Mark Teixeira heaps praise on Mets manager finalists Buck Showalter and Joe Espada

The Mets have narrowed their candidates for manager down to three, with longtime manager Buck Showalter, Houston Astros bench coach Joe Espada, and Tampa Bay Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro the finalists.

And former All-Star Mark Teixeira, who played for Showalter with the Texas Rangers and for Espada when he was a coach with the Yankees, heaped praise on both of them.

"I think Buck Showalter is the smartest man in baseball, and that is not hyperbole," Teixeira told Mike Puma of The New York Post. "When you sit down and talk to Buck about the game, he is just so sharp looking at it from all different angles and his record speaks for itself and there is not a more prepared manager as well. 

"You take his intelligence and his preparation and I think he’s a great manager. Just look at what he’s done with so many franchises, building them up from the bottom."

Teixeira noted that Showalter has an "open-door policy" for his players, and said he wasn't concerned about Showalter being able to blend analytics and a more traditional approach.

As far as Espada, Teixeira said the Yankees players all "loved" him.

"We always had a veteran team with the Yankees and we all loved [Espada],” Teixeira told The Post. "It’s because he is willing to put the time in with the young guys, but he’s also smart enough to understand when you have to back off the veterans. When a veteran says, ‘Hey, this is kind of the way I want to do this,’ and Joe says he trusts you. He’s good enough to be able to handle both.

"He is one of those guys, the new school — if you want to call it that. He is the right way to go about managing or being a coach of the new school: Aaron Boone or Alex Cora or A.J. Hinch, these types of guys. I see Joe Espada, once he gets a job — because he will get a job soon, whether it’s with the Mets or somebody else — I see him having that type of success."