Conflicting reports emerge regarding Buck Showalter's candidacy for Angels vacancy

The Mets fired the 67-year-old immediately following a historically disappointing 2023 regular season.

Entering the campaign with the highest payroll in baseball and superstars like first baseman Pete Alonso, shortstop Francisco Lindor and starting pitchers Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, fans in Queens had expectations of a World Series this fall. Instead, injuries and underwhelming play led to the team going into sell mode at the trade deadline and saw them ship off both Scherzer and Verlander.

New York finished fourth in the NL East at 75-87.

Despite beginning another year with outfielder Mike Trout and two-way stud Shohei Ohtani on the roster, the Angels had ups and downs over the first half of the season under manager Phil Nevin. They went all in at the trade deadline before going 8-19 in both August and September to secure a 73-89 record, fourth-place finish in the AL West, eighth straight losing season and ninth consecutive year without a playoff berth.

Nevin was let go following the regular season.

As noted by Morosi, Showalter and Minasian share a connection from their time working with the Texas Rangers. The former managed the 2023 AL pennant winners from 2003-06, while the latter was a scout with the club from 2003-09.

Despite the connection, ESPN's Buster Olney reported news recently regarding Showalter that sounds different from what Morosi said on Tuesday.

For now, it's unclear just how likely it is that Showalter heads to Anaheim.