THE PERFECT MISMATCH

Mets’ remaining prez options come with big obstacles

ONE HEAVYWEIGHT down, two remain — but with lots of hurdles.

Steve Cohen and Theo Epstein had a conversation about the Mets’ president of baseball operations job and decided the fit was not right. So the easiest solution to filling this vital role is off the board. Epstein was the simple path because 1) he is obviously overqualified for the role and 2) he was not affiliated with a team and, thus, the Mets did not need to seek permission to have a conversation.

The Mets would need per- mission to speak to the other two front-line possibilities for this job — Oakland executive vice presi- dent of baseball operations Billy Beane and Milwaukee president of baseball operations David Stearns. That is among the hurdles; extremely so in Stearns’ case.

Cohen was frustrated last offseason when he did not have access to the top of his list for this position. In his day job — the one that made him billions of dollars — Cohen would just pursue whomever he wanted, whenever he wanted for his hedge fund. It is one of the reasons he tabled hiring a president of baseball operations last year. In his thinking, it was better to wait than hire the wrong person. That began a chain that led to just a general manager (Jared Porter), then an acting GM (Zack Scott) and another chapter of Mets dysfunction.

It is why getting the hire correct is still so vital. And now, Epstein is off the board.

He was always a long shot. When Epstein left the Cubs after the 2020 season, he took on two jobs: one with a private equity group that specializes in helping owners of sports leagues with finances and the other with the Commissioner’s Office to help with on-field matters, notably huge potential rule changes. So one position helps him form bonds and knowledge with, for example, rich folks who might be interested in buying a major league team, and the other allows him to ingratiate himself with and gain further knowledge of central baseball.

It works for his current desires. Epstein believes he was part of the analytic runaway that produced a duller on-field product and wants to be part of the solution. Then, he wants to assemble a group to buy a team, have a stake in that organization and help reimagine a franchise from bottom to top. Cohen’s conversation with Epstein was intriguing — the money and the big market could be seductive. But in many ways, Epstein has been there and done that.

He is going to the Hall of Fame one day as an executive for being the architect of curse-busting Red Sox and Cubs championships. Doing it a third time would not enhance his reputation, and failing might soil it some. Dealing with a down-and-out club or expansion team would provide the kind of challenge that now tempts Epstein.

So Cohen must hunt elsewhere. He has stated he does not want to train someone for this job. In many respects, he needs a new leader to teach him what he does not know about the baseball industry.

Beane probably would be an easier get than Stearns. But why he would be easier should provide the Mets pause. Beane is the Athletics’ titular head of baseball operations, but clubs that deal with Oakland say GM David Forst is the main man. Beane has many other interests, including being an in-demand public speaker and owning pieces of two European soccer teams.

If the Mets went with Beane, would they just be getting Sandy Alderson 2.0, a 15-year junior version of Alderson who oversees baseball operations, but will not be grinding daily to run it? Perhaps that could work if Beane, for example, brought the personnel-evaluating skills of Billy Owens and/or respected manager Bob Melvin with him. The A’s are in a transitory period, which might end with them in Las Vegas. Still, would they let Beane or any of his lieutenants leave? For what level of compensation?

The sense in the game is Alderson’s first choice is Beane, a protege from their shared time in Oakland. The theory is that not only would it protect his job within the Mets — someone like Epstein might not want to have any potential interference in the line to the owner — but might also protect his son, Bryn Alderson, who last year was elevated to an assistant GM role.

Beane offered a non-denial denial earlier this week about the Mets’ job. He has substantial roots in California, which was a huge factor in turning down the chance to run the Red Sox baseball operations after the 2002 season (Epstein got the job). And he has twin teenage daughters now, which could lessen his appetite for relocation. But could he think going full circle (he was a Mets firstround pick in 1980) and getting out of the penny-pinching A’s world would make it worthwhile to, at 59, try the big-market approach?

Stearns, in many ways, is the more attractive candidate. He is 36. He grew up in Manhattan as a Mets fan. He worked briefly for the team on his rise in the game. He has constructed a playoff team four years in a row in Milwaukee (the Mets, in their history, have never even made the postseason three straight seasons). Those who know him say he is an expert at managing up and down, so that he has the personality to withstand Cohen’s demands.

But Cohen could not get access to him last year. Brewers owner Mark Attanasio is known within the game for championing the causes of small-market owners. He is particularly annoyed that he cannot compete for certain players with big markets and, therefore, also finds it offensive when he identifies a front