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Van Wagenen On Mets’ Offseason

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Many in baseball are still raising an eyebrow at the Mets’ decision to name super-agent Brodie Van Wagenen their new general manager, but the move is officially in the books after Van Wagenen was formally introduced at a press conference today at Citi Field. The former co-founder of CAA’s baseball division is shifting to the other side of the negotiating table and made clear in his initial comments that the Mets will not be embarking on any kind of rebuild (links via Newsday’s David Lennon and the New York Post’s Mike Puma). To the contrary, Van Wagenen portrayed an aggressive, win-now mindset.

“We will win now,” said Van Wagenen. “We will win in the future. We’re going to develop a winning culture and a winning mindset. We are going to deliver this city and this fan base a team they can be proud of.” 

While fans (and quite likely executives) from other clubs had hoped to see the Mets’ new general manager come in with a future-oriented approach and put aces Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard on the trading block, it seems that, too, is unlikely. Van Wagenen plainly stated that he hopes to keep deGrom with the Mets for “a long time” (per MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo). Rather than shopping current stars, it seems the Mets will instead turn to the free-agent market to supplement a promising rotation core but a lineup that is filled with question marks. The rookie GM somewhat nebulously said he “expect[s] to be in on every free agent” — a statement that seems like an over-promise but nonetheless underscores his win-now mentality.

Looking beyond the player element of the Mets’ new hire, there are myriad questions about the infrastructure of the team. First and foremost, it’s been made clear that Van Wagenen has severed all ties with CAA Baseball and is no longer affiliated with the agency. The future of his former clients — they could remain at CAA with another agent or conceivably look elsewhere — isn’t clear, but DiComo and others have noted that Van Wagenen has completely divested from CAA. That process, DiComo notes, was made a bit smoother by the fact that Van Wagenen had a salary as the head of CAA Baseball rather than working on commission from his clients.

As far as internal improvements go, COO Jeff Wilpon stated that there are resources set aside to beef up the club’s analytics and scouting departments. Van Wagenen suggested that his previous work as an agent can help in both regards (Twitter link, with video, via DiComo). There’s surely some validity to that sentiment, as he’s spent nearly two decades seeking to identify talent and represent the best players possible. More recently, agencies have had to become increasingly familiar with newer statistics, data and trends in an effort to best market their players to teams. There’s also little doubt that he’s a deft negotiator, which figures to serve him well in his new role.

Then again, managing an entire baseball operations department while simultaneously dealing with Mets ownership and the New York media will be an entirely different animal. And while Van Wagenen likely does have some scouting acumen and an understanding of the ever-increasing use of data in today’s game, neither has ever been a full-time focus for him. He’ll likely hand pick some new additions to add to both departments for the Mets, and he’ll also have some more experienced baseball ops veterans on whom to rely as he acclimates to a new life within the game.

To that end, though, it’s not yet certain which of the Mets’ former top lieutenants will be working alongside him. SNY’s Andy Martino tweets that special assistant (and former Mets GM) Omar Minaya will stay with the organization, but the futures of fellow special assistant (and former Blue Jays GM) J.P. Ricciardi and assistant GM John Ricco are not yet known.

Turning to the field staff, Van Wagenen proclaimed that Mickey Callaway will return in 2019 and offered his “full support” of the manager as he enters his second season with the club. Specifically, Van Wagenen praised Callway’s “enthusiasm,” his “energy” and his ability to inspire players.

Frankly, it’s not possible to glean the exact approach the Mets will take to putting a contender on the field in 2019 and beyond. There were no concrete numbers put on how much payroll capacity Van Wagenen will have. That’s not unexpected, but it also offers no insight into which types of free agents the Mets can realistically pursue. The Mets have topped $150MM in each of the past two seasons and have a projected $135MM on the books for 2019, per MLBTR’s Jason Martinez, before considering any possible non-tenders. That doesn’t leave much room to add, barring a willingness from the Wilpon family to substantially increase payroll. Perhaps the Mets could look to jettison some mid-range contracts like Juan Lagares or Anthony Swarzak if there isn’t room for payroll to push much further north. Alternatively, players like Travis d’Arnaud and Wilmer Flores don’t seem assured of being tendered contracts.

