The approaching reign of Steve Cohen as majority owner of the New York Mets has the baseball world expecting major shakeups within the organization’s ranks.
And it very well looks like they may be right.
A source with knowledge of the situation told amNewYork Metro on Monday morning that “any way you slice it, [Cohen] is going to clean house.”
Such a philosophy by Cohen would be headlined by the removal of general manager Brodie Van Wagenen, who has failed to put the necessary pieces together over the past two years to make the Mets a legitimate contender.
Some of that has to do with being handcuffed by the penny-pinching Wilpons, but Van Wagenen is responsible for sapping the farm system of a majority of its top-end talent — most notably the deal that sent Jarred Kelenic to the Seattle Mariners for Edwin Diaz and Robinson Cano.
It is worth noting that the potentially-vacant position will not be filled by former Mets GM Sandy Alderson, who had the role from 2011-2018. Reports from SNY’s Andy Martino revealed that the 72-year-old will be returning to the organization under Cohen’s ownership, however, a source has told amNewYork Metro that it would be in more of a senior leadership role — whether that be as team president or as an advisor.
No potential replacements for Van Wagenen were mentioned, though recent reports have speculated that Cohen would try to lure Yankees GM Brian Cashman away from the crosstown-rival Yankees.
While cleaning house suggests the removal of most members of management, the source was hesitant on guaranteeing that Mets manager Luis Rojas would be a part of the layoffs.
“I’d assume,” he said.
Rojas has been thrown into the fire during his first year as Mets manager. He was hastily named as Carlos Beltran’s successor after a dramatic winter and then had to lead an opt-out and injury-laden team through a pandemic-punctuated, truncated season. Not exactly the kind of environment a first-time, 39-year-old manager should be in.
But Rojas’ decision-making has only lessened his chances of returning to the position next season once Cohen arrives. With seven games remaining, the Mets are 2.5 games out of the final National League playoff spot.
