Hours after Steve Cohen finalized his deal to purchase the Mets, the team parted ways with general manager Brodie Van Wagenen amid a flurry of significant front office moves on Friday afternoon.
The Mets announced that Van Wagenen is leaving the organization, along with top executives Omar Minaya, Allard Baird, Adam Guttridge and Jared Banner.
Cohen had previously announced that Sandy Alderson would take over as team president, filling the role of longtime owner Jeff Wilpon. Alderson “has begun the process of building a new Baseball leadership group,” according to a team statement. That will include the hiring of a new GM.
“I want to thank Brodie, Allard, Adam and Jared for their contributions over the last two years,” Alderson said. “I especially want to thank Omar for his long and distinguished service to the Mets in many important capacities.”
Van Wagenen, 46, joined the Mets prior to the 2019 season after serving many years as a player agent, most recently at CAA. He immediately began reconstructing the roster with a series of aggressive moves, including a seven-player trade that sent top prospects Jarred Kelenic and Justin Dunn to the Mariners for Robinson Canó and Edwin Díaz.
Over the ensuing year, Van Wagenen traded multiple prospects in win-now moves for J.D. Davis, Marcus Stroman, Jake Marisnick, Billy Hamilton and others. His most significant free-agent signings — Wilson Ramos, Jeurys Familia, Jed Lowrie, Rick Porcello, Michael Wacha and Dellin Betances — largely did not work out for the organization, as the Mets missed the playoffs two straight seasons under Van Wagenen’s direction. But Van Wagenen did leave behind several top prospects, including Matthew Allan and Pete Crow-Armstrong, who were the products of an aggressive Draft strategy.
“I am grateful to Jeff for both the incredible opportunity and the unwavering support that he gave to me while in my role of GM,” Van Wagenen said in a statement. “We took a team that had suffered losing seasons in 2017 and 2018 to contention in 2019 and onto a chance for real success in 2020 prior to the pandemic. The energy and excitement of the fans in 2019 will stay in our minds forever.”
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].