Callaway instrumental in Tribe's turnaround By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com | @MLBastian | October 22nd, 2017 + 10 COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- Mickey Callaway blew Indians away during his interview to be Cleveland's pitching five years ago. Francona did not know Callaway previously, but his blend of energy, knowledge and passion made it clear that he was the man for the job.

Callaway never stopped impressing Francona, who began touting his pitching coach over the past few years as a future manager. That future arrived on Sunday, when multiple sources confirmed to MLB.com that Callaway is on the verge of being named the Mets' new manager. A three-year deal is expected to be finalized Sunday and could be announced on Monday. "He's so good," Francona said during a sit-down with local reporters last week at . "And I would be surprised if that doesn't lead to him managing if he wants to at some point, because he's really good." MLB Network Insider Joel Sherman first reported on the decision to hire Callaway. Neither the Mets nor Indians have commented on the news. Once New York makes the move official, Callaway will be the second member of Francona's first staff in Cleveland to be hired as a manager elsewhere. was the bullpen coach under Francona in 2013-14 with the Indians before being hired as the manager for the Rays prior to the '15 season. When Cash left Cleveland, the Indians hired as its new bullpen coach. Bere will likely be considered for Callaway's former position after working with the pitching coach for the past three seasons. , who was recently dismissed from his role as manager of the Red Sox, was the pitching coach under Francona during his time at the helm in Boston from 2007-10. Francona and Farrell remain close friends, but Cleveland will likely look elsewhere to fill its pitching coach vacancy. Both , the Indians' president of baseball operations, and Francona declined to comment on Sunday. Indians Josh Tomlin, who is the longest-tenured player in the organization and has worked with a handful of different pitching coaches over the years in Cleveland, was not surprised to hear that a team targeted Callaway to manage. "You could see it from the get-go, just the confidence that he exuded through coaching," Tomlin said on Sunday night. " He kind of has an overall view on how to use a scouting report and use the information that he was given to kind of tailor-make it for each guy on the staff, especially the starting rotation." When Francona came aboard in Cleveland prior to the '13 season, the Indians were coming off a 94-loss campaign in which their pitching staff ranked last in the with a 4.79 ERA. Over the next five years with Callaway leading the pitching staff, the Indians reached the postseason three times, won two division titles, captured an AL pennant in '16 and ranked first in the AL in wins (454) and ERA (3.64). During that five-year stretch, the Indians also led the AL in (7,248) and did so on an average of 16.1 pitches per inning (tied for the fewest in the AL). "That's one thing Mickey harped on," Tomlin said. "Mickey would talk about, 'Do not shy away from contact, because all you guys have good enough stuff to get people out in the strike zone. So, do not shy away from it. Then, you're going to get more 0-1, 1-2 counts where batters are defensive, and you can get them to swing out of the zone eventually.'" This past season, Cleveland's pitching staff -- led by AL candidate Corey Kluber -- set single-season Major League records for strikeouts (1,614), strikeouts per nine innings (10.1) and WAR (31.7, per FanGraphs). The Indians' staff also led MLB in ERA (3.30), FIP (3.33) and percentage (27.5 percent). In '13, Callaway was instrumental in helping Ubaldo Jimenez and Scott Kazmir revive their careers. Under the pitching coach's watch, Kluber went from a virtual unknown to one of the best arms in baseball. Callaway and Cash helped convince Francona to put Carlos Carrasco back in the rotation late in '14 -- a move that helped the pitcher develop into a solid No. 2 starter. Those are only a few examples of the success stories aided by Callaway. "The first thing that I noticed when the season started our first year was his level of confidence," Francona said. "It seemed to me that it exceeded his experience. Then, as you watch him and you're with him every day, you see that that confidence allowed him to have other voices, and get input from other people, and sift through that and take what he wanted. But my goodness, he had such an impact on the pitching staff."

