If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.
That’s the mantra Mets’ general manager, Brodie Van Wagenen, has been practicing recently, as he has made himself unavailable to the media to address the state of the team.
According to reporters on the Mets’ beat, including Mike Puma and Zach Braziller of the New York Post, requests have been made for Van Wagenen to make himself available, to which the latter heard back that there is “nothing to discuss or declare.”
Van Wagenen kept his word and sat with The 7 Line during the Subway Series this past week, but beyond that, he has been elusive and out of the public eye.
This comes as a far cry from the confident, outspoken GM we saw this winter. After acquiring a slew of players this offseason, Van Wagenen declared the Mets the “team to beat” in the National League East.
Even during some of their rough stretches earlier this year, Van Wagenen would turn to Twitter to praise his players at the major and minor league levels.
But as tensions have flared the last several weeks, Van Wagenen has all but disappeared.
However, a calm and cool character on the surface, Van Wagenen reportedly boiled over with anger earlier this week in a meeting with the team’s coaching staff, Mike Puma also reported.
The GM allegedly threw a chair in a fit of rage and cursed at manager Mickey Callaway, telling him to go “conduct his (expletive) press conference.”
It’s been a turbulent Mets’ season to say the least. Their playoff aspirations have fizzled out as the days get longer and hotter.
The offseason acquisitions that were made have almost all blown up in the team’s face, the bullpen has been almost historically bad, the manager has had a scuffle with a reporter, and there is tension boiling from a fanbase that is fed up with a lack of communication and transparency.
For Van Wagenen, it is disappointing that he has given no answers or even comments regarding the team. He has an obligation to the fans more so than any other GM in the history of the franchise. Van Wagenen made daring claims, acted on those claims, got all buddy buddy with fans, and even opted to sit with The 7 Line. But on the important matters, he has been invisible.
With the All-Star break approaching and the trade deadline shortly after that, this is a crucial time in the Mets’ season. Players are likely to be moved and this is when team’s seasons usually fall by the wayside.
Some communication or being transparent in just saying “it didn’t work like we planned,” would go very far.
But instead, we continue to wait, and the clock is ticking.
