Fred Wilpon has come under some scrutiny this season from fans for the team's poor performancegetty images
Mets Chair & CEO Fred Wilpon is "unlikely to hand the organization’s reins to a young, purely analytics-driven GM with whom he would perhaps have difficulty connecting," and the growing belief is Wilpon will "look toward a more traditional baseball person" for the role, according to sources cited by Mike Puma of the N.Y. POST. Wilpon is also expected to "take a relatively conservative approach with the GM hire after the organization went with an 'outside the box' candidate at manager with Mickey Callaway last offseason." Some team officials believe the club "became too analytics driven in recent seasons under Sandy Alderson’s watch, and a veteran leader with a pure baseball background would help shift the organization toward the center." Alderson "took a medical leave in June" with a return unlikely, and the Mets have since been "guided by a three-headed panel" that consists of Assistant GM John Ricco and Special Assistants Omar Minaya and J.P. Ricciardi. Ricco "has not been eliminated as a possibility for the job." However, sources said that the Mets are "more likely to hire an external candidate" (N.Y. POST, 8/10).
MIRROR, MIRROR: NBCSPORTS.com's Craig Calcaterra writes MLB team may have "gone too far in considering only those now familiar 30-something sabermetric, Ivy League whiz kids for top baseball operations jobs." However, when it comes to the Mets, it "seems pretty dang clear that there are a LOT of things other than analytically-based decisions" that have led to on-field disappointments the last three seasons. Both Fred and COO Jeff Wilpon treat the club "as a 1990s-era small market team in which most moves they authorize are aimed at salary relief and bargain basement savings." Most moves the Mets make are "seemingly made to answer the question, 'how will this improve the Mets immediate cash flow' as opposed to 'how will this help the Mets win baseball games?'” (NBCSPORTS.com, 8/10).
