As expected, Mets owner Steve Cohen was in contract with Theo Epstein about the team’s president of baseball operations opening, but Epstein won’t be taking over the Mets’ front office. According to SNY’s Andy Martino (Twitter link), Cohen and Epstein “had a good conversation and both agreed that this was not the right opportunity.”
Epstein has been linked to the Mets on the rumor mill essentially since the moment he stepped down as the Cubs president of baseball ops last November, though Epstein said that he intended to take some time off before getting back into team management. He instead took a consultant job with the Commissioner’s Office, and it appears as though Epstein will remain in that role for the foreseeable future. Barring a surprise move in the coming days, the Mets look to be the only team in search of a new front office boss this offseason.
While it made natural sense for Cohen to look into Epstein’s availability, reports suggested that Epstein was seen as something of a longshot of a hire. Beyond just running a front office, there have been suggestions that Epstein has his eyes on being at least a minority owner of his next team, if his next baseball job is even with a team at all — there have even been rumors that Epstein might look to succeed Rob Manfred as the next commissioner.
With Epstein out of the running, speculation will continue about two other major names reportedly on the Mets’ list, as Cohen is expected to request permission to speak with Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns and A’s executive VP Billy Beane. Of the two, the “Mets still may have a legit shot at Beane,” MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets, though Beane himself downplayed the speculation.
“I wouldn’t even know that, honestly,” Beane told Shayna Rubin of The San Jose Mercury News and other reporters about the Mets’ plans to request an interview. “Normally the process is they would call the owner which has happened in the past. But to worry about this is to lend credibility to it. It’s all just press reports.” Of note, Beane also owns a small ownership stake in the Athletics, so that could be another hurdle to a hiring if Beane did have interest in leaving Oakland or if A’s ownership was willing to part ways.
Team Beane!
Beane is a pipe dream.
He owns a portion of the A’s. That’s a lot of money to walk away from. While would like to see him here it is not that simple.
AGREED. Watch Jeff Lunhow get this job.
Lots of people own the slight portion of a team like Beane does. The Yankees alone have a huge amount on minority owners. Beane will have no problem at all selling his tiny fraction to a local businessman that has been successful and wants a feather in his cap. The team could also easily buy him out. Beane has to know he will never get a championship in Oakland. He went for it all a bit less than a decade ago and even bringing in 2 TOR pitchers couldn’t get him out of the wild card game. Analytics alone will never win a championship. It takes money to chase a couple of top players too. The Cubs brought in Lester and Zobrist to get theirs. As well as much relied on team leading veterans like David Ross.
Here is the difference. The Astros window is staring to close with Verlander, and Genkie just about done. The Angles are the Angles and are going to have to choose between keeping Trout or paying Shohei Ohtani. The Mariners are the Mariners. The Rangers are a few years away. If Beane cared about having a big salary he would have left back when the Red Sox’s offered him that Opportunity. Also, if your Billy Beane why on god’s earth with his age would you leave sunny California with no media pressure. For cold NYC, and the stupid media pressure that is NYC. Beane isn’t going anywhere. In Oakland he is the man and can go straight to the owner and not have to report to anyone. With the Mets he has to go thru the channels and go thru Sandy when he has done more in the game than Sandy has done. Sorry i don’t think Beane isn’t going anywhere nor should he.
Also, just because you have an owner with a lot of money doesn’t mean your going to automatically win rings. Hence The Yankees, Padres, and Dodgers. Look at the other side. If you scout well, and develop well then you win in today’s baseball. Hence the Ray’s, Red Sox’s, Giants.
josebatista89
The Astros window is staring to close with Verlander, and Genkie just about done.
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That’s backwards. Houston gets better with those two leaving. They got paid a combined $67M for a combined 1.2 bWAR. Between McCullers, Odorizzi, Garcia, Valdez, Urquidy and Javier, they have years of control for high-quality pitching.
Please, DEAR GOD….NOOOOO!!!! NOT Lunhow! Not now, not ever! I don’t care if Cora and Hinch got 2nd chances. Lunhow cannot get this job. No more controversy, please!
Say what you want to say. But you can make a strong case for Lunhow. Here’s a guy who was able to rebuild while winning and the Stro’s are still going strong.
Agreed with the salary on Verlander and Gernkie. But they are key pecies to the other young starters with their experience. Also, Verlanader is money come playoff time.
