Mets interview Dodgers 1B coach Clayton McCullough for managerial opening

The Mets have interviewed Dodgers first base coach Clayton McCullough as part of their ongoing managerial search, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. It’s expected to be their final interview of the first round of the search to replace Luis Rojas.

McCullough joins Dodgers bench coach Bob Geren as the second member of Dave Roberts’ staff to interview for the Mets’ vacancy. The other four known candidates are veteran skipper Buck Showalter, Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro, Astros bench coach Joe Espada and former Tigers/Angels skipper Brad Ausmus.

The 2021 season was the first on a Major League coaching staff for the 41-year-old McCullough, a former minor league catcher who’d previously spent close to a decade as a minor league coach and manager in the Blue Jays system. The Dodgers hired him as their minor league field coordinator in 2015 and promoted him to the big league coaching staff this past season. McCullough also interviewed for the Giants’ managerial vacancy prior to the team’s hiring of Gabe Kapler.

While the first wave of interviews was conducted via Zoom by new general manager Billy Eppler, per SNY’s Andy Martino, the second round of interviews will be conducted in person and will include owner Steve Cohen. He adds that the field is expected to be whittled down to three finalists prior to in-person interviews. At the moment, Showalter is seen as having a “strong chance” to secure the position, per Martino, but it seems as though two more candidates will have the opportunity to sway Eppler and Cohen before anything is finalized.