After the shocking news reported by Fancred Sports‘ Jon Heyman that longtime Brewers and Rangers executive Doug Melvin is out of the running for the Mets’ vacant GM position, the team has now put themselves in position to select between agent Brodie Van Wagenen and Rays executive Chaim Bloom.

Who should be chosen between the two? The strongest case lies with Chaim Bloom.

Bloom, though young and analytically inclined, actually did much of his work with Tampa’s front office in the scouting and player development department, something that may play as a really important factor in convincing old-school Mets owner Fred Wilpon to hire the young executive.

What we do know is that Bloom’s body of work is extensive for such a young age. A graduate of Yale, Bloom has overseen a player development system that has produced the fourth best farm system according to MLB.com as of 2018.

Notable players that have reached the majors through Tampa’s system include OF Kevin Kiermaier, LHP Blake Snell, 2B Willy Adames, 2B Daniel Robertson, 1B Jake Bauers and LHP Brent Honeywell. After trading with the Pirates, top prospects Tyler Glasnow and Austin Meadows thrived under Tampa’s player development and on field coaching staffs.

Why does all of this matter? The Mets have a young core present on their roster themselves. With Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler and Steven Matz, the Mets have one of baseball’s most dominant and formidable rotations already. Additionally, young and emerging position players like Amed Rosario, Brandon Nimmo, Michael Conforto, Jeff McNeil and potentially Peter Alonso and eventually Andres Gimenez give reason to believe that with the right additions in free agency and a capable front office, the Mets could take off in 2019.

Hiring Bloom knowing his prior experience and body of work gives the Mets an ideal GM candidate who provides a little of what everyone wants: knowing talent when they see it while also giving credence to analytics, an increasingly important aspect of the game. Not to mention, Tampa’s bench coach Charlie Montoyo was hired by the Blue Jays to be their next manager and Tampa’s field coordinator Rocco Baldelli was snatched by the Twins, attesting to the legitimacy of the Rays’ staff.

While van Wagenen also presents an interesting case, he would also be a potential conflict of interest in the front office since he is the agent of multiple Mets players, most notably Jacob deGrom. Van Wagenen’s knowledge of the Mets is undeniable but at age 44, he has no prior MLB front office experience, which would seem to put him at a slight disadvantage. However, none of us thought Doug Melvin would have been eliminated from the GM race so quickly…