A Closer Look: General Manager Candidate Tommy Tanous

As the Mets are still looking for their next general manager, Sandy Alderson might begin looking within what’s left of the previous regime for his next point man. Mets Vice President of Amateur and International Scouting, Tommy Tanous, has been with the club since 2010, when he began as a special assignment scout.

Tanous, 51, was promoted to Director of Amateur Scouting in 2011, following the departure of Chad MacDonald, making the 2012 draft class the first under his direction. Tanous was then promoted to his current position in 2016, and has served under that title since.

A native of Massachusetts, Tanous played baseball at the American International College from 1990 to 1991.  Tanous broke into baseball in 1996, working as an area scout until 2002. After that, he joined the Rangers under the same position in 2003, before leaving to be a Blue Jays’ national cross-checker from 2004 to 2010.

Since taking over draft duties in 2012, Tanous has snagged several top prospects and All-Stars in the draft. Among the Mets current roster, six major contributors from their 2020 season were drafted by Tanous.

Jeff McNeil, Michael Conforto, and Pete Alonso, who have all made an All-Star team, were drafted by the Mets under his watch. Former top prospects Andres Gimenez and David Peterson were also brought in under the eye of Tanous. Around the rest of the MLB Tanous is responsible for top prospects Jarred Kelenic (MLB.com’s no. 9), Simeon Woods Richardson (MLB.com’s no. 93), and recently graduated Top 100 prospects Anthony Kay and Justin Dunn.

To go along with that impressive list, Tanous has drafted or signed three of MLB.com’s Top 100 prospects: Francisco Alvarez, Ronny Mauricio, and Brett Baty. Widely respected prospects Matthew Allan, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and JT Ginn are seen as not too far outside the Top 100.

Tanous would not fit the precedent that new owner Steve Cohen has set for what qualities he wishes in a general manager: someone with experience.

In his introductory press conference, Cohen made it clear that he wants an experienced executive running the team, and he isn’t keen on the idea of someone “learning on his dime.” Tanous would be a first-time general manager after spending his career within scouting departments. The upside to a Tanous hire is his relationship with Sandy Alderson, who would likely mentor Tanous and help him grow into the role.

Alderson seems poised to return some of his previous assistants from his first stint with the team, including the likes of John Ricco and JP Ricciardi. Ricciadi’s potential return was first reported by Mike Mayer last week.

Ricco, who is the lone survivor from the purge of the Mets’ front office a month back, would also be an experienced voice for Tanous to rely on. While Ricco has no general managerial experience, aside from two stints as an interim general manager, he has been working in the Mets’ front office for the last 16 years.

Ricciardi, on the other hand, spent eight seasons as the general manager of the Blue Jays, and is currently employed by the Giants as a senior advisor to the President of Baseball Operations, Farhan Zaidi.

Tanous would almost certainly be open to working with Riccairdi and Ricco considering their work together during Sandy Alderson’s first stint with the Mets. Although Tanous would be working above Ricciardi and Ricco, having two familiar and qualified voices to rely on likely appeals to a potential first-time general manager.

Cohen said during his introductory press conference that he wishes to model the Mets after the Dodgers in their approach to spending, scouting, and on field production. Tanous and Marc Tramuta, the Mets’ Director of Amateur Scouting, have lead two of baseball’s best drafts in the last two years. They have hauled in multiple first round grade prospects in both years, despite only having one first round pick each year.

Being able to grab and sign Matthew Allan in the third round of the 2019 draft might go down as a defining move for the duo, as they selected him 89th overall despite being rated as the draft’s 20th best prospect by FanGraphs.

Not to mention, Tanous has been able to find diamonds in the rough in his time as the point man behind the Mets’ drafts, including pitching prospect Thomas Szapucki at 149th overall in 2015, All-Star and MLB rookie homerun king Pete Alonso at pick 64 in 2016, and the duo of Luis Guillorme at pick 296 and McNeil at 356 in the 2013 draft. They also signed undrafted free agent TJ Rivera, who produced for the Mets in 2016 and 2017.

Tanous has shown the ability to see talent where others can’t in the draft. Given that ability, it might be in the Mets’ best interest to let him take that talent to the free agent pool and trade market, to try and find the next Max Muncy or Luke Voit. Both players were discarded by their previous teams, before finding stardom with major market analytically-driven teams who have succeed at finding talent where others can’t.

If Cohen truly wishes to model his team after the Dodgers and Yankees, being able to find talent of that magnitude should be a prerequisite for the next general manager.

Tanous might not be at the top of most Mets fans’ list of potential general managers, but his name deserves some serious consideration. If the Mets hope to become the “East Coast Dodgers”, that begins with talent recognition, something that Dodgers are in a class of their own for. Tanous has shown great ability to identify undervalued talent.

This, when surrounded by experienced executives, can create a great opportunity for the Mets to build a formidable front office, being successful in scouting and developing talent.

While Tanous lacks general managerial experience, the combined 28 years of experience between Alderson and Ricciardi would be a solid base for him to fall back on. Tanous’s reputation as a scout, along with his relationship with Alderson makes him an appealing candidate and a solid choice to tab as the man to help Cohen to accomplish his goal of pushing the Mets into the same tier as the Dodgers.