Mickey Callaway moving on: Indians pitching coach expected to be named Mets manager Mike Fitzpatrick | The Associated PressPublished on Oct. 23, 2017 | Updated 6:45 a. m. NEW YORK — Looking for a fresh voice to shepherd their prized arms, the Mets found it in new manager Mickey Callaway.

New York agreed to a three-year contract Sunday with the pitching coach, according to a person familiar with the decision. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made.

A news conference to introduce Callaway as ’ replacement is expected within the next few days.

With his contract set to expire, Collins stepped down at the end of the season after seven years as Mets manager and accepted a position as a special assistant to general manager Sandy Alderson.

The 42-year-old Callaway, who has never managed at any professional level, has done an excellent job as Cleveland’s pitching coach for the past five seasons under highly successful manager Terry Francona. Led by ace Corey Kluber, the Indians led the major leagues with a 3.30 ERA and 1,614 strikeouts this season — one year after reaching the and losing to the in seven games.

“The first thing that I noticed when the season started our first year was his level of confidence,” Francona said this month. “It seemed to me that it exceeded his experience. Then, as you watch him and you’re with him every day, you see that that confidence allowed him to have other voices, and get input from other people, and sift through that and take what he wanted. But my goodness, he had such an impact on the pitching staff. He’s so good.” This season, Cleveland won an AL-best 102 games and its second consecutive AL Central title. But the Indians squandered a 2-0 lead in the Division Series and were eliminated by the in five games.

Other candidates for the job were Mets hitting coach , Mariners third base coach Manny Acta and White Sox bench coach Joe McEwing. The team also interviewed Houston bench coach , according to reports. Cora was hired Sunday as manager of the .

Long’s contract with the Mets is about to expire but the team would like to keep him on the staff.

New York was thought to be looking for a manager well-versed in modern analytics, and Callaway fits that bill after coaching in a progressive Indians organization that has developed a winning team with a modest payroll. He also was considered a top contender for the manager opening with the NL East rival .

Callaway spent five seasons as a big league pitcher with Tampa Bay, Texas and the Angels, going 4-11 with a 6.27 ERA. The right-hander appeared in 40 games, making 20 starts, and was a member of a World Series championship team with the Angels in 2002, though he did not participate in the postseason.

The Mets are built around a talented but fragile pitching staff highlighted by ace starters Jacob deGrom and , along with Jeurys Familia. The group steered New York all the way to the and a second straight playoff berth last year, but the injury-riddled Mets (70-92) plummeted to fourth place this year during their worst season this decade.

Two days after the season ended, the Mets announced longtime pitching coach Dan Warthen would not return in that role next year, a move that rankled Syndergaard and others.

The popular Warthen arrived in June 2008, even before Collins, and oversaw one of baseball’s best staffs the past few seasons. But a banged- up group completely crumbled this year, with a 5.01 ERA that ranked 28th out of 30 major league teams. New York was third in 2016 at 3.57 and fourth the year before (3.43).

Cleveland has consistently had one of baseball’s top staffs the past few years. In addition to Kluber, several other have blossomed under Callaway, including starters , Carlos Carrasco and Mike Clevinger, and relievers Cody Allen and Bryan Shaw.

Callaway became the Indians’ pitching coach when Francona was hired before the 2013 season. Kluber won the 2014 AL Cy Young Award and is a front-runner for the prize again this year.

The 68-year-old Collins was the longest-tenured skipper in club history and the oldest manager in the majors.

The first reported Sunday the Mets had chosen Callaway and the sides were finalizing a deal.

Who will replace Mickey Callaway? Cleveland Indians start search for new pitching coach Monday By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com [email protected] CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Indians will start interviewing candidates to replace pitching coach Mickey Callaway on Monday. There is no shortage of internal and external candidates.

Callaway, after five years of leading a record-setting Indians' pitching staff, is set to be hired by the Mets to be their manager. Callaway, it should be noted, worked in the Indians' minor league system for three years before he got the job after interviewing with new manager Terry Francona and Chris Antonetti, Indians president of baseball operations, following the 2012 season.

