Oakland Athletics executive vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane felt the need to douse the flames of panic deriving from some members of the baseball media to clarify his reasoning for passing up on the New York Mets’ president of baseball operations (POBO) vacancy.
Rather than the Mets being an unattractive landing spot for aspiring executives, Beane admitted that he did not want to uproot his family’s life in California and move to New York.
“The only reason I would consider leaving what I’m doing now is because of [Mets president] Sandy Alderson and [Mets owner] Steve Cohen,” Beane told SNY. “Creating chaos in my children’s lives for my own ambition feels like a selfish thing to do.”
Beane has credited Alderson as being a mentor to him, rising through the ranks of the Athletics from a scout in 1990 to general manager seven years later, taking over for Alderson, where his ability to build contenders out of a low-budget franchise has been well-documented.
The 59-year-old’s withdrawal from consideration has set the Mets back to the drawing board after they were also unable to reel in Theo Epstein or permission to speak with Milwaukee Brewers POBO David Stearns. But Beane hinted to SNY that the Mets could be looking for a younger candidate to assume the position.
“This is such an amazing opportunity for a young executive,” Beane said. “You get to work with one of the smartest executives of all time. I had that opportunity and I’ve been happy with the way my career has gone.”
Mike Puma of the New York Post reported five potential names that the Mets could pursue for the position: Los Angeles Dodgers senior vice president of baseball operations Josh Byrnes, Dodgers vice president and assistant general manager Brandon Gomes, San Francisco Giants general manager Scott Harris, Milwaukee Brewers senior vice president and assistant general manager Matt Arnold, and Tampa Bay Rays vice president of baseball development Peter Bendix.
Of those five, four are under the age of 50 in Gomes (37), Harris (33), Arnold (42), and Bendix (34).
