I’m not going to try and sugarcoat it. This past season — and, more specifically, since the All-Star break — was rough on the New York Mets and the fan base.
Between all the injuries to start the year, two general managers getting pushed to the side because of their own transgressions, the thumbs-down fiasco, and, you know, the 29-45 second-half performance, there was plenty to make any fan want to pull their hair out. The negative news seemingly continued into the offseason as New York began searching for a new President of Baseball Operations.
All of the best names were at the top of the Mets’ wish list, including Theo Epstein, David Stearns, and Billy Beane, and very quickly, each of those names got crossed off. Epstein passed on the opportunity after having a chat with team owner Steve Cohen. Despite the Milwaukee Brewers denying New York a chance to even speak to Stearns, he seems pretty happy where he is. And as for Beane, he thinks it’s a great opportunity, but also passed for his own reasons.
Nabbing any of these executives to head the Mets’ baseball ops department seemed like a long shot given their respective situations. However, it’s felt like there’s been way more negative energy surrounding these openings in Queens than there should be. Until, finally, Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News reported that former San Francisco Giants executive, Brian Sabean not only thinks working with the Mets is a great opportunity, but he’d also want to do it.
Not only would Brian Sabean be a home-run hire for the Mets, but he’s apparently willing and excited to be considered for the club’s open position for president of baseball ops.
More on Sabean and a potential reunion with Bruce Bochy:https://t.co/NyT1fbu2ZC
— Deesha (@DeeshaThosar) October 22, 2021
As Thosar mentions in the above article, it’s currently unclear if the Mets have an interest in Sabean, and we also don’t know if both parties have even discussed such a possibility. Regardless of whether Sabean — and, from the sound of it, manager Bruce Bochy — become viable options for New York, it’s just nice to hear that someone is legitimately excited by the opportunity.
Instead of hearing about all the good things that can come from these openings, questions continue to mount with regard to how unappealing it’d be for a number of reasons. That includes having an owner like Cohen who has proven he’s not afraid to share his thoughts on the team via Twitter, along with having to work with both Sandy and Bryn Alderson in the front office. As one anonymous exec told MMO’s Mike Mayer, that’s like being “the meat in an Alderson sandwich“, which doesn’t sound overly appealing, to be honest.
By looking at the basic facts, though, it’s not hard to see why joining the Mets’ front office would be attractive. This is a job that’s in a huge media market, and while this past year was rough around the edges in many spots, there’s new leadership in place with an owner who has plenty of cash and a desire to build a perennial winner in a short period of time. Even if the idea of working with both Aldersons is unappealing, whoever is coming in will probably realize that Sandy won’t be around for the next 1o years. It’s definitely a challenge to build a winner in a media market like New York, but when it does happen, the payoff is incredible.
Even for some dream jobs out there, not every single aspect of it is going to be amazing. For something that anyone does on a daily basis, there will be parts of a job that won’t feel like a dream, or it’ll be more difficult than it should be. While I haven’t stepped foot in the Mets’ front office, it’d take a lot of convincing for me to believe that this opportunity with Cohen at the top of the food chain isn’t lightyears better than it was during the previous regime. With the Wilpons, it felt like mediocrity was acceptable, and although we’ll still have to see for ourselves, it seems like that’s not at all the case with Cohen in charge.
That’s refreshing. Is it ideal for a front office executive to have their boss be active on social media? Probably not, but if a candidate hesitates at something like that, they’re probably not a good fit to work in a place like New York.
With the type of trajectory the Mets want to be on in the next five years, it’s important to have experienced people in high-level positions such as POBO, general manager, and manager. As we saw over this past year, having people with less experience didn’t work out for one reason or another. That’s not to say it’s not still a viable option to consider, but the grace period has long been in the rearview mirror for New York’s new regime. They need people who have done this before to take the wheel and point them in the right direction.
That may include Sabean and Bochy and it may not. Either way, it was nice to read how someone is excited at the opportunity to work with the Mets because when you break it down to the basics, it’s an incredible opportunity and challenge, all wrapped into one.
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