With the very welcome but not so surprising news that Sandy Alderson will become the twelfth general manager in the Mets 48 year history, lets take a look at the other eleven Mets general managers. I also included some notables from their tenure.
George Weiss 1962-1966 (Retired in November 1966)
- First ever Mets general manager.
- Hired Casey Stengel as manager.
- Signed Tom Seaver as an amateur free agent.
Bing Devine 1967 (Resigned in November 1967)
- Drafted and signed Jerry Koosman and Nolan Ryan.
- Lost 101 games and finished dead last in his only season.
- Returned to St. Louis as executive vice president and general manager.
Johnny Murphy 1968-1969 (Died from heart attack in January 1970)
- Named former Dodgers great and original Met Gil Hodges manager.
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Led the Mets to their first World Series title in 1969.
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Sadly, he did not live to see Mets defend their title and died less than three months later.
Bob Scheffing 1970-1974 (Retired in October 1974)
- Became general manager following the sudden passing of Johnny Murphy.
- Mets won the 1973 National League pennant, but lost World Series to the Oakland Athletics.
- Traded Nolan Ryan to the California Angels for third baseman Jim Fregosi.
Joe McDonald 1975-1979 (Fired in February 1980)
- Hired Joe Torre as Mets player-manager.
- Presided over the trade that sent Tom Seaver to the Cincinnati Reds, though it was mostly Donald Grant’s doing.
- Mets finished in last place two years in a row in 1977 and 1978.
Frank Cashen 1980-1991 (Stepped down in October 1991)
- Drafted and signed Mets right fielder Darryl Strawberry and starting pitcher Dwight Gooden.
- Acquired former MVP Keith Hernandez from St. Louis for pitchers Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey.
- Hired former Oriole second baseman Davey Johnson to be Mets manager.
- Traded Hubie Brooks and three others to Montreal Expos for All Star catcher, Gary Carter.
- Won the 1986 World Series with the best record of any team during the 1980s; 108 Wins and 54 Losses.
Al Harazin 1992-1993 (Resigned in June 1993)
- Built the worst team money can buy.
- There weren’t many positives.
Joe McIlvaine 1994-1997 (Reassigned in July 1997)
- Generation K – Pulsipher, Wilson, Isringhausen, never met expectations.
- Hired Steve Phillips as his Assistant General Manager.
- Developed Todd Hundley, Edgardo Alfonzo and Rey Ordonez.
- Traded All Star second baseman Jeff Kent and Jose Vizcaino to Cleveland for Carlos Baerga and Alvaro Espinoza.
Steve Phillips 1997-2003 (Fired in June 2003)
- Traded for Al Leiter, Mike Hampton, and All Star catcher Mike Piazza.
- Was forced to step down temporarilly due to a sex scandal.
- Won 2000 NL Championship but lost World Series to the Yankees.
- Drafted third baseman David Wright, pitcher Scott Kazmir, and signed international free agent Jose Reyes.
- Fired manager Bobby Valentine.
Jim Duquette 2003-2004 (Reassigned in September 2004)
- Replaced Steve Phillips as Interim GM
- Traded Mets top prospect Scott Kazmir to Tampa Bay for Victor Zambrano.
Omar Minaya 2005-2009 (Fired in October 2010)
- Ushered in “Los Mets” era with signings of Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran.
- Drafted Mike Pelfrey, Ike Davis, Bobby Parnell, Jon Niese and Josh Thole.
- Traded for All Star lefthanded starter Johan Santana.
- Won 2006 NL East Title, but lost to Cardinals in NLCS.
- Involved in several team controversies including Bernazard/Rubin incident, firing Willie Randolph, Beltran surgery fiasco.