The move by Mets VP/Player Development & Scouting Paul DePodesta to leave the club and join the Browns' front office is the second of two "informational bombshells this offseason," joining GM Sandy Alderson's cancer diagnosis, according to Ken Davidoff of the N.Y. POST. The two occurrences have "weakened one of the Mets’ under-the-radar strengths," their "intellectual bench strength." The Mets "never will learn for certain if DePodesta would have succeeded Alderson," but it "wasn’t a slam dunk." DePodesta "lasted just two years as the Dodgers’ general manager before getting fired," and he "seemed more comfortable working under the radar, evaluating talent and not needing to perform as the club spokesman for every maneuver." When Alderson "missed both the GM meetings in November," the Mets appointed VP & Assistant GM John Ricco "as their primary mouthpiece." That would seem to indicate that DePodesta’s departure "doesn’t mean as much to the Mets’ long game as it does to their immediate future" (N.Y. POST, 1/6). In N.Y., Ken Belson notes during DePodesta's tenure with the Mets, he "revamped the team’s scouting and player development departments" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/6).