There are still plenty of unknowns following Van Wagenen’s first interaction with reporters as the Mets’ new GM, but the greatest takeaway from the entire event is that there’s little reason to expect the Mets will be putting any type of significant sell-off of major assets into motion. Van Wagenen set the stage for an active winter in terms of adding pieces to a hopeful contender, and fans will now wait to see whether ownership grants him the means to follow through.

Mets Hire Brodie Van Wagenen As General Manager

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TODAY: The club has now announced the move. Chairman of the board & CEO Fred Wilpon says Van Wagenen brings a “high character, blend of analytics, scouting and development ideas” with him to the job, while COO Jeff Wilpon noted that he’s “excited for our fans to hear and see the direction Brodie outlined for us.”

The deal is for four years, Jon Heyman of Fancred tweets.

YESTERDAY: The Mets’ general manager search has come to a surprising end, as the team has agreed to terms with player agent Brodie Van Wagenen as its new front office head.  The hiring is expected to be officially announced after the World Series is over, with Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweeting that Van Wagenen’s introductory press conference is tentatively slated for Tuesday, should the Red Sox clinch the Series tonight.

After Sandy Alderson took a leave of absence in June to deal with a recurrence of cancer, it became apparent that the Mets were going to be hiring a new name to run its baseball operations department.  The search became cast as a battle between the old school and the new school of front office thought processes, with owner Fred Wilpon looking for an experienced executive with a traditional scouting and player development background, while COO Jeff Wilpon was intrigued by the idea of hiring a more analytically-based general manager.

Brodie Van WagenenInstead, the team stunned the baseball world by adopting neither approach, instead hiring one of the game’s most prominent agents.  Several very prominent Mets — including Jacob deGrom, Yoenis Cespedes, Noah Syndergaard, Jason Vargas, and Todd Frazier — were represented by Van Wagenen, making him a familiar figure to the Wilpons over the last several years.  There was enough mutual respect between the two sides that Jeff Wilpon reportedly turned to Van Wagenen for advice about the GM search this summer, according to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, and these initial talks eventually grew into the idea of Van Wagenen becoming the general manager himself.

It isn’t a stretch to call this the most impactful front office hiring in quite some time, in terms of the ripple effect it will have on business throughout the game.  The 44-year-old Van Wagenen was the co-head of CAA Sports’ baseball division, with a client list that includes names on every team’s roster.  Now that he is a member of a team’s front office, the MLBPA is keeping an eye on the situation in regards to any possible conflicts of interest, and its members’ rights to confidentiality.  Agents Jeff Berry and Naz Balelo are reportedly set to take over from Van Wagenen at CAA, as per DiComo, though it certainly wouldn’t be surprising to see other agencies try to woo players represented by CAA in the wake of the news.  One would expect agencies to specifically target deGrom, Cespedes, and company, as those players now face the unusual situation of having their former representative now taking the other side in negotiations.

This isn’t the first time that an agent has joined a front office, as Dave Stewart and Joe Garagiola Jr. are two recent examples of former player agents who became general managers (both with the Diamondbacks).  Those two had front office experience outside of their agency backgrounds, however, whereas Van Wagenen has never worked for any team in any sort of scouting or player developmental capacity.  Van Wagenen also doesn’t have the traditional analytical background of most recent GM hires, though it’s safe to assume that CAA used analytical evaluations to gauge (and, of course, promote) its clients’ abilities.

