At around 1:20 p.m. on Friday, one email hit the inbox.
"STEVE COHEN STATEMENT FOLLOWING TODAY'S CLOSING OF THE METS SALE"
Around 3:10 p.m., another announcement came.
"METS ANNOUNCE BASEBALL OPERATIONS SENIOR LEADERSHIP DEPARTURES"
Well, that was quick. Immediately, Steve Cohen and his new team president, Sandy Alderson, entered office and cleaned house.
Most notably, Brodie Van Wagenen, signed through 2022, is out after two seasons as general manager. Executives Omar Minaya (special assistant to the GM), Allard Baird (assistant GM, scouting and player development), Adam Guttridge (assistant GM, systematic development) and Jared Banner (farm director) are also leaving the organization.
"We took a team that had suffered losing seasons in 2017 and 2018 to contention in 2019 and onto a chance for real success in 2020 prior to the pandemic," Van Wagenen said in the part of his statement that addressed Minaya, Baird, Guttridge, Banner and all other Mets employees. "The energy and excitement of the fans in 2019 will stay in our minds forever. While we didn't reach our goal in 2020, the work that you put in to keep everyone safe and healthy in the midst of the COVID-19 threat played a significant role in the return of and the successful completion of the Major League Baseball season."
Said team president Sandy Alderson in a statement: "I want to thank Brodie, Allard, Adam and Jared for their contributions over the last two years. I especially want to thank Omar for his long and distinguished service to the Mets in many important capacities."
This allows Alderson, Van Wagenen's predecessor, to build his own baseball operations team. He's begun that process and, for the club's sake, hopefully it does not drag because free agency is already underway and the Mets face a crucial offseason.
The Mets missed the postseason in both of Van Wagenen's seasons in control. He did improve their win total from 77 to 86 victories in his first year, but 2020 became a disappointment as a club that had championship aspirations finished eight games below .500 and missed the playoffs during a year when over half the league made it.
Van Wagenen will be remembered for trading top prospects Jarred Kelenic and Justin Dunn for Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz, or for trading top pitching prospects Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson for a couple months of Marcus Stroman (if he does not re-sign with the Mets). In order to win now, Van Wagenen and his team were aggressive in trading prospects ... then didn't win.
However, Van Wagenen led two encouraging drafts that helped restock the farm system. He helped lead an aggressive draft strategy in which the Mets were seen as winners in both drafts — though we'll have to wait years to see if those prospects pan out.
It's not terribly surprising that Van Wagenen's lieutenants did not remain in place. Usually, a team president, general manager or whoever is in charge — in this case, Alderson — wants to hire his own people.
Minaya was the Mets' assistant GM from 1998-2001. After a stint as the Expos' GM, Minaya became the Mets' GM in 2004. He's had a long history with the organization, but it seems as if that is now over.
Baird was the Royals' general manager once upon a time. He worked in Boston before getting his job with the Mets. Banner, who is from Brooklyn, also came over to Queens from Boston. Though his job entailed a lot, Guttridge is known for keying in on J.D. Davis as a trade target.
Cohen purchased the team for roughly $2.4 billion. Andy Cohen (not related to Steve) and Alex Cohen, Steve's wife, have minority shares in the team that, combined with Steve's, equal a 95% ownership stake, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. Alex is Puerto Rican and grew up in Washington Heights, meaning she is a Latina owner (as Jennifer Lopez would have been).
The Mets have already started undergoing changes. According to a source, Andy Cohen, the chief investment officer and co-founder of Cohen Private Ventures, is the franchise's new vice chairman. He's remaining at Cohen Private Ventures and is keeping his seat on the Mets' Board of Directors.
Additionally, all Mets employees are reporting to Alderson, per a source.
As fans celebrate the ownership change, Alderson must build a front office. His first priority: Hiring a general manager. No doubt, he and Cohen used October to discuss names and possible directions to go. From there, they can build the front office.
They wasted no time in moving forward following the official completion of Cohen's purchase of the Mets.
"Congratulations to Steve Cohen on the purchase of your home-town team," Van Wagenen said as part of his statement. "I hope that your energy, competitiveness and resources will be welcomed by Major League Baseball. The sport can benefit from your fearlessness and aggressiveness."
