Mets, Van Wagenen, now more than ever, need experienced manager
NEW YORK — If there’s one thing this week’s events have shown us, it’s that the Mets desperately need some adults in the room.
This Mets staff needs leadership and discipline.
Two months ago, Brodie Van Wagenen “didn’t see any reason” why the 2017 Astros scandal would involve the Mets. (Here’s one: his new manager was already named a key orchestrator.) Even so, it became clear that the GM had no intention of doing some separate digging to ensure this wouldn’t come back to bite him. He let Major League Baseball advance the investigation while allegedly remaining out of it.
“Anything that happened, happened for another organization with Houston,” Van Wagenen said on Nov. 14. “I have no idea if anything did or did not (happen). But at this point, I don’t see any reason why this is a Mets situation.”
On Nov. 12, Carlos Beltran was publicly linked to the scandal after sources told The Athletic he “played a key role in devising the sign-stealing system the team used that season,” when he won a championship with the 2017 Astros. Instead of sitting down and talking to Beltran to get the facts straight, Jeff Wilpon and Van Wagenen admitted they did not speak to their manager about his involvement in illegally stealing signs.
This is important, so let us repeat it. Between Nov. 12 — when former Astros pitcher Mike Fiers went on the record with The Athletic about Houston’s scheme — and Jan. 13 — when the commissioner’s report named Beltran as a participant in the use of technology to steal signs — the Mets did not ask Beltran to explain his involvement.
Van Wagenen said he was “surprised” when Beltran was implicated in the league’s report Monday.
It’s truly hard to believe, to the point where it wouldn’t be surprising if the Mets aren’t telling the full truth. But, if we believe what they say, it shows immense immaturity and an extreme lack of anticipation on Van Wagenen’s part.
Instead of designing a solid plan to either move forward with Beltran or begin a new managerial search, something the Mets should have done since Nov. 12, they waited until Monday, when his name was listed in the league’s report, to prepare an exit strategy with the pressure dialed up to 100.
Which is exactly why the organization needs an experienced manager to be a rock in the storm and help alleviate a messy situation that the Mets stumbled into through no fault of their own.
Van Wagenen never really seemed serious about veteran managerial candidates like Buck Showalter, Dusty Baker or even Joe Girardi the last time he conducted a hiring process. Girardi, at least, was interviewed but the Mets passed presumably for someone who, like Beltran, would comply with the GM’s demands.
Remember, back on Nov. 4 when the Mets introduced Beltran as the 22nd manager in franchise history, Beltran had spent enough time with Van Wagenen to understand that the manager and GM should be best friends.
“You have to understand that when you’re a manager, literally, your GM has to be your best friend. Literally,” Beltran said. “You have to communicate with him in a way that you got to be honest, you got to be open, you got to be able to have tough conversations.”
Hiring someone like
Baker or Showalter to run the dugout would certainly decrease some of Van Wagenen’s authority. But it’s a debility Van Wagenen should accept given the situation the Mets have found themselves in. With just three weeks until pitchers and catchers report to spring training, the Mets have joined the Astros and Red Sox in search of a top baseball official.
It would be wise of the Mets if they chose someone who can seamlessly pick up where Beltran left off. He was already in Port St. Lucie this week conducting meetings with his coaching staff. For someone like Baker or Showalter, who together have nearly 40 years of experience managing in the big leagues, the catch-up time between now and spring training would be far more routine than it would for a rookie manager.
Other longtime former managers who have guided teams to multiple playoff appearances include Bruce Bochy, Ozzie Guillen, John Gibbons, Mike Scioscia and more.
“I don’t think the values that we’re looking for (in a manager) have changed,” Van Wagenen said on Thursday. “This team is one that we believe in. This team is one that we believe can contend and we want to make sure that we have the right support system around them to achieve their success. And that includes the infrastructure that we can help provide from the office, the coaching staff that’s been working diligently here over the course of the last several weeks as we prepare for spring training and then ultimately a new manager.”
But can Van Wagenen even attract a veteran skipper given how he’s handled the last few months? Perhaps opening the checkbook is the last remaining appeal.