With this lack of a track record, it will be fascinating to see how Van Wagenen chooses to operate a baseball operations department, particularly one with as many question marks about its present and future direction.  Injuries, a lack of offense and (it bears mentioning) a constant stream of behind-the-scenes controversy have plagued the Mets over the last two seasons.  While the Mets have some prime talent on the roster, including arguably baseball’s best pitcher in deGrom plus other impressive controllable players like Syndergaard, Michael Conforto, and Brandon Nimmo, there are also a lot of problem areas in the starting lineup, and a lack of blue chip talent coming up in the minor league pipeline.

Between these factors and the Wilpons’ traditional reluctance to spend in the manner befitting a big-market team, Van Wagenen faces a tall order in getting the Mets back into contention in 2019, even as the Wilpons expect the team to be competitive.  Van Wagenen will have a familiar braintrust surrounding him in New York, as Mets assistant GM John Ricco and special assistants Omar Minaya and J.P. Ricciardi are “expected” to remain in their posts, per Mike Puma of the New York Post.

Rays senior VP of baseball operations Chaim Bloom was the other finalist for the Mets job, with former Rangers and Brewers GM Doug Melvin the third-place candidate.  Former Dodgers and Yankees assistant GM Kim Ng and Casey Close (another prominent player agent) rounded out the “final five” candidates, with other names such as former Pirates GM Dave Littlefield, Cardinals director of player development Gary LaRocque, Nationals special assistant De Jon Watson also interviewing for the position.  Several other notable baseball figures also declined interviews with the Mets, including Indians GM Mike Chernoff, Twins GM Thad Levine, and former Red Sox GM Ben Cherington.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported on Saturday that Van Wagenen and the Mets had agreed to terms, though the deal wasn’t fully finalized until today.  SNY’s Andy Martino and The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal both reported that Van Wagenen was looking like the Mets’ preferred choice over Bloom, once Fancred’s Jon Heyman tweeted that Melvin was no longer in contention for the job.  Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan reported that Van Wagenen was “a significant favorite” for the position, with MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand noting that Van Wagenen was taking the weekend to handle his departure from CAA, including informing clients of the news.

Reactions To Mets’ GM Decision

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The Mets have found their new general manager, soon-to-be former player agent Brodie Van Wagenen, whom no one would have expected them to hire at the outset of their search. Here are a few reactions to the decision:

  • New York made a mistake selecting Van Wagenen, who’s no more qualified to be the team’s GM than to serve as its first baseman, Buster Olney of ESPN opines (subscription required). Because of Van Wagenen’s tenure as an agent, there are conflict-of-interest concerns from Major League Baseball, the MLBPA and club management – all of which regard the hiring as “bizarre and inevitably problematic,” Olney writes. For instance, considering Van Wagenen has acted as the agent for the Mets’ two aces – Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard – Olney wonders if he’ll be able to represent the team’s interests instead of his ex-clients’. Further, Olney cites one club exec who’s wary of Van Wagenen because of the strong comments he made during last winter’s free-agent freeze, when he suggested teams were colluding against the players. Beyond that, one talent evaluator tells Olney the Mets made a “very strange” choice, in part because Van Wagenen won’t get the necessary time to adjust to being a GM, and that banking on this move to work is “like expecting the impossible.” The Mets should have made a safer selection and gone with one of the many qualified front office execs in the majors, Olney argues, pointing out that Van Wagenen now has to learn on the job while dealing with the Mets’ much-maligned ownership.
  • Joel Sherman of the New York Post echoes Olney in reporting that league officials and the union have issues with Van Wagenen’s hiring. Interestingly, both sides agree Van Wagenen should not be involved in arbitration cases for deGrom or Syndergaard during the upcoming winter, according to Sherman.
  • While there are clearly strong opinions regarding the Mets’ pick, it’s anyone’s guess how it’ll actually work out. Van Wagenen’s not the first agent to take over as a major league GM – both Joe Garagiola Jr. and Dave Stewart did so in the past (each with the Diamondbacks), and Sherman discussed the transition with the two earlier this weekend. Garagiola admitted his background as an agent led to “skepticism” from his GM colleagues, saying: “Those first few GM meetings I went to, I was not greeted with open arms.” Stewart offered a similar sentiment regarding GMs, saying, “They look at agents as the dark side and agents look at them as the dark side.” Of course, as Sherman notes, both Garagiola and Stewart did have previous front office experience when they became GMs. That’s not the case for Van Wagenen, which could make his new career all the more difficult. On the other hand, Garagiola did name an advantage to going from a player representative to a GM: “Without question the biggest asset [brought to the GM job] is in dealing with agents in terms of contracts and negotiating for free agents. Many of the agents were contemporaries. My awareness of what the job entails gave me credibility with them.” For more from Garagiola and Stewart, check out Sherman’s full piece.

