The next era of Mets history formally began Tuesday with the introduction of new general manager Brodie Van Wagenen.
And so ends a four-month process to replace Sandy Alderson, who stepped away in June due to cancer.
Van Wagenen's mission statement: "We will win now, we will win in the future. We're going to develop a winning culture and a winning mindset. We are going to deliver this city and this fan base a team they can be proud of."
Van Wagenen, 44, was the co-head of the baseball division at Creative Artists Agency, which represents Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Brandon Nimmo, Todd Frazier and others with the Mets and around baseball.
The switching of sides puts Van Wagenen and the Mets in an unusual, perhaps awkward, position. Chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon said Van Wagenen said will have to recuse himself from some discussions involving, for example, a contract extension with deGrom, among other negotiations.
Wilpon said the Mets considered about 40 candidates and invited a dozen to interview. Two-hour sit-downs with each yielded three finalists: Van Wagenen, Chaim Bloom and Doug Melvin.
"We hired our first choice," Wilpon said.
Van Wagenen said he "fully supports" manager Mickey Callaway. The trio who filled in as GM during Alderson's absence _ assistant GM John Ricco and special assistants Omar Minaya and J.P. Ricciardi _ were all present Tuesday. Van Wagenen said he will discuss with them their futures in the coming days.
