The New York Mets have promoted assistant general manager Zack Scott to the role of interim GM, the team announced Wednesday.
This comes just nine days after the team fired former GM Jared Porter after it was discovered that he sent lewd and explicit text messages to a female reporter while he was working for the Chicago Cubs in 2016. He lasted just 37 days with the Mets.
Scott was hired as Porter’s assistant on Dec. 23 having spent the previous 17 seasons in the Boston Red Sox’s front office. Most recently, he was their assistant GM while overseeing their analytics, baseball systems, and advance and professional scouting departments.
“Zack has plenty of championship experience to draw upon,” Mets team president Sandy Alderson said in a statement. “He has been an integral part of our decision-making processes since his arrival. The entire baseball operations staff, including myself, will continue to work collaboratively.”
The 43-year-old was apart of all four of their recent championships dating back to 2004. His notable work in the analytics department in Boston will further develop the new-look Mets front office that has put an emphasis on looking beyond the traditional box score since the arrival of Steve Cohen as club owner in November.
Following Porter’s firing on Jan. 18, Scott was running the front office as the “de facto” general manager, as noted by SNY’s Andy Martino.
“I’m very confident in the group that we have that we can move forward effectively,” Alderson said during his press conference to address Porter’s dismissal. “We’re very capable of moving ahead at this point.”
Scott will now be tasked with putting the finishing touches on an active Mets offseason that still has a few major questions to answer.
They have been linked to free-agent starting Trevor Bauer with the rumor mill reaching a fever pitch on Tuesday — a report from USA Today claiming the Mets submitted a record-breaking offer quickly getting refuted by multiple reports.
New York is also believed to be looking for a natural center fielder and has expressed interest in Jackie Bradley Jr, who spent all eight of his MLB seasons with Scott in Boston. Further upgrades in the bullpen are also expected to be pursued, at least.