To say Callaway leaves behind a choice assignment is an understatement. Over the last five years, the Indians have become a pitching powerhouse. This year, on the way to winning 102 games in the regular season, they led the big leagues in ERA for the first time since 1954. They led the AL in ERA for starters and relievers.

They set an MLB record for strikeouts with 1,614, while walking the fewest batters in the big leagues. They had three pitchers - Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Trevor Bauer - win 17 or more games, while striking out 196 or more batters.

The good part for the incoming pitching coach is that except for a few potential free agent defections - Bryan Shaw, Joe Smith, Boone Logan, Josh Tomlin - the core of the staff should be back for 2018.

So who will replace Callaway? Let's take a look at some possible candidates. Potential internal candidates:

Jason Bere: He just finished his third year as the Tribe's bullpen coach. He spent nine years before that working in the team's front office, focusing on instructing and evaluating pitchers in the farm system. Bere pitched 11 seasons in the big leagues, going 71-65 with a 5.14 ERA. He appeared in 211 games, 203 as a starter.

Ruben Niebla: The Indians' minor league pitching coordinator just finished his 17th year with the team. He finished the 2012 season as the Tribe's big-league pitching coach after Scott Radinsky was fired. The Indians then hired Callaway before the 2013 season.

Niebla, reportedly, has drawn interest this offseason for a big-league coaching opportunity with another team.

Steve Karsay: He just finished his second season as the Tribe's Class AAA Columbus pitching coach and sixth with the organization.

Karsay pitched 11 years in the big leagues, including a four-year stop with the Tribe. He was 32-39 with a 4.01 ERA with 41 saves in the big leagues.

Potential external candidates: Kirk Champion: He was a finalist for the job that went to Callaway before the 2013 season. He was Francona's pitching coach at Class AA Birmingham in the White Sox organization. Champion is the White Sox's director of minor league instruction. John Farrell: Farrell was just fired as Boston's manager after five seasons. He led the Red Sox to the World Series title in 2013 and three AL East titles. He has a long history with Francona and the Indians, the organization that drafted him in 1984 and brought him to the big leagues.

Farrell was Francona's pitching coach in Boston from 2007 through 2010. Before joining Francona, he was the Indians' farm director from 2001 through 2006. Farrell went 36-46 with a 4.56 ERA in an eight-year big-league career.

There is a chance Farrell could also join the Cubs. Theo Epstein, their top baseball man, hired him as Francona's pitching coach in Boston.

Farrell might need some time away from the game to regroup or he could seek another manager's job.

Jim Hickey: After 11 years with the , Hickey was relieved of his duties after the 2017 season. Hickey was one of the most successful pitching coaches in the big leagues during his tenure with the Rays.

There is a good possibility he could rejoin former Tampa Bay manager as the Cubs new pitching coach.

Chris Bosio: The Cubs fired Bosio after they were eliminated in this year's NLCS by the Dodgers. There reportedly was a rift between him and Maddon. Bosio has been credited with helping develop several pitchers on the Cubs that helped them beat the Indians in the 2017 World Series. Bosio pitched 11 years in the big leagues, going 94-93 with a 3.96 ERA.

Dave Righetti: The Giants let Righetti go after 18 years as their pitching coach. He helped develop the pitching staff that won World Series titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014. During his tenure in San Francisco, his pitchers threw five no-hitters and won two Cy Young awards.

Righetti pitched 16 years in the big leagues. He went 82-79 with a 3.46 ERA and 252 saves.

Mike Maddux: When the Nationals fired manager after they failed to advance past the NLDS earlier this month they fired his entire staff as well. Maddux has a good reputation and is used to working with high-profile starters such as and in Washington and Yu Darvish in Texas.

Maddux, the brother of Hall of Famer Greg Maddux, pitched 15 years in the big leagues.

Cleveland Indians' Bryan Shaw: Pitcher on the field, foodie off of it (photos, video) By Marc Bona, [email protected] CLEVELAND, Ohio - Some baseball players will finish their careers and wind up in the broadcast booth, managing in the minors or simply fade into retirement. Years from now, Indians pitcher Bryan Shaw might just head to the kitchen.

