I’ve given it some thought, and if there’s a downside to Chip Hale‘s potential ascendacy to Mets manager it’s that the team would be left trying to replace its best third base coach in years. Seriously. We’ve seen Razor Shines and Sandy Alomar Sr. sentence dozens of rallies to die at home plate, and others to never start, as they got too lazy, overexcited or panicy. It’s a difficult job requiring concentration, awareness and flash decision-making under pressure, knowledge of the players and of the enemy, the nerve to be aggressive when warranted and the courage to put up the stop sign. Chip Hale demonstrated he was better than most that we’ve seen.

Bobby Valentine was an excellent third-base coach for the Mets and of course eventually became a hell of a manager. I’m thinking now that if the new brass values a bright guy in charge (and they do) they could do worse than Hale, whose ascendancy to the Final Four has already overcome a lack of name recognition, Major League managing experience and strong Met ties. He probably does however have more intimate knowledge of many of the ballplayers on this team now, and would probably work for less than his co-candidates. I also like the idea of a guy who could become a good manager while managing the Mets, the way Davey Johnson did.

Walter William “Chip” Hale has six years of managerial experience with the Diamondbacks organization, culminating in a Manager of the Year coronation in 2006 with the Tucson Sidewinders of the Pacific Coast League, who won more games than any minor-league team that year. He is credited with helping shepherd Conor Jackson, Carlos Quentin, Stephen Drew and Chris Young to the big leagues. His Major League coaching experience came under co-candidate Bob Melvin in Arizona: I wonder if the parties would be amenable to Melvin bench-coaching for Hale.

Hale wore No. 51, like a good coach should, for the Mets last year but I tend to favor managers with enough juice to wear their own digits if possible. Hale wore No. 4 most often as a ballpllayer but also suited up in 58, 12 and 5. His big-league career consisted of utility infield roles with the Twins and Dodgers. His best skill appeared to be the ability to take a walk.