Tommy Tanous: Exactly What Mets Need Right Now

I was leaning strongly towards penning an article on how embarrassing the Mets’ search for a new Player of Baseball Operations has become. We’ve seen outward rejections and team declinations almost on a daily basis.

The Mets have zoomed past options A, B and C and are now stuck somewhere between H and I.

For a team that is looking to shed its “LOLMets” moniker, they’re doing a pretty lousy job as with every rejection comes an avalanche of non-stop jabs and mockery.

I don’t know Steve Cohen but if I did I would urge him to put an end to this agonizing and nonsensical search for POBO,  because the best person for the job may already be in his employ.

I’ve been following this team for nearly 40 years and in that time there are very few Mets executives that I hold in as high esteem as Tommy Tanous.

Tommy first came onto my radar when he was hired and replaced Chad MacDonald to become Director of Amateur Scouting for the Mets in 2011. I covered that story for MMO at the time.

Not long after, Conor Glassey of Baseball America conducted a lengthy interview with him and it was my first look into his thinking and philosophy.

In addition to some cool insights into the traditional world of scouting, Tanous delved deeply into how technology and advanced statistics were having a profound effect on scouting as we once knew it.

At the time only a scant few organizations were looking at velocities, angles, pitch f/x, etc. but he was confident it would eventually become standardized throughout the game. And so it was.

What I found most interesting was his thoughts on the MLB Draft.

“I think you can get in trouble if you have one philosophy one year, a totally different philosophy another year, and you’re constantly changing.”

“If you have a philosophy you believe in, certainly you’re going to make some small adjustments as the year goes by, but if you have your beliefs and you stick to them, and your staff believes in them, I think that’s the way you have your best drafts.”

After a series of well-deserved promotions, Tommy Tanous was promoted to Mets Vice President of Amateur and International Scouting in 2016 and he continues to serve in that role today.

I believe it’s time for another promotion.

Tanous might not be at the top of Sandy Alderson’s list of potential suitors for President of Baseball Operations, but at this point with some of the best options now off the table, we really need to end this scavenger hunt and look to our own internal options.

It is already a matter of record that Tanous possesses a great ability to find undervalued assets. He has a long track record in player development and most of the teams top current players are credited to him.

It didn’t take long for Tanous to repair the damage that Brodie Van Wagenen created when he dealt top prospect Jarred Kelenic. I personally believed it would take a few years to rebound from that, but now the organization has Brett Baty, Francisco Alvarez, Ronny Mauricio and Mark Vientos, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. Tanous deserves a lot of credit for that.

Tommy Tanous is currently the ideal choice to run Baseball Ops. To have someone with his impeccable player evaluation and decision making skills would be a boon for this organization.

In Tommy Tanous the Mets not only get a proven evaluator and a proven leader, but someone who truly respects the game and has a passion for what he does.

He’s earned his stripes with the organization and now it’s time to give him the ball – literally  – and let’s see what he can do.

LGM