Agreed. A’s Beane is going nowhere! Too comfy in sunny California plus the A’s are extremely competitive though they haven’t won’t a WS on a while.
Luhnow > rebuild while winning????. How bout the polar opposite. — how many 90-100+ loss seasons did he put that fan base through before finally winning?? 3?4?5?6?, too many. King of the tank is he.
The redsox and Giants have immense payrolls. Do your research.
The redsox and Giants have immense payrolls. Do your research. Beane has never won a ring.
Theo was never going to sign with the Mets. Someone else already spent all that money on a bust like Lindor. Theo wants to spend the money himself. Not attempt to make someone else’s mistakes look good. I don’t see Beane leaving either. I doubt the A’s owner is going to flick his Beane to the Mets.
Saw what ya did there…nice work
“The Mariners are the Mariners” yeah who just won 90 games and is a franchise on the up and up. Mariners will be a powerhouse in this division for the foreseeable future.
LOL Mets The problem is Sandy Alderson. Why would Theo who is more successful answer to Sandy with Sandy’s Son acting as GM. Not a desirable situation.
I agree. If you hire a guy like Theo he doesn’t answer to anyone but the owner. Otherwise it’s futile to go for a big name.
Sandy wants to go to an advisory role. The new President would be completely in charge.
Sandy wouldn’t be in charge… Theo would have had all the power.. after Cohen obviously.
What is the point in having Sandy as an “advisor” if he doesn’t have significant input? Theo would answer to Cohen. Cohen would confer with Sandy before deciding. Hence, Sandy is still in charge. Theo knew that. He ain’t coming. The As would give permission either.
Yea the idea that Sandy is sticking around to stay silent and hand complete autonomy to someone else smells very fishy. Something not right there.
What advice would he give? Hire a guy who is guilty of sexual harassment? He hired two guys like that . He either didn’t do much checking or didn’t care either time. His name is Richard. His nickname should not be Sandy but Dick.
You realize Theo hired BOTH of the GMs, yes?
was in contact ..not was in contract
welcome to the new America
Even dumpster diving Theo knows better than to step into that mess.
There’s going to be a long list of notable names turning down he Mets job.
Theo only breaks curses and the 86 Mets were just a bunch of guys who cursed a lot.
Smart move by Theo. I think he knows what he would be getting into if he took this job.
Mets are not a desirable job for gm’s who have other choices.
I hear this a lot, but unless you believe in curses, what has happened in the past has no bearing on what happens in the future. Almost any big market team is a golden opportunity.
The Mets are squandering a golden opportunity. While the Yankees are still king and maybe always will be…this is not George’s Yankees. They are just another team, right now. Good but not great. There has never been a better time to steal the back page.
Tire fire.
Stearns isn’t leaving the Brewers. Beane isn’t leaving Oakland. I think the guy for this job is Doug Melvin or Jeff Lunhow.
The Mets should be looking at Jeff Lunhow, Doug Melvin, Josh Byrnes..
Mets should show up Yankees and mike Francesa and hire Jason giambi for gm ! That’s a big name
“You sat on hold for an houa to say dat, hope it made ya day”
Jeff Luhnow and Carlos Beltran is who fits Mets needs. What could go wrong?
The Mets fans said a new Owner would solve all their problems, They would have a blank check and they could trade for any player.
Well, so much for the blank check. Buffet said it best, even if he was paraphrasing someone else, ‘the difference between a conversation and a commitment, is a check’,.
If Cohen wants Theo, he needs to put some ownership equity on the table.
#James1955 Some Mets fans just some. The rest of us were just happy the Tampons were gone but it seems like the “players” have changed but the stage remains the same. 🙁
I mean there kind of has been a blank check. They DID trade for Lindor, extended him and traded for Baez, so that part is true. That this would lead to success has always been the myth.
Oh he will…. He got really unlucky with McNeil and conforto and all the overall injuries… but he did nothing wrong. The people who don’t perform will get replace and soon they will win 100 games every year. Probably starting next year.
With Kumar Rocker as the ace.
Delusional MetsFan2 unwaekwful dreamer. Don’t you ever get tired of writing stupidities after stupidities? You should marry ChiSoxFan who is as stupid…Ufff such morons should be blocked of these type of forums.
Give it up people Epstein wants nothing to do with this loser Cohen.
If the price was right, Theo would want something to do with this loser Cohen.