Heyman’s Latest: Hamels, Smoak, Nunez, Bregman, Padres

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The Cubs seem likely to pick up left-hander Cole Hamels’ $20MM option for 2019, Jon Heyman of Fancred writes. The club could instead buy out Hamels for $6MM, a sum his previous team – the Rangers – would cover, though that would be a surprise in the wake of his second-half performance. After the Cubs acquired Hamels in late July, he pitched to a 2.36 ERA with 8.7 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 over 76 1/3 innings. Thanks in part to Hamels’ excellent results over the final couple months of the season, Cubs president Theo Epstein recently called the 34-year-old a “breath of fresh air.”

Here’s more from Heyman’s latest column:

  • Surprisingly, despite his quality production from 2017-18 and his reasonable price tag for next season, the Blue Jays aren’t certain to exercise first baseman Justin Smoak’s option, according to Heyman. Toronto must decide whether to bring back Smoak for $8MM or cut him loose and pay $250K. But if the team’s uninterested in retaining Smoak, perhaps it’ll pick up the soon-to-be 32-year-old’s option and shop him to first base needy-clubs. MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk recently took a look at several teams that could pursue a deal for the switch-hitting Smoak, who slashed .242/.350/.457 (121 wRC+) with 25 home runs in 594 PA this year.
  • Red Sox infielder Eduardo Nunez is “likely” to exercise his $5MM player option, per Heyman. Nunez could otherwise opt out and receive $2MM, but he’d be doing so on the heels of a rough campaign (heroics in Game 1 of the World Series notwithstanding). The 31-year-old hit a meek .265/.289/.388 (78 wRC+) in 502 regular-season plate appearances and accounted for minus-0.4 fWAR – the sixth-worst mark among those who totaled at least 500 PA. Notably, Nunez had a much better campaign in 2017, but he was still unable to secure a large guarantee as a free agent last winter.
  • Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud is a non-tender candidate, Heyman relays. The oft-injured d’Arnaud is projected to earn $3.7MM in 2019, his last year of arbitration, but the Mets could deem that too pricey in the wake of another injury-shortened season. D’Arnaud, 29, suffered a partial UCL tear in early April, limiting him to four games. With d’Arnaud unavailable, the Mets ended up relying on Devin Mesoraco and Kevin Plawecki behind the plate. There’s also uncertainty with Mesoraco heading into the offseason, given that he’s a pending free agent.
  • Astros superstar Alex Bregman is among those sticking with agent Brodie Scoffield, who recently left Legacy to start Tidal Sports Group, Heyman writes. The 24-year-old third baseman is coming off a tremendous season in which he hit .284/394/.532 (157 wRC+) with 31 home runs, more walks (96) than strikeouts (85) and 7.6 fWAR across 705 trips to the plate. Bregman’s in line to play his final pre-arb season in 2019.
  • Some manager-needy teams recently requested interviews with Padres executive Moises Alou, but the 52-year-old spurned those overtures, Heyman reports. Alou, a big league outfielder from 1990-2008, joined San Diego’s front office in 2015. He doesn’t have any managerial experience, though it does run in his family. His father, Felipe Alou, managed the Expos (1992-2001) and Giants (2003-06) to a combined 1,033-1,021 record, and he took home NL Manager of the Year honors during the strike-shortened ’94 season.

