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.
  • Led the Mets to their first World Series title in 1969.
  • 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.