Apparently Brodie Van Wagenen thinks he is Brad Pitt in Moneyball, because the New York MetsGeneral Manager decided to pull a page right out of the screenplay of the Academy Award nominated movie, and got into a chair tossing fit with the Mets coaches after Friday's 7-2 loss to the Phillies.
According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, Van Wagenen lashed out at Manager Mickey Callaway and the coaching staff over for wasting another solid effort by Jacob deGrom. The Mets were up 2-1 before the Phillies rallied late, highlighted by a five-run ninth inning against the two men Van Wagenen acquired in the offseason in Edwin Diaz and Jeurys Familia.
After ripping the coaches, according to a source, the usually mild-mannered Van Wagenen picked up a chair and threw it and told Callaway to go conduct his “f–king press conference," Puma wrote in the Post Saturday night.
Puma added that Van Wagenen and the coaches met again on Saturday. Van Wagenen would not address the matter head on when asked by reporters.
This is another in a long line of public relations disasters that have befallen the Mets over the last three weeks. It all started June 22 when Callaway verbally abused reporter Tim Healey, and pitcher Jason Vargas threatened to beat Healey up. Callaway gave a half-hearted apology for it the following day. Vargas has never publicly apologized. Shortly after this nightmare, a story leaked out that Van Wagenen was calling into the Mets dugout from his house and instructing Callaway and his coaches how to manage the game.
If it wasn't clear three weeks ago, it is certainly clear now; the time has come for Jeff and Fred Wilponto step in and take control of this unspeakable mess. The Mets have one more game left before the All Star Break, and they should use the time to cleanse this team of everything that has befallen it the past four months. It is never easy to accept failure, or being wrong, but the manager and general manager they hired are proving daily they can't take the heat in the New York sports kitchen.
Firing Callaway has been an option on the table for a while. He has been "dead-manager-walking" for months. The Mets had a chance to put him out of his misery after the club was swept by the Marlins in May, but Van Wagenen came out and publicly stood behind him. Since that time the speculation that Callaway's job was in jeopardy has been a never ending story.
Callway has his worts. He is a terrible in-game manager, and has struggled to run the pitching staff properly from the starting staff all the way down to the last man in the bullpen. At the same time, Callaway can't be held responsible for all of the mistakes that Van Wagenen has heaped on his shoulders.
It is ironic that the Mets GM is upset that deGrom's performances go by the wayside when it was Van Wagenen, himself, who constructed the bullpen that has been blowing games as historic rates. Edwin Diaz? Jeurys Familia? Jason Wilson? These were all guys Van Wagenen brought into town and none of them have worked out. Diaz in fact owns an ERA of 11.92 in his last 12 outings. On Friday he looked like a man completely lost.
Van Wangenen tried to levy blame at the feet of pitching coach Dave Eiland, but even 82-year old Phil Regan can't get the most out of Diaz and Familia. It's an embarrassment for the franchise that the GM and coaches are now fighting each other. If the Mets are smart they need to reevaluate both Van Wagenen and Callaway.
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