According to Adam Rubin at ESPN-NY, former Mets bench coach and minor league manager Ken Oberkfell will join the coaching staff of the Newark Bears.

I’m not surprised that Obie didn’t return to the Mets in some capacity, but I am surprised he didn’t catch on with another MLB organization — he seems to be highly respected by most in the game. But who knows, maybe he wanted to stay in the tri-state area and couldn’t figure out another way to do so.

This news suggests another question: if you live in the NY/NJ area, will you be more inclined to go to a Newark Bears game than a Mets game this year? If so, why? Answer in the comments.

Amidst all the buzz about who should be the next Mets manager, there is a name that is somewhat under the radar, but gets tossed into the conversation here and there depending on who is talking: Ken Oberkfell.

People like to bring up “Obie” because he has “put in his dues” managing in the Mets farm system for the past several years. And he has managed many current (and possibly future) Mets when they were playing at the lower levels. Is that enough justification to make him manager of the big club? Let’s take a deeper look at this candidate.