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NEW YORK – When the New York Mets looked for a general manager, they found one in a particular place.
On the other side of the bargaining table.
Brodie Van Wagenen, a long-time baseball agent, is changing his role to become the Mets general manager, the team said Monday night. The details of the contract were not disclosed.
"Brodie is an extremely competent, creative, progressive and collaborative leader, which I hope will lead us to lasting success," said Jeff Wilpon, chief executive of Mets, in a statement. "I'm very excited for our fans to hear and see the direction that Brodie has indicated to us."
A press conference to present Van Wagenen was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon at Citi Field. He was chosen by Wilpon and his father, Fred Wilpon, owner of the Mets, to replace Sandy Alderson, who took a leave in June following a recurrence of cancer. Alderson said the poor performance of the club did not deserve his return.
So, at the start of a crucial dead season, the first Mets throw is a change.
"I am more than passionate and motivated to take on this new challenge," said Van Wagenen. "I want to thank Fred and Jeff for believing in my vision and my abilities. I can not wait to start getting the Mets to compete for a championship year after year. "
Van Wagenen, 44, changes roles in labor relations. He has represented top players around the majors, including the current stars of the Mets, Jacob deGrom, Yoenis Cespedes and Todd Frazier. Van Wagenen also represented Tim Tebow, the Mets minor player, winner of the 2007 Heisman Trophy and former NFL quarterback.
Van Wagenen co-founded the baseball division of CAA Sports in 2006 and was co-director of CAA Baseball. He has established himself as New York's first choice as general manager from a list of 10 to 12 initial candidates. He has to leave his clients and give up his career as an agent to fill this position.
As roles change over Van Wagenen, rival players and rivals have expressed concern over a potential conflict of interest – though this change is not unprecedented. Former big league pitcher Dave Stewart went from agent status to front-office executive with the Arizona Diamondbacks, and two NBA GMs did the same.
NFL Executive Mike Tannenbaum, Vice President of Miami Football Operations, worked as an agent between the Jets and Dolphins.
After the second consecutive season of Mets defeats, Jeff Wilpon said he would look outside the organization for the 13th edition of franchise history. He said he was open to "non-traditional candidates" and that he preferred to have someone by the time of the Director General's meetings from 5 to 8 November.
"Brodie has shown us that he is a progressive thinker, who is prepared for this role and who has a great keen sense of baseball," Fred Wilpon said. "Jeff presented a range of candidates and we all agreed that Brodie's high personality, his mix of ideas in analysis, screening and development, is a good example of why he will be successful in this role."
Senior Vice President of Tampa Bay Rays Baseball Operations, Chaim Bloom, was a finalist.
Doug Melvin also had a second talk with the owner last week. But the former managing director of Texas and Milwaukee was told, a few days ago, that he was no longer in the running.
Alderson was hired as general manager in 2010. He helped New York play two consecutive playoff matches in 2015 and 16, including a trip to the 2015 World Series.
Since leaving office, the trio of deputy general managers John Ricco and special assistants Omar Minaya and J.P. Ricciardi have all made their decisions regarding baseball, and all reported to the Wilpons.
Jeff Wilpon also stated that he wished the return of Ricco, Ricciardi and Minaya – but that did not guarantee that they would be retained.
Van Wagenen was an agent at IMG from 2001 to 2004, when he joined CAA. He played at Stanford University Baseball with Houston Astros Manager AJ Hinch, and both became good friends.
A native of California, Van Wagenen and his wife, Molly, have three children and live in Connecticut. Molly's father-in-law was the late astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon.
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