Mets Make Historic Hire By Adding Elizabeth Benn As Director Of Major League Operations
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Billy Eppler has made his first front office hire as the general manager of the Mets- and It's a historic one.
Eppler and the Mets have hired Elizabeth Benn as their director of major league operations, per SNY's Andy Martino.
Benn will become the Mets' highest-ranking female baseball ops employee in franchise history.
The University of Toronto and Columbia University graduate was hired by MLB in 2017. For three years, she worked for the league front office in youth programs and labor relations. In 2020, she began working on the league's baseball operations side.
Benn became the first woman to play in the New York City Metro Baseball League, and began pitching for NYCMBL back in 2016. In addition to working for MLB and playing baseball, Benn has been an adjunct professor at Lehman University for the past six years.
Now, upon joining the Mets' baseball operations department, she will work alongside Eppler and assistant GMs Bryn Alderson, Ian Levin and Ben Zauzmer, the top decision-making group in the organization's hierarchy.
Although the Mets employ a number of women in their baseball ops department, Benn will hold the highest position amongst them.
This move by the Mets is the latest reflection of a recent promising trend around baseball, which has seen teams hiring more women in high-ranking front office and coaching roles. Kim Ng was hired by the Miami Marlins in November 2020 as the first GM in baseball history. The Mets went after Yankees assistant GM Jean Afterman and requested to interview Red Sox assistant GM Raquel Ferreira earlier in the offseason, before hiring Eppler to fill their GM vacancy.
Beyond Benn, the Mets hired Gretchen Aucoin this offseason, who will become their first-ever female coach in club history. Aucoin will serve in a minor league coaching role.
