Insider reveals if Mets' Buck Showalter is safe amid poor season

Audacy MLB insider Jon Heyman responded to New York Mets owner Steve Cohen saying over the weekend he won't "blow up" and fire manager Buck Showalter over the team's woeful record this spring. 

"I didn't read that as a vote of confidence," Heyman explained during a Monday appearance on Chicago 670 The Score's "Mully & Haugh Show," as shared by Logan Mullen of Audacy. "I read that as, 'I’m not going to blow up and go crazy publicly, and I’m not going to give you guys a one-day story, and I’m going to show restraint,' which I think generally that's a good thing. I know I would like that one-day story, I can live without it, and I think that’s probably the proper thing to do if you’re Steve Cohen."

Cohen offered his comments before the Mets dropped Sunday's rubber match in Pittsburgh vs. the Pirates to fall to 31-35 on what's quickly becoming a disastrous season. The team responsible for baseball's largest payroll began Monday sitting in fourth place in the National League East standings and trailing the first-place Atlanta Braves by a whopping nine-and-a-half games. 

Perhaps more worrisome, the Mets showed few signs of righting the ship even before slugger Pete Alonso landed on the injured list with a bone bruise and sprained left wrist. 

According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, Alonso is expected to miss at least three weeks of action. 

"Really, I don’t think he's going to be the first manager fired, I feel like they have faith in him," Heyman continued about Showalter. "... I don’t think he’s going to be the first manager fired. I think (Cohen) is going to show restraint and he said he would, and I believe him. So I think we’ve probably got other candidates that will be ahead of Buck. Buck will last the year in my opinion." 

Cohen stuck with both Showalter and general manager Billy Eppler after the 2022 Mets squandered a 10.5-game lead they held over the Braves last June before the Amazins fell to the San Diego Padres in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. 

While Showalter ultimately earned NL Manager of the Year honors for his work in 2022, that seems like a lifetime ago for frustrated fans who already fear the team is out of the division race ahead of the upcoming Father's Day holiday.