Over the years, WFAN radio host Mike Francesa has established a reputation for being soft on the New York Mets, particularly when conducting interviews with any of the Mets brass.

Francesa is reportedly close with the Wilpons and has steered away from being critical of them in the past. Yesterday, Francesa had no problem ripping into Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen though, as he searched for answers to explain the Mets disappointing season.

Van Wagenen came onto Francesa’s show after meeting with the media for the first time in weeks, ahead of the Mets opening their series in Miami against the Marlins. Francesa began his interview with Van Wagenen by essentially asking him to recite his opening address to the media, to see how he is presenting the team publicly.

Then Francesa turned up the heat, asking Van Wagenen many of the tough questions that fans have been screaming about on social media all year long. One of the first questions he asked Brodie was, “Do you think you made bad moves, or were you just unlucky?”

Van Wagenen remained polished throughout the entire interrogation, navigating questions like this by telling half-truths and dancing around the criticism thrown his way.

Francesa: “Are you qualified for this position?”

Van Wagenen: “Yes of course, but I have learned a lot.”

Francesa: “How do you feel about your offseason acquisitions?”

Wan Wagenen: “On paper, they made sense at the time but haven’t worked out as we planned.”

To Francesa’s credit, he did a great job pressing Van Wagenen on a few questions where he rightfully noticed the Mets GM dodging the question.

One great example of this, was an exchange that followed after Francesa asked Van Wagenen about whether he was micromanaging the team.

Van Wagenen said that he did not like the term micromanaged, but that there is a collaborative process in everything they do as an organization.

Francesa responded by asking him a series of questions, regarding all of the ways in which Van Wagenen’s presence has been felt in Mickey Callaway‘s decision making.

“Have you told your manager he can’t pitch [Edwin] Diaz in the eighth inning?” “Have you told your manager to bat Robinson Cano third?”

Van Wagenen simply responded no to all of the above, but Francesa was not buying the narrative that the Mets GM was selling.

In a lot of ways, the interview showcased Van Wagenen and his ability to dodge questions, while always painting an optimistic picture of the organization as a whole. For the same token, Francesa showed that this market is not naive enough to simply buy into his charm and understands the truth when it comes to this oft-maligned organization.

The interview was just over 25 minutes long and delved into all of the pressing issues facing the Mets this season and beyond.

Francesa was complimentary of the core of the players that the Mets have in place, namely the All-Stars, but questioned the balance on the roster and of course the brutal bullpen.

Van Wagenen agreed to the problems that were in place, without giving any real indication for how he is going to fix those problems other than doing things, “the right way” as an organization.

In fairness to Van Wagenen, this is a man who was an extremely successful professional in his previous field and can absolutely learn from his mistakes on the job and become a quality general manager.

Still, interviews like this one with Francesa may also be teaching him that you better learn fast if you are going to succeed in New York because it doesn’t take long to find yourself in the hot seat.