When the New York Mets hired MLB super-agent Brodie Van Wagenen as their general manager over the likes of Chaim Bloom or Doug Melvin – or any other qualified candidates, for that matter – in October 2018, it was naturally met with skepticism.
Having represented Mets stalwarts Jacob deGrom, Yoenis Cespedes, Noah Syndergaard, and Brandon Nimmo (among others) as an agent, Van Wagenen had a working relationship with Mets COO Jeff Wilpon.
Long-rumored as the driving force behind just about every move the Mets have made over the last decade or so – down to minutiae – in Van Wagenen Jeff Wilpon had found the complicit mouthpiece he’d been waiting for. From there, the grift was on.
In December 2018, whether it was to block the Phillies from acquiring right-hander Edwin Diaz as rumored or just to make a splash, Van Wagenen sent a five-player package highlighted by top prospect Jarred Kelenic to the Mariners for Diaz and 36-year-old Robinson Cano, who was just coming off a PED suspension and was still owed $120 million through his age-41 season.
We should have known right then and there.
Sure, there were high points. Locking up deGrom for $137.5 million over five years was the team-friendly deal of all team-friendly deals. Acquiring a then-25-year-old minor leaguer in J.D. Davis for three mid-tier prospects seemed wild at the time, but that panned out. But otherwise, yikes.
Jed Lowrie took home $20 million over two seasons for a grand total of eight plate appearances (0-for-7, BB) due to what Van Wagenen referred to as “kinetic chain issues,” whatever the heck that means.
Allowing Zack Wheeler – whose 10.8 fWAR is ninth among MLB starters since 2018 – to walk to a division rival was a mistake. Plain and simple, hindsight far aside.
Never truly replacing Wheeler in the Mets rotation – instead, trading for a year-and-a-half of Marcus Stroman and signing Michael Wacha and Rick Porcello to one-year deals – have left them in the precarious position of filling out three-fifths of their starting rotation this offseason.
Not ideal. And don’t forget about Van Wagenen sending two more pitchers – Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson – to Toronto to acquire Stroman. Absolutely no foresight whatsoever.
Van Wagenen does get a ton of credit for drafting very well, which the Mets did under his watch, but that may be misdirected.
The praise for securing gems in guys like Matthew Allan, Pete Crow-Armstrong, J.T. Ginn, Brett Baty, Josh Wolf – seriously, the list goes on – should be heaped on the scouting department (specifically Tommy Tanous, Marc Tramuta, and their team) for finding these guys, not necessarily on Brodie.
And the talent unnecessarily shipped off during his tenure is noteworthy, as well. Left-hander Blake Taylor, who pitched well for Houston this postseason, was dealt for Jake Marisnick, who’s already a free agent again.
Pitching prospect Jordan Humphreys was DFA’d this summer in a botched attempt to sneak him off the 40-man roster (a questionable move to begin with), which backfired when he was claimed by the Giants and then traded for Billy Hamilton.
We could do this all morning. Seriously. But we won’t. It’s a new era in Mets baseball. Steve Cohen’s purchase of the Mets closed on Friday. Alderson – who apparently has the reins this time around – immediately did some housecleaning.
Now it’s time to get to work.