If you follow the Indians you know who Shaw is. He pitched in a Major League-high 79 games this season. He's the guy Terry Francona calls on in middle innings, often being squeezed between the Tribe's bookends on the mound: After a starter exits and before the - Cody Allen closing duo enters. Off the field, Bryan Shaw is a foodie. When the Shaws look for a place to live, it's Bryan who's checking out what type of stove a home has, his wife Kristen says. When the couple volunteers at the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, Bryan angles himself to be as close to the kitchen as possible, she said.

"It's something I've always enjoyed," Shaw said of cooking.

Recently, Zack Bruell treated the Shaws to a tour of one of his restaurants, L'Albatros, in University Circle, followed by dinner. Shaw soaked it all in.

Show an interest in food, and Bruell is quick with advice and inquisitive in your interests. ("You want to open a restaurant? You're out of your mind." Ninety percent failure rate within six months, he says.)

Bruell, who owns eight restaurants in Cleveland, showed the pitcher around the kitchen, explaining how speed and efficiency are imperative, how line cooks communicate. He led Shaw on a tour of the gardens out back where herbs are grown for his restaurants. Bruell pulled watercress to taste as he wound his way through the greens.

Watercress and other delicacies from the dishes at L'Albatros are a far cry from most young ballplayers' diets early on in their careers.

Baseball players and food have a unique relationship. Most start out in the minor leagues, in small towns and cities across the country. When they're not on a diamond they are on a bus. Per-diem meal money can be a pittance, so dining above fast-food-grade restaurants is not realistic on a day-to-day basis. In the Majors, players make more money, obviously, but the biggest challenge to being a ballplayer-foodie is time. Consider their schedules: For a night game, they arrive in the early afternoon for conditioning, batting practice or warmups hours before first pitch (more than 50 of the Indians home games this year started after 6 p.m.) That means not getting home till after 11.

"Most of the time it's eating in the clubhouse after 11 o'clock," said Shaw, who will turn 30 on Wednesday, Nov. 8.

Like any ballplayer, Shaw's time is severely restrained during the season. A player's life takes on a transient nature that can change on a moment's notice. In 2012, Shaw learned he had been traded from the in a three-team deal that also brought Trevor Bauer to the Indians. A day earlier, the Shaws had closed on a house in Arizona. A player's personal life, his interests and time to himself and with his family really only lasts from part of October until pitchers and report in early to mid-February for .

"When you're in baseball, I take a month or two (to relax) like other guys, but you get to a point you need something to do."

So there's little time to do more than just think about pursuing food-related ventures down the line. "It's an idea that's out there," Shaw said. "Culinary school is a possibility."

While he can't pursue that now, he clearly makes an effort to seek out good food, whether it's at home or on the road. Simply put, he says: "I enjoy food."

Spoken like a true foodie. And at L'Albatros, he had a chance to indulge in some creative and well-prepared dishes.

"Cooking," Bruell said, "is understanding combinations."

And the combinations at L'Albatros are endless. A charcuterie platter whet our appetites, along with escargot and "French Toast," ragout of wild mushrooms with balsamic syrup.

Shaw ordered cassoulet, a bowlful of braised white beans with lamb, duck confit, pork belly and sausages, and a labor-intensive dish to prepare.

The piece de resistance came in the after-dinner array of cheeses, a presentation unto itself, with servers describing the fromage, diners choosing which selections appeal, and then having pieces sliced off onto a shared plate.

That adventurous spirit, of discovering cuisine at places like L'Albatros doesn't always jibe with his teammates. A night out might be a little more mainstream, a bit safer.

"There's guys who say 'let's go to this steakhouse or that steakhouse,' " Shaw said. "It's all good, but try something different. They do what they've done forever." The Shaws, who grew up in California, try to be adventurous diners. For their honeymoon, they took a 15-day Mediterranean cruise and were able to eat indigenously. Locally, Ginko is a favorite.

