Mets fire manager Mickey Callaway - MLB

The Mets have fired manager Mickey Callaway.

Callaway led the Mets to an 86-76 record and third-place finish in the National League East this year after finishing 77-85 and in fourth place the year before. That improvement came along with some at-times questionable in-game decisions, however, and amidst no small amount of controversy regarding certain strategic and personnel decisions.

Among those controversies: the drama late this season regarding Noah Syndergaard’s preference for Tomás Nido to be his personal catcher, which some believe Callaway did not handle deftly. Add into that the fact that Callaway was hired by the Mets previous general manager and not current boss Brodie Van Wagenen — and that he was getting ready to enter his lame-duck year on a three-year deal — and it’s not at all shocking that Callaway was given his walking papers.

Now the search is on for a successor. It’s a Mets job that, unlike years past, actually looks like something of a plumb position. The team slumped at times this year but likewise had multiple hot streaks that kept them in the Wild Card race for much of the second half. With a duo of frontline starting pitchers in Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard and multiple young offensive powers like Pete Alonso, Michael Conforto and Jeff McNeil, the Mets are in an excellent position going forward. At least assuming Syndergaard isn’t traded and the front office goes out and fills the holes the Mets need to compete with the Braves and Nationals in the NL East.

Your speculation as to the identity of the new Mets manager starts . . . now.

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CARSON CITY, Nev. — The Nevada Senate adjourned Thursday without voting on a financing bill for a proposed $1.5 billion Las Vegas Strip stadium for the Oakland Athletics, extending the special legislative session into the next week amid negotiations over whether to contribute $380 million in public funding to the project.

The measure can still be amended by lawmakers, and if it passes the Senate it would still need approval from the Assembly before going to the desk of Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, who has expressed support for it. Both the state Senate and Assembly are adjourned until Monday.

In a hearing that began Wednesday and stretched into the early morning hours Thursday, lawmakers peppered tourism officials and a representative from a firm partnering with the ball club with questions about the feasibility and benefits of financing such a deal.

Public funds for the stadium would mainly come from $180 million in transferable tax credits and $120 million in county bonds. Backers have pledged that the creation of a special tax district around the proposed stadium would generate enough money to pay off those bonds and interest. The plan would not directly raise taxes.

The A’s would not owe property taxes for the publicly owned stadium. Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, would also contribute $25 million in credit toward infrastructure costs.

A’s representatives and some tourism officials say a deal would further grow Las Vegas’ developing sports scene and act as an economic engine, but a growing chorus of economists and some lawmakers warn that the project would bring minimal benefits for the hefty public price tag.