There is a chance that the 2021 season might feel a bit like years past for the New York Mets in that Sandy Alderson could be essentially running the team as the unofficial general manager, a source told amNewYork Metro on Wednesday morning.
The veteran front-office man, who was hired as the Mets’ team president under soon-to-be majority owner Steve Cohen, would undertake multiple roles depending on the external general-managing market.
If Cohen and Alderson can’t find “their guy” to come in as their general manager in 2021, an option would be retaining current GM Brodie Van Wagenen for the year while Alderson makes the calls. The same source noted that Van Wagenen could be “a seat-warmer” until a long-term option is found for the GM position.
The general consensus initially surrounding the club tabbed Van Wagenen to get the ax once Cohen arrived — which could be as soon as late-October, early November — including a report from amNewYork Metro back in September. Granted, that option is still very much on the table, and Van Wagenen could be dismissed anyway for Alderson to assume both positions much like Lou Lamoriello of the New York Islanders has done for the past two seasons.
Nothing more than speculation has linked potential front-office executives to the Mets’ general manager job.
Alderson served as the Mets’ GM from 2011-2018 where he managed to piece together a pennant-winning team in 2015 despite the strict financial restrictions he was constantly put under by the Wilpon family.
Behind the frugal philosophy of exiting ownership, the Mets under Alderson posted just two winning seasons in eight years. But the well-respected 72-year-old will be able to build the Mets with an almost-completely-open checkbook that comes with the $14.6 billionaire in Cohen.
That affords Alderson the opportunity to truly build a team without shackles for the first time in his long career.
