According to Mets Chief Operating Officer Jeff
Wilpon, his father, Fred was the most “excited he has been about a hire in a
long time,” when the Mets hitched their wagons to former sports agent Brodie
Van Wagenen as the club’s new General Manager.
Mets fans can only hope that quote from Wilpon doesn’t become a
blooper sound bite for years to come after the Mets made the biggest gamble in
franchise history.
In a press conference that looked and felt as awkward as it sounded,
the Mets made it official with Wilpon standing next to Van Wagenen a man he
claimed was the “front runner” for the head of baseball operations.
There was no discussion about Van Wagenen’s qualifications, or what
baseball experience he might have other than being a sports agent for 18 years,
where he represented a number of the Mets current players.
Wilpon described his new hire as someone who is deeply analytical
with a scouting background, but didn’t go into specifics. Nobody asked either.
Instead what the New York media heard on Tuesday was a lot of talk
about collaboration.
“Brodie was the front runner because of what he talked about
regarding collaboration with our staff and where we can go moving forward. It
was out of the box, but I said we would go out of the box,” Wilpon explained
when asked why he decided to go with Van Wagenen over experienced baseball
executives like Chaim Bloom or Doug Melvin.
When asked if Van Wagenen would have to recuse himself from any
negotiation with players he once represented like Jacob deGrom or Noah
Syndergaard, Wilpon said he spoke to Commissioner Rob Manfred and MLBPA
President Tony Clark about the hire, and there would be “provisions” in Van Wagenen’s
contract to deal with conflicts of interest.
Again, Wilpon stopped short of elaborating.
The feeling is that Van Wagenen will lean heavily on the Wilpons.
There is a question whether front office mainstays, John Ricco, J.P.
Ricciardi and Omar Minaya will remain in the organization as Wilpon hinted that
Van Wagenen will have final say on who stays and goes. Chances are one or two
of them will remain to guide Van Wagenen through the transition from sports
agent to GM.
Regarding Manager Mickey Callaway, Van Wagenen gave him an
endorsement on Tuesday. After a hideous June and July, Callaway found a way to
get 77 wins out of a team that battled injuries all season. It would make sense
for the Mets to keep Callaway in the fold for at least one more season until
Van Wagenen familiarizes himself with the baseball aspect of his new job.
The biggest hurdle that Van Wagenen will face as Mets General
Manager will be his relationship with the players. He made note that he spoke
with his Mets’ clients who support his switch from agent to general manager.
“(My clients) are enthusiastic that I can bring a fresh perspective
to the team,” Van Wagenen said, adding that he would like to keep his one-time
client Jacob deGrom under contract for the long term as a Met. An interesting
answer considering four months ago he gave the Mets an ultimatum to either sign
deGrom to a long-term deal or trade him.
“We will win now. We will win in the future. We will develop a
winning culture and winning mindset,” Van Wagenen said in closing.
He will have to. He is no longer in the world of obtaining the best
deal possible for his clients. He is now in the world where he has to put the
best team on the field to win games on a nightly basis. As Wilpon said at the
beginning of Tuesday’s press conference, “It’s going to be fun.” It certainly
will.
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