According to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN, Ben Cherington’s name keeps coming up around the league as the top candidate to replace Sandy Alderson as the Mets general manager. Previously, Buster Olney of ESPN said the Mets had interest in Ben Cherington to be their next general manager.
Cherington, 44, was a long time executive for the Boston Red Sox. Cherington started out as an international scout for the Red Sox and then led their player development department from 1999-2005. He subsequently became one of Theo Epstein’s top lieutenants. Cherington got a lot of talent players into the organization and was a big reason why they are still such a good team.
He took control of the team in 2012 following the departure of Theo Epstein to the Cubs. Cherington executed a massive trade to dump the contracts of Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett, and Adrian Gonzalez on the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012. He managed to make key signings in 2013 to make the Red Sox world champions. The Red Sox struggled in 2014 and 2015 and Cherington ultimately resigned from the team following a front office shakeup.
I think he would be a good fit for the Mets but ultimately, it will be up to ownership to let Cherington do his thing and not interfere with him.
Crasnick also mentions Diamondbacks executive, Jared Porter, as someone who is generating buzz for the Mets. Porter is 38 years old and was hired by Ben Cherington in Boston as an intern in 2004 and he worked his way up the ladder. He was the Director of Professional Scouting in Boston from 2012-2015 and held the same title with the Chicago Cubs from 2015-2016. He ultimately joined another Red Sox executive, Mike Hazen, in Arizona where Hazen is the GM.
The Epstein tree appears to be quite popular to say the least. Hopefully the Mets find someone they really like and hire them quickly.