The couple's requirements in eating out are two-fold: Quality and timing. Finding good food is not difficult in Cleveland, but the restaurant has to mesh with Shaw's schedule, which means staying open late. And that's the challenge.

"It's tough to find good, local restaurants open till midnight," he said. "We try to eat at home as often as possible."

During the season the couple often uses meal kits, they said, with casseroles and enchilada dishes their favorites.

On the road, catered meals in visiting clubhouses often can come from PF Chang or other chains.

Whether the couple continues to experience the dining scene in Cleveland or elsewhere remains to be seen: Shaw is a free agent.

New York Mets to name Mickey Callaway manager after five seasons as Cleveland Indians pitching coach By Joe Noga, [email protected] CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Mickey Callaway, who guided the Cleveland Indians pitching staff for the last five seasons, is set to be named the next manager of the .

A deal is being finalized and could be announced as early as Monday, according to reports.

Callaway, 42, spent eight years as a coach in the Indians organization, including stints as pitching coach at Lake County (2010) and Kinston (2011) before becoming the organization's minor league pitching coordinator (2012).

Mets hitting coach Kevin Long and former Indians manager Manny Acta were also considered for the position after Terry Collins resigned earlier this month.

News of the hiring was first reported by Joel Sherman of the New York Post, and confirmed by cleveland.com's Paul Hoynes. Under Callaway, Indians pitchers led the American League in strikeouts over the last four seasons. In 2017, Indians pitchers led the AL in earned average, after posting the second-lowest ERA in 2015 and 2016.

Callallaway led a staff that set a major league single-season record for strikeouts (1,450) in 2014 as Corey Kluber won his first Cy Young Award.

Shortly after Game 5 of the American League Division Series, Indians manager Terry Francona said he would be surprised if teams did not come looking at some of his coaches to fill managerial positions, adding that the pride he feels for his coaches would outweigh the sense of loss.

"Guys deserve a chance because of the work they do, and then it's on us to find the next best person," he said. "It hurts when you lose guys, but believe me, the pride wins out, because they deserve that."

Callaway pitched professionally for 14 seasons, including parts of five seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays, the Los Angeles Angeles and . He was a seventh-round pick in 1996 out of Ole Miss.

He inherits a talented, if not underachieving young pitching staff in New York that finished near the bottom of the league with a 5.01 staff ERA.

Why the Mets deserve credit for doing something unexpected By Mike Vaccaro October 22, 2017 | 2:52pm The Mets earn a lot of derision for a lot of the things they do – fairly earned – so it is important to praise them for this: they did not fall into the oldest trap in the manual of hiring managers. They did not use familiarity as a crutch. They did not give extra credit to pre-existing relationships.

They were willing to be impressed.

And Mickey Callaway impressed them. And this is the first thing you should know about Mickey Callaway: that’s not only how he got to Flushing, how he got to the Mets as their new field manager, but also how he was ever in position to come here in the first place. The way he clearly wowed Sandy Alderson in his interview? Terry Francona understands.

Not long after the Indians hired Francona to be their manager on Oct. 6, 2012, he set out to fill out his coaching staff. A two-time World Series winner, it went without saying he’d be empowered to hire whoever he wanted, but his bosses started talking up the franchise’s minor-league pitching coordinator. His name was Mickey Callaway.

“Never heard of him,” Francona said.

Still, Francona was smart enough to know that shouldn’t eliminate Callaway from being someone he should talk to. So he did.

“He makes you feel comfortable right away,” Callaway told not long after Francona hired him. “I spoke to him for an hour on the phone during an initial interview and then, in the in-person interview, in the first five minutes I felt like I had known him a long time. His way of dealing with people is unbelievable and that’s been the main key to our success. He’s definitely done that for us as a coaching staff. He’s made it fun.” For his part, Francona said, “Five minutes in, I knew I wanted to work with this guy.”

