As the offseason soon turns its page to November, the Mets remain without a president of baseball operations. The most recent news on this front emerged when Billy Beane withdrew his name from consideration. But instead of citing a troubled organization or a roster lack of potential, Beane simply said that he wants to stay in Oakland to keep his family there.
But the Mets may not be done looking at California’s Bay Area just yet. On Friday, Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News reported that former San Francisco Giants general manager Brian Sabean is emerging as a potential new hire for the Mets.
Currently with the Giants in a special assistant role, the team’s former general manager was at the forefront of one of the greatest runs in recent baseball history, leading the Giants to three World Series championships from 2010 to 2014. Before his winning days in San Francisco, Sabean was a prominent scout for the Yankees in the 80s and 90s.
There are multiple reasons to believe these reports are just people stirring up rumors. Thosar’s report noted that Sabean is looking for a challenge. He’s been out of a high-level role for the past seven years. Additionally, Sabean appears to be eager to come to New York, and his familiarity with the city from his Yankees days only helps his case.
While any ongoing conversation between Sabean and Steve Cohen remains behind closed doors at this point, if at all, Sabean would be an incredible win for the Mets after they were turned down by Beane, along with David Stearns and Theo Epstein. Another possible Giants connection for the Mets to consider is manager Bruce Bochy, who was manager under Sabean for 12 seasons. Additionally, Bochy played 17 games for the Mets in 1982.
One notable quote from Thosar’s report is that a high-ranking baseball executive believes the Mets need a well-experienced front office-veteran to take over the president of baseball operations role. There had been previous speculation that Cohen would prefer a new hire that is just getting their feet wet in the industry.
But if the Mets have the opportunity to land one of the greatest baseball minds of the past half century, it would be a franchise-altering hire that the team would be naive to pass up. Winning executives like Sabean don’t come around often.