Mets Notes: Van Wagenen, deGrom, Cespedes, Vargas, CAA

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Earlier this afternoon, the Mets sent shockwaves through the baseball world by reportedly agreeing to terms with former CAA agent Brodie Van Wagenen on a deal to become the team’s new General Manager.  The hire, reportedly spearheaded by team COO Jeff Wilpon, is a puzzling one for an organization in flux: Van Wagenen, after all, was hired despite a résumé utterly devoid of any front office, scouting, or player development experience, and currently represents nearly a quarter of the Mets’ 25-man roster in contract matters.  Charges of interest conflicts will assuredly be flung from all directions – according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the club seems as throughly entangled with the 44-year-old former agent as any in the league.  In the past two offseasons alone, Van Wagenen has negotiated deals on behalf of outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, third baseman Todd Frazier, and lefty Jason Vargas for a combined $143MM.  Of particular interest to Sherman is Van Wagenen’s February 2018 outburst, where the agent, furious at perceived collusion in the glacially-paced free agent market, drafted a public statement suggesting that some frozen-out players may have been preparing to boycott the upcoming season.  Van Wagenen, of course, has now scooted his seat to the other side of the table, where the traits he doubtless extolled so forcefully will likely be minimized at every turn.

The elephant in that room, it seems, is 30-year-old Jacob deGrom, on whose side Van Wagenen has long campaigned for either an extension or trade, and many questions await.  Van Wagenen and his new colleagues could certainly extricate themselves from the awkward discussions to follow by peddling the ace at first opportunity in the forthcoming market, but that route seems altogether unlikely at this point.  In a separate report by The Post, sources indicate that team owner Fred Wilpon is hell-bent on a playoff run next season and was loath to consider candidates who suggested otherwise.

In other rumblings from Flushing . . .

  • Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News raises similar questions of the new hire, posing scores of inquiries about current and prospective players and the potential conflicts of interests with both.  In particular, she addresses the cases of former Van Wagenen clients Cespedes and Vargas, both of whom the agent may be forced to engage in uncomfortable discussions with.  Cespedes, of course, underwent a second surgery on his left heel yesterday and may miss up to half of the upcoming campaign.  Though he’s been productive at the plate over the last two seasons, slashing .282/.343/.525, the 33-year-old has been limited to just 120 games over that time and will figure to miss a good deal more in the season to come.  Vargas, 35, had a dreadful season last year, allowing 1.76 HR/9 and posting just 92 IP across 20 starts on the way to a 5.77 ERA.  His 8.22 K/9, the highest of his career, did leave some room for optimism, but a return to a similar path will almost surely leave the new GM in an extremely awkward position with a former client who has just one year remaining on his deal.
  • Mike Puma of the New York Post reports that Matt Ricatto and Jeff Berry of CAA will now handle agency duties for deGrom following the departure of Van Wagenen.

Yoenis Cespedes Undergoes Second Planned Heel Surgery

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Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes has undergone surgery on his left heel, the club announced. This was the second of two procedures to address bone calcification in both feet.

The club has not released any further information about the outcome. Assuming everything went according to plan, the hope is that Cespedes will be cleared to start baseball activities in approximately four months. He will begin running again at a later point in time.

Surgeons waited approximately three months between the first procedure, to the right heel, and the surgery that was just announced. That approach avoided a lengthy and potentially problematic stretch of bed rest.

All indications are that Cespedes remains more or less on the timetable that the New York organization gave in late July. It was stated at that time that he’d be sidelined for a minimum of eight to ten months. Of course, being fully prepared for MLB game action could be a bit further off than that, since Cespedes will need to get into playing shape and shake off the rust.

