BVW insists he’s not involved in sale talk
As his bosses gather upstairs to talk about selling the team, Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen maintains that his attention is far from the expected turnover in ownership. In fact,
Van Wagenen says he is not involved in the Mets sale process at all.
“For me and for the baseball operations department, it continues to be business as usual,” he said. “I anticipate it remaining that way until there is, or if there is, a change.”
These days, business as usual for the Mets GM involves overseeing summer workouts at Citi Field, advising players and staff to socially distance themselves from one another and handling the incalculable challenges that emanate when attempting to play baseball amid a pandemic.
In between his packed schedule at Citi Field — and Van Wagenen said “I’m very confident I’ll be able to enjoy working in this job for a long time” — he finds moments to visit with the Wilpons on a daily basis. No where in those conversations, claims Van Wagene n, does the Mets sale topic come up.
“Jeff [Wilpon] and I are still in constant communication on every aspect of the day-to-day operations,” Van Wagenen said. “Fred [Wilpon] and I are in regular communication about our team and the decision-making, and we’re collaborating in the same way that we always have. I think the important part for us is that we continue to be focused on a pretty simple effort. It’s our job to go out and try to build the best team we can, and
create an environment where this team can win each and every year, and that's been our focus.”
In reality, these three people — Fred and Jeff Wilpon and Van Wagenen — are in jeopardy of this season being their last with the franchise. The Wilpons hope to close on a deal with a new majority owner by the end of the year. The decisions that the new owner will make regarding his or her executive staff could significantly impact Van Wagenen's current role as Mets GM.
The first round of bidding for the Mets sale completed on Thursday. The Wilpons, and the Allen & Co. investment bank they hired to manage the process, are reviewing their offers. Hedgefund tycoon Steve Cohen made the highest offer, checking in with a $2 billion bid for the team, after his previous agreement with the Wilpons collapsed in
February. The group led by Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez also made a hefty bid and remains in the mix.
Van Wagenen, despite the recent uptick in action surrounding the Mets sale, insisted the ownership outcome and the decisions that may follow are not interfering with his daily responsibilities.
“You'd be surprised. We aren't talking about it as a baseball operations group,” Van Wagenen said. “Our focus is on what I just described, which is to win, and it's to try to win going forward. There are no distractions. And I would say that's true for me, it would be true for Jeff [Wilpon], it would be true for the rest of our baseball operations leadership, and I know it's true for our players and our coaches. It's just not a conversation we're having internally because we're keeping our eye on the price and we're having a lot of fun doing it.”