[Déjà Bru]

The Mets choosing Buck Showalter as their new manager hardly was a shocking development. Neither was owner Steve Cohen announcing the hire on Twitter early Saturday afternoon.

And that’s exactly what these Mets, now in their second year of the Cohen Era, need at this time.

No surprises.

They’ve had far too many of those, some the product of deficient background checks, others the ghosts of past bad behavior. "No surprises'' also applies to wondering what you’re going to get on a regular basis from the manager’s perch in the dugout, the nightly dice roll that’s part of the deal with a first-timer.

While it’s true that Showalter is guilty of never making it to a World Series — he has only one playoff series win on his resume — he’s quickly turned losing franchises into contenders, He built up the expansion Diamondbacks from the desert floor, and both the Yankees and D-backs (in their fourth season of existence) won a ring the year after his departure. When we last saw the Mets as they spiraled into September oblivion, they looked (and behaved) like a club tailor-made for a Showalter intervention.

"I told you last year I wanted to win," Cohen said at Scherzer’s introduction. "I talked about sustaining winning and winning championships. And I mean it."

We’re believing it now. Even during baseball’s nuclear winter, with the sport currently frozen by the owner-driven lockout and others chilling out during the holidays, Cohen is backing up those words. Just as giving a record contract to Scherzer signaled the Mets are done being punchlines, hiring Showalter brings a level of gravitas few in the game today can match.