From field to front office, Mets’ Green covers all the bases
Andy Green’s Mets career spanned a total of four games and included exactly five plate appearances (he went 1-for-4 in 2009). It wasn’t exactly an illustrious career in Queens for the infielder, who is now back with the Mets as the senior director of player development, but it was beneficial.
“It was just long enough to get four atbats and to raise my career average from .199 to .200,” Green said earlier this month at the winter meetings in Nashville.
Green joked that he had taken vacations longer than the amount of time he spent with the Mets in New York that season, but now he’s found his way back in a development role, a new challenge for the former manager and bench coach.
The hiring came almost by accident. The Mets fired farm director Kevin Howard as well as several other executives in September to give
David Stearns the autonomy to choose his personnel. Green, who managed the Padres from 2015-2019 and most recently worked as David Ross’ bench coach in Chicago, interviewed with the Mets for the vacant managerial position. Ultimately, the Mets went with Carlos Mendoza, but Stearns was intrigued by his background as a player and a coach.
“I think his understanding of the baseball development process from the moment a player gets into the system, through the minor leagues, up through the major leagues is pretty unique because he’s experienced it both as a player and a coach,” Stearns said in Nashville. “So now he gets to see it as an executive and run it as an executive. I’ve really enjoyed my conversations with him and I think he’s a great fit for the position.”
The president of baseball ops has always been adept at identifying the right candidates for the right positions, even if those candidates have untraditional backgrounds. Green wasn’t an obvious choice for a role in player development, but he had already been thinking about transitioning from the field to the front office. He understands the tough conversations that need to be had with young players and the systems and processes that need to be in place to help them advance.
Ross had been fired abruptly when the Cubs hired Craig Counsell, and though
Green was allowed to remain with the organization in Chicago, a front-office job seemed enticing. When Stearns offered him the job, Green saw a chance to make an impact at a different level.
“This became the one option I fixated on and the opportunity to do something really special with somebody that I felt like I connected with,” Green said. “It’s as influential of a spot as any other in this organization. (I’m) partnering with people to develop the talent that ultimately creates the culture of success. That’s what you get to do in this job.”
The Mets aren’t exactly known for their culture of success, nor their ability to develop talent. It’s been nearly a decade since the club developed all of those great pitchers. Now, the system is producing infielders but lags in pitching. Steve Cohen has heavily emphasized developing major-league talent since he took over from the Wilpon family. He used cash to buy better prospects at the trade deadline by paying down the salaries of outgoing veterans. The Mets created new positions and brought in highly regarded development coaches. Under Cohen, the Mets were finally able to open a pitching lab in Port St. Lucie.
The club is still relatively behind when it comes to development and it’s going to take time before it sees the results of the changes that have been made.
Green sees a solid infrastructure already and is eager to help implement organizational philosophies from the big-league level down to the lowest minor-league levels. He wants to lead with empathy and help young players mature in other aspects of their lives as well.
“Spending the last 10 years in the big leagues, you understand how powerful alignment is,” Green said. “I’ve been on the other side of that, I know what that feels like when some people weren’t prepared for that moment and didn’t understand what was going to be asked of them. So I think we’ll be able to close that gap a little bit quicker because of my life experience.”
The Mets are balancing conflicting goals of winning now while also developing talent to help them sustain winning play, which isn’t easy to do. It’s a tough job, but if Green bats a little higher than .200 this time around, then he should have a hand in helping the club achieve those goals.
The Yankees have made some splashy trades this winter, most notably adding outfielders Juan Soto, Trent Grisham and Alex Verdugo in deals with the Padres and Red Sox. But the team also beefed up its bullpen on Dec. 11 when it acquired Victor González in a swap with the Dodgers.
Los Angeles also sent infield prospect Jorbit Vivas to the Yanks in exchange for Trey Sweeney, a shortstop prospect. But González is more likely to make a difference with the Yankees in 2024.
A southpaw from Tuxpan, Mexico, González owns a 3.22 ERA over 93 games and 89.1 innings in the majors, all with the Dodgers. The 28-yearold recorded a 4.01 ERA while pitching in 34 games this past season after elbow surgery forced him to miss the 2022 campaign.
González burst onto the scene in 2020, pitching to a 1.33 ERA over his first 15 games in the majors. He comes to the Yankees with some playoff experience, earning a a World Series ring with the Dodgers. He notched the win in Game 6 of the Fall Classic, logging a 2.70 ERA over eight games and 6.2 innings that October.
González’s longest season came in 2021, when he pitched in a career-high 44 games while totaling 35.1 innings. He finished with a 3.57 ERA and picked up his only save that season, but he also struggled with his weight, according to the Los Angeles Times.
González said he wasn’t watching what he ate at the time.
With Wandy Peralta still a free agent, González is the top lefty in the Yankees’ pen. But he was actually better against right-handed hitters in 2023, as they batted .191 off of him. Lefties hit .259. Those reverse splits have not applied to González’s entire career, during which he has limited lefty swingers to a .209 average.
Matt Krook and Nick Ramirez are the only other left-handers on the Yankees’ 40-man roster, while the right-handed Tommy Kahnle and Ron Marinaccio have been effective against lefties. González primarily leans on a hard sinker and a slider to induce groundballs and avoid quality contact, but he also uses a changeup on occasion. He has a 58.1% groundball rate for his career, including a 54.3% rate in 2023. He also recorded a 29.3% hard-hit rate and an average exit velocity of 86.6 miles per hour last year.
However, the reliever has not exactly been Houdini in pressure-packed moments during the regular season. For his career, opponents have hit .241 off of González in high-leverage situations, .250 in tied games, .253 with runners in scoring position and .282 in late and close games.
Peralta was better in those situations last year and generally throughout his Yankee career, but González also comes cheaper than the 32-year-old.
While the Yankees could still re-sign Peralta, a beloved member of their pen the last few years, González offers some financial relief. He is projected to make just $1 million in arbitration this winter. On top of that, he won’t be a free agent until 2027.
The Yankees had interest in a reunion with Peralta earlier this offseason, but that was before the club netted González from the Dodgers. The Yankees, meanwhile, have a knack for finding bargain-bin relievers, especially those who put the ball on the ground. Peralta is a perfect example of that, as is closer Clay Holmes.
Those two arrived with exciting metrics but limited success before thriving. Now the Yankees are hoping González can follow in their footsteps.