With the St. Louis Cardinals poaching Jose Leger from the Mets to make him their new Latin American Field Coordinator.  This leaves the Mets organization looking not just for a new manager for the Colubmia Fireflies, but also looking for someone to replace a well regarded manager who was strong on the player development and analytical fronts.

Replacing him will be no easy task.  In MMN’s latest roundtable, we name people who we all think should be candidates to replace Leger:

Matthew Brownstein – Paul Lo Duca 

I would love to see Paul Lo Duca get an opportunity to manage a young team. I’ve always admired his intensity and the passion he brought to the field. It’s also important to note how catchers are viewed as field managers, and adding the former 11-year veteran catcher to help form the young prospects would be an ideal hire, in my personal opinion.

Coming up as a prospect with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Lo Duca was mentored by Mike Scioscia, as he told me in an exclusive interview with MMO. Lo Duca felt confident that he could someday coach or manage, as he mentioned that the preparation put into being a catcher has similarities to preparing as a coach.

Ernest Dove – Sean Ratliff

I asked around the farm system and one intriguing name that popped up among the players was 30-year-old Brooklyn Cyclones hitting coach Sean Ratliff. Sounds like there’s a wealth of talented but young coaches throughout the minors affiliates with aspirations of managing, and I’m told Ratliff is one of them.

The former 2008 draft pick of the Mets, who started his career as a player with the Cyclones and later unfortunately retired as a player due to injury, is respected as a coach and person by the players. Obviously, again, age and experience are an issue here, so the question is whether or not 2018 is the year for him to make the leap into managing.

Corné Hogeveen – John Buck

Matt Mancuso – Val Pascucci

One of the most forgotten Mets of the past decade, Pascucci would be a smart hire to be the manager for Colombia Fireflies in the 2018. Pascucci has been in the Mets system since 2011, either as a player or a coach. For the past three seasons, he has been the hitting coach for Savannah Sand Giants and the St. Lucie Mets.

Considering the St. Lucie Mets finished fourth in the FSL in OPS in 2017, Pascucci’s teachings have been shown to work. He’s also gotten strong reviews from former players including current Mets first baseman Dominic Smith who attributes his becoming a better hitter to Pascucci.  Accordingly, Pascucci would be a perfect option for the Fireflies in 2018.

Jacob Resnick – Ryan Ellis

This is almost impossible to correctly predict, but if the Mets were to search in-house for Leger’s replacement, I would advise a long look at Ryan Ellis, who currently serves as the organization’s short-season hitting coordinator. Ellis formerly managed at St. Lucie and Savannah for four years (2011-2014) and earned a positive reputation as a hard-nosed leader who won the respect of all of his players. It’s hard to envision someone going from a managerial role to an instructor and back to a manager, but Ellis is as qualified as they come.

Mike Mayer – Joel Fuentes

Fuentes has been the Fireflies’ hitting coach the past two seasons and has been a coach in the Mets system for 11 seasons. He also played in the minor leagues for the San Francisco Giants for five seasons. The bi-lingual Puerto Rican native has the reputation as a great communicator which is key for any manager.

Fuentes is spending his offseason this year managing in the Nicaraguan Winter League giving him some much needed experience leading an entire team.

Dilip Sridhar – Kelly Johnson

First requirement is being committed to developing players. Second would be a strong understanding on sabermetrics. A bonus would be someone who is also bilingual. My idea is someone outside the organization and it would likely not too famous since it’s a lower level minor league job. My choice is Kelly Johnson. Johnson seems like someone who is looking to transition to the next part of his life after baseball. He lives in that area and was a strong clubhouse influence in his time with the Mets. He also seemed to embrace sabermetrics when he was a Met. This is a total guess but it’s one the Mets should consider.

Mets Daddy – Carlos Beltran

With Beltran interviewing for the Yankees manager gig, it is apparent Beltran not only wants to stay in baseball after retirement, but he also wants to be a manager. Judging from his playing days, he is well suited to the role. In his first year with the Mets, he took David Wright and Jose Reyes under his wing to help them get the most out of their talent.

With the Astros this past season, he was able to help that team go to the next level through his leadership. He got young players like Carlos Correa to become more devote to film study, and Alex Bregman noted Beltran’s presence and fluency in Spanish and English to help bring that clubhouse together. Overall, Beltran is a leader, who knows how to help young players prepare to be Major Leaguers. That’s what you want in a manager in the minor leagues.

And no, it’s not too low profile for him.  The Mets previously had Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter as a minor league coach, and Omar Vizquel just accepted a job to be a Single-A manager in the White Sox organization.

We hope you enjoyed our list, and in the comments section, we look forward to seeing who you believe the Mets should name as the next manager of the Columbia Fireflies.