Report: New York Mets Cut List of GM Candidates To Three

After a lengthy interview process, the New York Mets have finally whittled down their list of candidates to a group of three finalists. The remaining candidates are Milwaukee Brewers’ senior advisor Doug Melvin, Tampa Bay Rays’ executive Chaim Bloom, and agent Brodie Van Wagenen, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reports. The three are scheduled to begin the second round of callback interviews tomorrow. The Mets eliminated Kim Ng and Casey Close from consideration with the latest round of cuts.

Despite the bumpy nature of the process, the Mets actually ended up with a diverse group of finalists. Melvin fits the mold of an old school executive with a background in scouting and player development, which is said to be the preference of principal owner Fred Wilpon. Bloom, the surprise candidate in the group, is well versed in analytics, which is something that COO Jeff Wilpon favors in a candidate. The last option, Van Wagenen, is an outside the box option who reportedly made a strong impression on Jeff Wilpon and John Ricco in the initial interview phase.

All three candidates will be made available to the media after their interviews as part of the process. If all goes well, the Mets will have a decision by the end of the week and be ready to hold an official press conference shortly after that. The Mets have made it clear they want their new General Manager in place before the GM Meetings in early November, and now it looks as if they are on track to hit that goal.