Why would MLB owners want a commish with a brain, NO CHANCE, they’ve never had it so good, so good.
Epstein will leave MLB and take his tram building expertise to the highest level:
Creating the world’s best trust-fall.
My guess would be that he goes 3/3 on breaking curses and we see Theo running the Detroit Lions. Lol.
Beyond the fact that Epstein probably doesn’t want to leave his cushy administrative job to deal with the Gordian Knot that is the Mets, it’s fair to ask whether he has his own blind spot. Don’t forget that the whole reason that Porter and Scott got their Mets jobs was their role in Epstein’s FO’s. We’ve correctly scrutinized the Mets’ hiring practices and criticized Alderson, but I think it’s shortsighted not to extend the same to Epstein.
Kirk,
You omitted Mickey Callaway whose bad acts were brought to Mets legal department while Alderson was there after hiring him. There are also other Mets executives who Alderson rehired with similar complaints.
I didn’t bring them up because they’re not connected to Epstein.
Alderson has been an absolute failure in vetting candidates and should be fired, I’m not denying that in any way.
Kirk,
Steve Cohen cannot solve the Mets toxic culture by spending.
Sandy Alderson is the problem. He has been in charge for a decade and has been a failure.
Cohen needs to clean House and Sandy, his Son, the Coaches, Scouts, Medical & Training Staff along with the underperforming Players need to be Gone. Cohen won’t do this so it will continue being the Same Old Mets.
He is a Marine so he won’t get fired. Someone who had screwed up half as much would have been but not him
Kirk, beam me up
My fear as a Mets fan is who is going to want to take this job?
Jimmy Hoffa would consider it, but we can’t find that rascal. From what I understand, he’s buried in debt
Theo Epstein knows he will have his choice of teams, If the Yankees don’t make the playoffs next year that’s a big Opening, if the Phillies don’t make the playoffs next year there is a big opening. Same goes for the Padres. Like i keep saying sorry Mets fans your looking at Josh Byrnes, Doug Melvin, Josh Luhnow. At that point i would just hire someone from the Ray’s which they should have done by hiring Chiam Bloom, instead of BVW.
#josebatista89 “At that point i would just hire someone from the Ray’s which they should have done by hiring Chiam Bloom, instead of BVW.”
That was my hope, prayer and dream at the time and all we got was BVW 🙁
“In contract” (rather than “in contact”) in the first graf is the kind of typo that actually does change the meaning quite a bit…
Yankees have entered the chat
Beane will have no interest either.
Lunhow fits in he is a cheater
Cohen claims that he wants to change the organizational culture (ie remove the putrid stench left by the Wilpons). He is not going to be able to do that in just a year or two. He may need to burn down part of the organization and demolish another. This will entail firing virtually everyone. We (Met fans) need to be patient. There’s a lot of good FO talent out there. He will slowly bring in people he can work with. He promised a World Series within 5 years. We have another 4 years…He did not purchase a team with a benign organizational culture. I think he was right to talk about a 5 year plan, not 2 or 3 years.
@AgeeHarrelsonJones Don’t you love all the knee-jerk reactions here? I’d say Cohen and Alderson are doing pretty well identifying the changes needed. They handled the Porter firing and Scott DUI as well as anyone can.
No surprise here. Epstein wants a chunk of “team ownership”. Epstein wants to be the absolute Emperor of is next team (if any).
Most billionaire owners will not be bowing to Epstein’s exorbitant demands.
With checks and balances in place for Epstein, would completely torch the Mets farm system, then get bored and leave a mess for the next President of Baseball operations
(See Red Sox and Cubs who won then their farms systems were completely burned down).
The Met are better off without Epstein.
Delusional MetsFan22 unwaekwful dreamer. Don’t you ever get tired of writing stupidities after stupidities? You should marry ChiSoxFan who is as stupid…Ufff such morons should be blocked of these type of forums.
Delusional MetsFan22 unwaekwful dreamer. Don’t you ever get tired of writing stupidities after stupidities? You should marry ChiSoxFan who is as stupid…Ufff such morons should be blocked of these type of forums.
Delusional MetsFan22 unwaekwful dreamer. Don’t you ever get tired of writing stupidities after stupidities? You should marry ChiSoxFan who is as stupid…Ufff such morons should be blocked of these type of forums.
I doubt the Mets get Billy Beane either.