From this point, the Mets have little choice but to hope that Cespedes responds well to rehab. The 33-year-old may conceivably be available for a reasonable portion of the 2019 season, though he’ll almost surely miss a fairly significant portion of time even under the most optimistic outlook. Cespedes is owed $58.5MM over the following two seasons and has full no-trade protection.

Mets’ Franklyn Kilome Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

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Mets pitching prospect Franklyn Kilome will miss the entire 2019 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, tweets MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. The right-hander was acquired in a straight-up swap that sent Asdrubal Cabrera to the division-rival Phillies back in July, and he ranked fifth among Mets prospects on MLB.com’s latest rankings.

Kilome, 23, dramatically improved his K/BB numbers upon being traded from Philadelphia to New York, pitching to a 4.03 ERA with 9.9 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and 0.71 HR/9 with a 39.8 percent grounder rate in 38 frames with the Mets’ Double-A affiliate. He’s previously been ranked among the game’s Top 100 prospects by Baseball Prospectus and garnered praise from MLB.com’s Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo for his upper 90s heater, a potentially plus curveball and his general makeup and intelligence on the mound.

Given Kilome’s 140 innings at the Double-A level in 2018, it’s not a reach to think he could’ve been a factor on the Mets’ staff at some point in mid-to-late 2019 had he remained healthy. Instead, the Mets won’t get a look at him until at least the 2020 season, though at the very least, he’ll be nearly 18 months removed from Tommy John surgery when Spring Training ’20 rolls around. That’s minimal consolation for a Mets club that’ll lose a full season of development for one of its most promising and most MLB-ready arms, though.

Mets’ GM Search Down To Three Finalists

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Oct. 25: Like Van Wagenen before him, Bloom has opted to release a brief statement rather than conduct an interview with the media. It’s a fairly standard-issue statement, with Bloom calling yesterday’s second interview with the Mets “productive” and adding that he “enjoyed” the opportunity to but declining to speak much beyond that out of respect to his current role with the Tampa Bay organization.

DiComo tweets that a “sizable industry majority” considers Melvin to be the favorite, though he and numerous others have suggested that the lack of a media session for Van Wagenen and Bloom shouldn’t be read into as an indicator that Melvin has the job locked up. Rather, neither Van Wagenen nor Bloom felt comfortable addressing the New York media about a potential new role, given their prominent standing elsewhere in the baseball world.

Oct. 24: The Mets’ ongoing search for a general manager was narrowed to five recently, and Matt Ehalt of the New Jersey tweets that two candidates, MLB exec Kim Ng and agent Casey Close, have been eliminated from the running. (Close’s role in the process is now being downplayed, as Tim Healey of Newsday tweets.) MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo hears similarly, tweeting that the three finalists for the post are Rays senior vice president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, former Brewers/Rangers general manager Doug Melvin, and agent Brodie Van Wagenen — the head of CAA Baseball.

The backgrounds of the three reported finalists are about as wide-ranging as one could imagine. We’ll keep tabs on the situation here:

Chaim Bloom

Bloom, 35, cut his teeth as a 21-year-old intern and rose through the ranks of one of baseball’s most analytic- and data-driven organizations, recently being named one of the Rays’ top two execs alongside GM Erik Neander. He will have the chance to make final impressions on the Mets hiring committee, following the other two candidates in the process. It is expected that he’ll speak with the media following his interview.

Doug Melvin

The 66-year-old Melvin comes from a more traditional scouting background and would undoubtedly be tabbed an “old-school” hire by the Mets, though his fingerprints are still present on a Brewers club that just came within a game of a World Series berth. Melvin was the GM for the acquisitions of Josh Hader (Carlos Gomez trade), Domingo Santana (Gomez trade), Corey Knebel (Yovani Gallardo trade), Zach Davies (Gerardo Parra trade) and Hernan Perez (waiver claim) as well as the drafting of Brandon Woodruff, Jacob Barnes and Brent Suter.

