ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker called New York Mets manager Andy Green one of the better managers in the game Tuesday, hours after the Mets removed Green’s interim tag and signed him to a three-year contract. Schumaker spoke on The Skip Schumaker Show, the pregame segment Rangers Sports Network posts before games, ahead of the series opener between the two clubs at Globe Life Field.
Green managed the San Diego Padres from 2016-19. In 2018, he had Schumaker on his staff as first base coach, the first of Schumaker’s two seasons in that job and his first on a major league coaching staff.
Two years earlier, San Diego had hired Schumaker into its front office as an assistant to baseball operations and player development after he retired as a player. Green said at the time that everybody in the organization had a profound respect for him, MLB.com reported.
Schumaker said Tuesday that he was glad Green got another chance to manage. He said Green knows what he is doing in New York.
“Well, Andy Green just signed a three-year deal,” Schumaker said. “The guy that gave me my first shot, I highly respect him. He’s one of the better managers in the game, in my opinion. I’m glad he got another shot at it, but he’s very smart. He knows what he’s doing over there. They got a combination of some very good veteran players and young up-and-coming players. Obviously Juan Soto and Lindor at the top. They’ve got a young rotation that’s very, very good.”
Andy Green’s Three-Year Deal With The Mets
The Mets announced the contract Tuesday before opening their final road trip of the season in Arlington. Green had taken over as interim manager when the club fired Carlos Mendoza on June 26 with New York at 34-47. The Mets are 37-38 under Green and 31-28 since the All-Star break, MLB.com reported.
Green joined the Mets in 2023 as senior vice president of baseball development and ran their farm system before moving to the dugout. When he took the interim job, president of baseball operations David Stearns said Green would return to the front office after the season. Green went 274-366 with the Padres and becomes the 26th manager in Mets history.
At a pregame news conference in Arlington, Green said the Mets clubhouse had changed his mind about managing.
“The players in the clubhouse have rekindled the love I have for being in the dugout,” Green said.
Skip Schumaker On The Mets Series
Schumaker said New York is out of the playoff race. He said Texas still had to play good baseball against the Mets.
“We’ve got to play good baseball,” Schumaker said. “Even though New York is out of the playoff race, it doesn’t mean that they’re not playing the game the right way. And they’ve been very good the second half, especially when Andy took over. So we got a challenge ahead of us, and we’re looking forward to it.”
New York enters the series at 71-85 and in last place in the National League East. Texas (78-78) leads the Houston Astros by one game in the American League West with six games left, though Houston holds the tiebreaker. MacKenzie Gore faces left-hander Sean Manaea at 7:05 p.m. CT Tuesday. The Mets start right-hander Nolan McLean in Thursday’s 1:35 p.m. CT series finale.