Beane turned down the Red Sox offer before the Red Sox had their run of World Series Titles. Red Sox just stole Beane’s “Moneyball” method of doing business, but added
a huge budget and a big checkbook to it.
Red Sox adding big cash to the money ball concepts was a big part of their championship runs.
Beane is a West Coast guy.
Now, if the Padres approached Beane to clean up AJ Preller’s mess,
then I think that they could have a deal there.
Couldn’t agree anymore. The Padres, and Angles make sense for Beane. The Mets need an established GM who has developed before while winning. The problem is there aren’t many.
I agree that this was a courtesy interview. Epstein wants to be the next commissioner of baseball. Torre is too old to take the job. As long as we can get the clown Manfred out of the job it’s fine with me. After all the crap the Mets aren’t anyone with any history of bad behavior.
Mets should hire Jeff Luhnow who built the Astros from and last place bottom feeder to a yearly contender for the World Series.
Cheating?! The Players Union blocked disciplining of the “real cheaters”, the players including Beltran. Cora was also actively involved in the cheating and he is working again.
L:uhnow and AJ Hinch were made “scapegoats” because MLB could not touch the real cheaters, the players.
AJ Hinch and Luhnow were suspended for “failure to supervise properly”.
Cora and Hinch are working in MLB again.
Why not Luhnow?!
And, I don’t see the Commisioner’s office suspending Cashman because of the multple Titles the Yankees cheated themselves to using “roided up” players.
So much hypocrisy!
Mets should hire Luhnow and be happy to get such a quality Executive.
Astros team is still contending for the World Series every year with the team and farm system Luhnow built.
Listen your not getting Theo, Beane, or Streans. So now what do you do.
Tell me Josh Byrnes, doesn’t have the experience that Lunhow has. These people where all scouts but Lhnhow knows talent. Look at the players he developed. Bergman, Altvue, Springer, Tucker, Yordan, Josh James. He is very smart and came from a heavy analytics team in the Cards. I’d much rather hire him than a Josh Byrnes, or Doug Melvin. Or another GM. You need an experienced guy.
Luhnow was a lot more involved than Jose or SF2000 are claiming. There is compelling evidence that he knew all about the cheating algorithm in 2016 and that more than one email sent to him outlined pretty much the cheating scheme. He replied to these emails but claimed he didn’t actually read them in detail. How convenient. He also failed miserably in oversight when Manfred sent out a directive that all GMs were to pay attention to check for any sign stealing activity.
Anyone who doesn’t believe Hinch wasn’t aware of the trash can banging cheating scheme must also think Hinch is deaf, dumb and blind. Besides the GM the manager is responsible for maintaining the conduct of his players. He too knew about the issues and pretended he he saw no evil nor heard no evil.
They both lied after the scandal was exposed. Any team that hires either of them or Cora or Beltran is on notice. And if any crap happens they were forewarned.
Nobody that is credible will take this job with the Mets.Wake up people the problem is your owner.Unless the ownership changes you are stuck with the dregs of society.
Theo was never taking the Mets job. That was wishful thinking by Cohen/Alderson
LOL @ “…both agreed that this was not the right opportunity.”
“Both Agreed” translated:
Theo: “Steve, even you don’t have enough money to pay me for ruining my career, legacy and reputation by walking into this mess.”
Steve: “Yes, I agree that I don’t have enough money to compensate you for that.”
Alderson s legacy, Justin Turner cut by him and he hits game tying homer Tonite in Wild Card game as Mets contemplate another year with his dumb ass around
I hear Ned Colletti is available
Like I said no credible GM will come here and no credible Mgr as long as this owner is involved which he is very much so.This team goes no where fast.
“Beyond just running a front office, there have been suggestions that Epstein has his eyes on being at least a minority owner of his next team, if his next baseball job is even with a team at all …”
And why would the Mets give Epstein a minority stake in a winning team when they can keep a larger share of a losing team for themselves?
I wish the Yankees would 86 Randy Levine, buy him out, and offer his share of the team to Theo.
Keep Beane out of Queens. His crap won’t wash here. Need a hot shot, busy young GM (a REAL one this time) and Bochy as manager. New C 2B 3B LF CF RF RPs SPs. Keep Pete, Jake, Syndergaard, Drew Smith, prospects C Alvarez, 3B Baty, IF Mauricio, RHP Allan (recovering from TJS). Everyone else fair game.