Following his sit-down, Melvin chatted with the media about his candidacy, as MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo was among those to cover. He emphasized that he’s open to contemporary analytics and also attempted to highlight his own instances forward thinking as an executive. Melvin seemingly positioned himself as a seasoned decisionmaker who can incorporate cutting-edge tools. He also stressed that he is motivated to get back into the day-to-day running of an ops department after several years away.

Brodie Van Wagenen

Van Wagenen would be the most outside-the-box hire the Mets could make, having no prior experience as an executive with a Major League club. The 44-year-old directly represents numerous Mets players, though, including Yoenis Cespedes and Jacob deGrom, so owners Fred and Jeff Wilpon undoubtedly have a longstanding familiarity with him. Agencies are continually becoming increasingly versed in analytics as they seek to make the best possible cases for their clients, though certainly there’d be an enormous difference between heading up an agency (even one of the game’s larger agencies) and running a baseball operations department while simultaneously addressing the media as the face of the team’s leadership.

Van Wagenen interviewed on Monday. While the New York Post’s Mike Puma has previously reported that the Mets plan on making all of the finalists available to the media after the coming wave of secondary interviews, that did not come to pass in this case owing to Van Wagenen’s still-existing agency obligations.

The Mets did release a statement from Van Wagenen, who says his “conversations with the Mets continue to be organic.” He sought to walk a fine line in his comments, concluding by writing, somewhat awkwardly: “As Jeff and Fred [Wilpon] continue their search for a new head of baseball operations, the players, fans and entire organization will be motivated to have a leader with the skills and commitment to win. If the Wilpons believe I am that person, we will have that conversation.”

As Puma writes, the obvious tension between Van Wagenen’s current role as a significant agent and his consideration for this important role with the Mets is a significant concern for some on the player side of the labor divide. Clearly, it creates a tricky situation even during the interview process. Van Wagenen would need to step away from CAA and transfer representation of his clients to others in the agency were he to ultimately take the Mets’ job.

The Mets’ GM Search

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Not long after longtime general manager Sandy Alderson stepped down from his post with the Mets earlier this summer, it became clear that the organization would conduct an extensive search to tab a new head of baseball operations. Assistant GM John Ricco and special assistants J.P. Ricciardi and Omar Minaya have been overseeing the team’s baseball operations department on an interim basis, but the Mets are now formally in search of a new department leader.

There have been multiple reports that owner Fred Wilpon is eyeing a more traditional general manager with scouting-based acumen (an “old school” type of executive, to use a broad description), while his son, COO Jeff Wilpon, is more focused on hiring an analytically-inclined executive that more closely aligns with recent industry trends. Per Jon Heyman of Fancred, the Mets are leaving some candidates with the sense that the new hire won’t quite enjoy a full slate of baseball ops power. As he puts it, the impression is that Omar Minaya or one of the other existing assistant GMs could retain control over player development functions. Team sources that spoke with Heyman denied that was the case, however.

As we’ve done with some recent managerial searches, we’ll track the majority of the updates in the Mets’ GM search here as they navigate the early phases of the process.

Latest Update — 10/20

  • Doug Melvin and agent Brodie Van Wagenen are the favorites to land the job, per Mike Puma of the New York Post.
  • Ng and Bloom are still being considered for the position, per Puma.
  • Littlefield, if not already eliminated, is considered a “long shot” at this juncture.
  • Close and former Mets GM Omar Minaya can’t “completely be ruled out” at this time, per Puma and Joel Sherman.

Latest Update — 10/19

  • It seems that agent Casey Close is also still in the mix. Martino tweets that he, Van Wagenen, Bloom, Ng, and Melvin appear to make up the finalists.
  • LaRocque is no longer under consideration, Marc Carig of The Athletic reports (Twitter link).
  • Agent Brodie Van Wagenen is still in the picture after receiving an initial interview, per Carig (via Twitter). (Carig initially tweeted the opposite, but amended his report.)
  • The Mets only consider Littlefield a “fringe” contender to land the position, per Mike Puma of the New York Post.
  • DiComo now tweets that Watson did not receive a call for a second interview and is no longer in the running for the position.

