye on his back, followed by a humbling 85-loss season in Flushing, Mickey Callaway sat in front of the same microphone, on the same date (Feb. 13) at First Data Field, and tried to deliver the same winning message for the franchise as he did at the start of his rookie campaign.
What Callaway has to realize, however, is just how dramatically different his situation is now. All he has to do is look around at the new faces, from the front office to the seat next to him on the dugout bench. Last year, to kick off spring training, Callaway proclaimed that if the Mets didn't do "something special," then it was "going to be on me."
Well, the Mets were a dumpster fire in 2018, yet Callaway was one of the few to survive it, despite his team's cratering after an 11-1 start and numerous missteps from the former AL pitching coach who didn't look quite ready to be an NL manager. Such is the luxury of a three-year contract.
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