The New York Mets have missed out on another potential president of baseball operations candidate (POBO) in Milwaukee Brewers general manager, Matt Arnold.
The method in which they whiffed, however, still remains up in the air.
Conflicting reports arose on Wednesday, first by Adam McCalvy of MLB.com, that Arnold withdrew his name from consideration, suggesting that he’d rather stay in Milwaukee rather than earn a promotion with the Mets.
Moments later, SNY’s Andy Martino reported that the Brewers denied the Mets the opportunity to interview Arnold. That would maintain the Brewers’ stance on blocking Steve Cohen from finally taking that step in finding a POBO that has eluded them for nearly a year.
Earlier in the offseason, the Brewers also blocked the Mets from interviewing president of baseball operations David Stearns — who grew up a Mets fan in Manhattan — from interviewing for the vacant position.
This came after the Mets were unable to secure former Red Sox and Cubs general manager Theo Epstein or Athletics executive vice president of baseball operations, Billy Beane.
If the Brewers have, in fact, blocked Cohen and team president Sandy Alderson from speaking with Arnold, it further casts the Milwaukee organization in a negative light. It’s generally frowned upon in professional sports to block an employee from a potential promotion elsewhere in the league.
Mike Puma of the New York Post reported earlier this week that the Mets could be considering internal options for the POBO vacancy, including assistant GM Ian Levin or vice president of amateur/international scouting Tommy Tanous.
