New York Mets’ GM Search Continues At A Snail’s Pace

The New York Mets’ quest for a new General Manager has officially entered its second week with no end in sight. The process took a hit when one of the top candidates on the Mets’ wish list, Cleveland Indians’ GM Mike Chernoff, decided not to pursue the position, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports. Chernoff is at least the third known candidate to turn down the chance for an interview, joining Twins’ GM Thad Levine and former Red Sox’ GM Ben Cherington.

Part of the issue with filling this position appears to be a growing concern over how much authority the new GM will actually have. The big obstacle is the presence of COO Jeff Wilpon, who has continued to send mixed messages about his exact involvement in baseball operations. Sources told Puma that there is a growing concern that whoever the new GM is will be the number two person in the baseball operations, being forced to report to Wilpon instead of having complete control. Wilpon, who is leading this round of interviews alongside Assistant GM John Ricco, has gone on record publicly indicating the organization’s preference for the new GM to retain current executives like Ricco, Omar Minaya, and J.P. Ricciardi.

Puma’s report comes on the heels of an interesting piece by Newsday’s Tim Healey that dropped over the weekend. Healey notes that the Mets actually have a decent track record at developing talented baseball executives, including Milwaukee Brewers’ GM David Stearns, but have done a poor job retaining them. Stearns interned for the Mets ten years ago and made such an impression on Minaya, who was still the team’s GM at that point, that he requested that ownership create a full time position for Stearns. The Wilpon’s refused to create the additional position, allowing Stearns to move on and eventually land in Milwaukee, where he helped construct the Brewers into a team that is playing for a trip to the World Series.

This piece, along with recent reporting from The Athletic that indicated the Wilpons refused to provide Sandy Alderson with additional full time staffers in the team’s analytics department, indicates that the Wilpons really have no clue what they are doing in terms of running the baseball team. There have also been reports that the Mets want to hire a GM but only give them the authority to build the 40 man roster and make moves while someone else, like Minaya, is in charge of player development. The inability to commit to one direction and the constant micromanaging has made the job a tough sell, hence why qualified candidates like Chernoff and Cherington have taken a pass.

The Mets are still considering at least five known candidates (Doug Melvin, Gary LaRocque, DeJon Watson, Kim Ng, and Chaim Bloom) with others expected to interview this week. Principal owner Fred Wilpon is expected to join the process in the second round of interviews, which will begin at a date that is yet to be determined. The Mets remain hopeful of having a permanent GM in place prior to the General Manager’s meetings in November.