Jared Porter and the very first first impressions? A young and motivated baseball executive who is excited about the winning expectations of Steve Cohen and Sandy Alderson. And those expectations come with a reputation of success. 

But these are the Mets and despite Jared Porter’s success with the Red Sox, Cubs, and Diamondbacks, this is New York City. It’s a whole new ballgame.

The Mets are now Porter’s responsibility and Sandy Alderson installed a GM whose vision incorporates both scouting and analytics.

Time will tell if the decision to hire Porter will pay off for Alderson, but he says he’s here to deliver a championship to Queens.

Porter, 41, has already earned four World Series rings, and his goal is to guide the Mets to their third championship and pickup a fifth ring for himself. 

The first impression on Monday was that the 14th GM in franchise history is confident, aspirational and driven. People around the league that I spoke to,  all agreed that the Mets made the right choice.

“Known him a long time,” said a NL insider who got to know Porter the last few years as a senior vice president and assistant general manager of the Diamondbacks. 

The insider added, “Porter did not have to sell himself. Sandy and Porter are the perfect fit. He learned on the job. He knows analytics are important and he knows about the importance of scouting and starting pitching.”

And putting the proper structure in place is what you heard Monday. Those I spoke with also mentioned that structure of a roster and proper depth are many strengths of Jared Porter.

So it is important to know, the Mets will pursue their free agent options. And with the signing of James McCann over J.T. Realmuto the possibilities are endless.  Trevor Bauer or George Springer? Or both acquired to make this the perfect offseason?

The resources are there and it may take more time to make more of those big splashes as the free agent market is moving slow. 

Again, there was no mention of how this roster will look when the Mets take the field again. We have an idea, and Porter has a vision. The commitment, though, is putting a winning team in place and with the resources to do so.

As the insider said, “Porter is real. He was not giving all this terminology. He was basic. It says volumes about what’s going on now with scouting and analytics.”

So the first impression went well. A few comments from Porter here that remain from Monday:

Winning: Everywhere I’ve gone. It’s always been our goal.

Players: I think it’s the goal of players to win.

Front Office: I think it’s the goal of front office people to win, coaches to win.

Challenge: It’s something I’m really excited about.

Winning of course is expected. And that time window of three-to-five years of winning a World Series is not out of the question. Porter was not chased away from taking this GM opportunity. 

The roster will be evaluated. In the next few weeks Jared Porter will connect with players and evaluate the overall depth. Porter said that is critical and it’s also evaluating what is available at the minor league level. This is not a rebuilding process and a team with a strong core of players with needs to fill in.

The front office is building a relationship with personnel put in position that will make an impact. Porter had that ability of working with the right personnel in Boston, Chicago, and Arizona. That helps with player development and scouting.  Porter is also known for being an excellent collaborator and evaluator. 

Bringing all those qualities and all that experience to New York is very welcomed after a two-year stint with a GM that had zero experienc… None.

Don’t expect Porter to spend like a drunken sailor just because Cohen has deep pockets.

Sandy Alderson laid it out like this, “I think what the fans want is not that we win the offseason, but we win the season. And there are several different ways to achieve that.”

This is the challenge that awaits Jared Porter. 

Rich Mancuso: Twitter@Ring786  Facebook.com/Rich Mancuso