It’s apparent something similar happened when Alderson talked to his new skipper. All along, the prime assumption about the Mets’ next manager was that he needed to have two non-negotiable traits:

1) He had to be one of Alderson’s “guys.”

2) He should be eager to use the term, “Yes, boss.”

And a lot of the candidates that seemed to have the most favorable track to the job certainly had No. 1. The early favorite, Kevin Long, has been in the Mets’ employ for three years. There was little mystery there. Manny Acta’s days with the Mets pre-date Alderson, but he was long a favorite of Jeff Wilpon’s.

Callaway? Admit it: there’s a better-than-average chance you had to Wikipedia his name when you first saw it. Of course, when you did, it seemed doubly intriguing: not only his close alliance with Francona, one of the game’s best managers, but the fact that the Indians had developed one of the best top-to-bottom pitching staffs in baseball. And the Mets, in theory, at least, are still supposed to be a pitching-first team.

And if the Francona-Callaway relationship started as strangers, they have developed into one of the closest 1-2 management teams in the sport. Francona insisted that Callaway join him on the press conference podium before Game 5 of the 2016 ALCS, the night they qualified for the World Series. He wanted Callaway to get his due.

“We’re on the same page,” Francona said that night. “We’re going to make a pitching change and he’ll walk over. I’ll start to say who it is I want and he knows who it is, he’ll spit it out before I ever get there.” Francona said he’d ask Callaway about a certain hitter/pitcher matchup “because I think he certainly has a better feel than I do.” It’s a terrific pedigree. It’s a fresh voice for the Mets, a fresh set of eyes. And comes with no guarantees. For every John Farrell, after all, an ex- Francona lieutenant who won a World Series and three division titles, there’s someone like, say, , another close Francona protégé, who wound up a caretaker in Houston while the Astros were losing enough games to build their present powerhouse. Only the baseball will yield those important truths.

But credit to Alderson, and credit to the Mets: they allowed themselves to be impressed, and allowed themselves to think outside their comfortable cocoon. They’ve given themselves a shot with Mickey Callaway. Now it’s on Callaway to prove they were right.

Mickey Callaway’s former pupils rave about new Mets manager By Mike Puma and George A. King III October 23, 2017 | 12:37am The Indians’ success in recent years has been predicated upon strong pitching, and Mickey Callaway was the keeper of those talented arms.

Callaway, 42, was hired as Mets manager Sunday, after five seasons as Indians pitching coach. The loss of Callaway wasn’t unexpected in Cleveland — his name had also been connected to the Phillies’ managerial opening — but it’s clear he will be missed by a team that came within one victory of winning the World Series last year.

“Mickey is a really good communicator with everybody, whether it’s a Cy Young guy or a guy that has been up and down,” Indians reliever Andrew Miller said. “I think his personality will work as a manager like it did as a pitching coach.’’

Callaway arrived following the 2012 season, along with manager Terry Francona, beginning the Indians’ resurgence. Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer and Carlos Carrasco are among the pitchers Callaway has nurtured in recent seasons.

“Mickey’s greatest attribute is that he relates to players well,” said retired reliever , who pitched for the Indians in 2016. “He isn’t over-analytical. He works with what you have got and tries to make you better. More times than not he takes what you have got and makes it better.”

But Callaway faces a different beast in managing the Mets. “Obviously he has got to understand that market is going to be different than where he has been,” Chamberlain said. “That will be something he learns.” Callaway — and whoever is hired as pitching coach — will be entrusted with a Mets rotation that was crushed by injuries and underperformance last season. There will be plenty of questions about a group that includes Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, , Steven Matz, Zack Wheeler, and . Of those pitchers, only deGrom avoided the disabled list last season.

But Callaway was hired for more than his ability to help with the pitching. Ultimately, he will have to wear several different hats and provide leadership to a team that expects to compete for the postseason in 2018.

“He is always prepared,” Miller said. “The stuff the Indians do for the playoffs in advance is very impressive. He will be missed in Cleveland and has a bright future as a manager. He will be good.’’