As of today, the Mets have been denied by 12 different candidates in their search to find a president of baseball operations/general manager.
This has caused mass hysteria amongst the general public, and has left many individuals wondering what's truly going on behind the scenes.
Why can't the Mets fill what is considered to be a highly desirable position of power?
Not to mention, it is an opportunity to lead a baseball department in North America's biggest market, with the backing of billionaire owner Steve Cohen and future Hall of Fame executive Sandy Alderson.
On Thursday evening, Boston Red Sox EVP and assistant GM Raquel Ferreira, and Baltimore Orioles assistant GM Sig Mejdal became the latest targets to turn the Mets down.
And at this point, the Mets have struggled to find someone who has even shown remote interest in the job. At least, that we know of, other than ex-San Francisco Giants GM Brian Sabean who built three World Series winning teams last decade.
However, the feeling wasn't mutual and the Mets never made a move to speak with the 65-year-old, and current special assistant to the Giants front office.
Now, speculation has been pouring in as a result of the numerous executives who have said no to this esteemed role.
Rumors have pegged a possibility of various reasons for the lack of interest in the job, ranging from potential hires not wanting team president Sandy Alderson looking over their shoulder, to concerns about Cohen's tweeting and open criticism of the players on social media.
But, Alderson has made it abundantly clear that he wants to take a step back to focus on the business side of the organization. While Alderson would still likely serve as an advisor to the baseball ops department, he is 74-years-old and is looking to hand over the reigns to a capable individual.
In fact, now former acting GM Zack Scott was the one running the show on the baseball side last season while Alderson took a back seat. That is, until Scott was arrested on suspicion of a DWI on Aug. 31 and placed on paid administrative leave for the remainder of the year. This incident ultimately led to Scott's dismissal earlier in the week.
With GM meetings set to begin on Monday, Nov. 8, Alderson will be forced to lead the Mets front office at this event in Carlsbad, California.
Alderson's son, Bryn, was also promoted to assistant GM alongside Ian Levin during the All-Star break last season, which previous reports indicated could be a turn off for several external candidates, having to deal with a father-son duo in the front office.
Regardless, one current Mets player told Inside the Mets this week that Bryn Alderson is viewed as a highly respected and smart baseball man around the organization. Bryn Alderson joined the Mets as a scout in 2011, and most recently served as their director of scouting prior to his latest elevation.
As for Cohen, beyond his tweeting, he has a reputation of being a very tough boss at his day job in the hedge fund world. According to a former employee, who worked directly under Cohen at Point72, his fellow workers feared making a misstep due to the repercussions of being berated for making a poor trade.
To be fair, this is the standard atmosphere of working at a hedge fund, which brings along a lot of pressure. But you have to at least wonder how much it reflects on the way Cohen is perceived around baseball as well.
If Cohen is viewed as a difficult man to work for, this could possibly factor into the lack of desire by executives to join the Mets in fear of being tied to a rough management style.
Even still, Cohen is the fourth richest owner in professional sports, he is a Mets fan and is passionate about winning. And you would think that these pros would significantly outweigh any existing cons.
He has also said in the past that he will leave the baseball decisions to the baseball people, indicating that he has no desire to intervene in personnel and strategic moves surrounding the ball club.
For now, the previous theories mentioned are nothing more than speculation and he said, she said. But at this point, the lack of serious suitors for the Mets front office vacancy is past the level of head scratching from an outside perspective.
Last year, the Mets struggled in the same area of finding someone to take over as president of baseball operations. When they could not secure a candidate, they pivoted to a GM search instead.
The Mets did not hire GM Jared Porter until mid-December, but that was due to several obstacles of ownership transition when Cohen purchased the Mets for $2.4 billion in the fall of 2020.
Porter was later fired after just a month on the job when it was revealed that he sent inappropriate text messages to a female reporter during his time with the Chicago Cubs. That's when Scott took over as acting GM, before being charged with a DWI towards the end of the season and later getting fired in early-November.
While the Mets' current search for a front office hire is not expected to drag out as long as it did last offseason, the team is running into similar obstacles as last year and is now said to be taking their time in order to find the right candidate.
The only problem is, they still need to hire a manager and the period to begin signing players is about to commence. On the bright side, multiple sources believe free agency is expected to be slow until MLB and MLBPA agree on a new CBA deal since the current one is set to expire on Dec. 1.
This will buy the Mets some additional time to continue to vet potential targets until they land on the right one.
Alderson is gathering candidates to formally interview with Cohen. And for the time being, Alderson will be making the baseball decisions and leading the charge until they find his successor.
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November 08, 2021
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What's Really Going On With Mets' Front Office Search? - Sports Illustrated
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