Earlier Updates — 10/19

  • The Mets have interviewed six to eight candidates and will enter the second round of interviews next week, per MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (Twitter link). Fred Wilpon will join the interview process in place of John Ricco for the second wave of sitdowns. DiComo notes that Littlefield, Bloom, LaRocque, Watson, Melvin and Ng are the six known candidates to date.
  • It’s not fully clear whether all six to eight candidates who’ve interviewed are ticketed for a followup session, though. Andy Martino f SNY.tv writes that the Mets have not yet determined which of the first round interviewees will be spoken with next week. Interestingly, Puma tweets that the Mets plan to make each finalist available to the media after his or her second interview is completed, so it seems as though there’ll be some transparency in the latter stages of the process.

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NL East Notes: Marlins, Callaway, Twins, Braves

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Some rumblings from around the NL East…

  • In the latest Marlins organizational news, the team hired Adrian Lorenzo as a special assistant in scouting and baseball operations, the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier reports (via Twitter).  Lorenzo had previously been working as assistant director of international scouting for the Red Sox.  The Marlins also let go of pro scouting director Jim Cuthbert earlier this week, according to the Miami Herald’s Clark Spencer (Twitter link), ending Cuthbert’s three-year tenure with the franchise.
  • These changes and the recent overhaul of the Marlins’ coaching staff are just the latest in an extensive front office reshuffle since Derek Jeter and Bruce Sherman took over the team, and since Jeter hired Gary Denbo as Miami’s VP of player development and scouting.  While it isn’t unusual for new owners to put their personal stamp on a team, “people in baseball are just mystified by Denbo’s actions,” according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, and “morale in that organization, I’m told, is at an all-time low.”
  • Cafardo also discusses the Twins’ managerial search in his column, writing that Mets manager Mickey Callaway “would have been high on the Twins’ list if he were available.”  Callaway and Minnesota chief baseball officer Derek Falvey are familiar with each other from their shared time with the Indians, when Callaway was pitching coach and Falvey was working in the front office.  Of course, the chance still exists that Callaway could become available, as the next Mets GM will reportedly have the authority to make a managerial change.  Since the Twins’ search for a manager is already well under way, however, one would think the club wouldn’t wait under the Mets have made a hire and decided on Callaway’s fate.  Callaway’s first season with the Mets was a rocky one, though he is still under contract for two more years (plus a club option for the 2021 season).
  • Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos is scheduled to meet with the media on Monday morning, with The Athletic’s David O’Brien (Twitter link) expecting that the team will announce a new contract for manager Brian Snitker and possibly some coaching changes.  Snitker’s previous deal is up after the World Series is over, though the team was expected to offer him another contract and it wouldn’t be surprising if negotiations went rather quickly.  After all, Snitker did just lead the Braves to a somewhat surprising NL East title, and Snitker is a Braves lifer with over 40 years of experience in Atlanta’s organization.
  • Also from O’Brien (Twitter links), he thinks the Braves will probably have somewhere in the range of $30MM-$35MM to spend this winter.  The team has just over $90.8MM on the books for 2019 for current contracts, projected arbitration salaries, and minimum salaries for pre-arb players, give or take a few million less if Atlanta parts ways with any players on the non-tender bubble.  The Braves have never had an Opening Day payroll higher than their $122.6MM figure from 2017 since Liberty Media has owned the team, so one would figure they wouldn’t go too far beyond that number.  The club could also save some cash for midseason additions or, as O’Brien notes, use some money to sign in-house players to extensions.  Regardless, the Braves’ offseason promises to be a very interesting one, as the team makes it next step towards long-term contention now that the rebuild phase seems to be over.
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