Where The Mets' Executive Search Currently Stands
The Mets' search for a top executive to run their baseball operations department hasn't exactly gotten off to the smoothest of starts.
First, they got turned down by three heavy hitters in Billy Beane, Theo Epstein and David Stearns. And after shifting to their list of second-tier candidates, they were denied by Brewers GM Matt Arnold, Giants GM Scott Harris and Cardinals GM Mike Girsch.
In fact, The New York Post reported that the Mets even went after Toronto Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro, who just signed a five-year extension last January. But to no surprise, the Blue Jays denied their request to speak with him.
In addition to Shapiro, the Mets also had interest in Blue Jays long-time executive and current vice president of player personnel, Tony LaCava, a source told Inside the Mets.
However, New York's plan was to lure both LaCava and Shapiro together as a duo, but this attempt was ultimately nixed once Shapiro made it clear that he had no interest in leaving.
At this point, the Mets have seemingly inquired on almost every big name executive in the league, but have been unable to find a legitimate candidate as of yet.
Three-time World Series winning executive and former Giants GM Brian Sabean, who now serves as a special assistant in San Francisco's organization, is said to have interest in the Mets' president of baseball operations vacancy.
But according to SNY's Andy Martino, the Mets have not considered the 65-year-old for this position.
So now, as SNY also reported, Mets president Sandy Alderson is currently vetting candidates for team owner Steve Cohen. Alderson is making some permission requests and the process is expected to continue.
This latest batch of candidates features several GMs, but the Mets would be willing to up the title to president of baseball ops if necessary in order to receive the green light to interview these executives, per SNY.
Cohen will get first crack at interviewing said candidates, and if they wish to proceed, they will then speak to Alderson.
As Martino went onto note, the Mets are impressed with internal members of their front office including analytics head Ben Zauzmer, who they hired away from the Dodgers last winter, assistant GM Ian Levin and director of amateur scouting Tommy Tanous.
They also fancied acting GM Zack Scott, but he is dealing with legal issues that have not yet been cleared up after getting arrested for DWI on August 31.
The Mets aren't going to force a hire if it isn't the right fit. There is still a chance they could wait another year until Stearns or Yankees VP and GM Brian Cashman become available.
League sources told Martino that Stearns was intrigued by the Mets' job, but Brewers owner Mark Attanasio denied him permission to interview for the role.
All signs point to Alderson's next round of potential hires being executives who are looked at as No. 2's. They could potentially move forward with a similar model to what the Mets had last year when Alderson took a step back and gave Scott full control of baseball ops.
For now, the search will continue and we shall see if and when the Mets find the right fit for this position.
