Van Wagenen last offseason was among the voices suggesting team owners were engaging in collusionMETS
New Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen will have measures in his contract that will prevent him from directly negotiating with players he previously repped as a player agent for CAA Sports. During an intro press conference at Citi Field, Mets COO Jeff Wilpon said there were "certain provisions" in Van Wagenen's contract designed to prevent conflicts of interest. Wilpon declined to detail those provisions, but did broadly say that in such situations, Van Wagenen would set the general direction for a player's contract talks, but not actively negotiate. "Brodie is going to have to recuse himself from some of those discussions," Wilpon said. Van Wagenen, an SBJ/SBD "Forty Under 40" honoree in '12, said he consulted with several senior industry execs before taking the Mets job, including MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, Deputy Commissioner/Baseball Administration & Chief Legal Officer Dan Halem and MLBPA Exec Dir Tony Clark. The top Mets player who was previously a Van Wagenen client is P Jacob deGrom, the presumptive NL Cy Young Award winner. Earlier this year, Van Wagenen said the Mets should either commit to deGrom with a long-term contract extension or move to trade him. Yesterday in his new role, Van Wagenen said he hoped to keep deGrom "for a long time." Meanwhile, Van Wagenen noted he has divested himself of all CAA financial interests and will not be gaining any future commissions from contract work he previously did as an agent. While an agent, Van Wagenen last offseason suggested team owners were engaging in collusion, saying that a historically slow free agent market "feels coordinated, rightly or wrongly." He also said that a Spring Training boycott may have been warranted. Eight months later, Van Wagenen said he was "expressing frustration" and was quick to single out the Mets as one of last season's most active hot stove participants (Eric Fisher, THE DAILY).
UNFAMILIAR TRANSITION: Van Wagenen acknowledged he was "not the path of least resistance" for the Mets. Van Wagenen: "I'm confident that Mets fans will understand and believe this will be a great partnership going forward." Van Wagenen said he accepted the job because "at this moment in the game, I felt like I could be a bridge to change how the management and how the players are looking at each other" ("MLB Now," MLB Net, 10/30). In N.Y., James Wagner notes since word spread that the Mets were hiring Van Wagenen, questions have "arisen about thorny issues involved in his switching sides of the negotiating table." Some uncertainty has also "stemmed from the fact that Van Wagenen, with 17 years experience as an agent, has never worked in a team's front office, let alone led one." Wilpon said, "He's going to bring a different look at things." Wilpon said that even though the 44-year-old Van Wagenen was an "'out of the box' option, he was the team's top choice from an initial list of about 40 candidates." The Mets gave Van Wagenen a "four-year deal" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/31).
MEET THE METS: In N.Y., Mike Puma notes Van Wagenen has a "longstanding relationship with Wilpon and was initially consulted for advice in the GM search." But as the process heated up in early October, Wilpon said he "asked Van Wagenen to consider taking the position." Van Wagenen "initially was hesitant, wanting to protect his standing with his clients, but ultimately sat for a breakfast meeting with Wilpon at which time the subject was revisited." A Stanford grad, Van Wagenen will be "charged with strengthening a Mets farm system that has lagged in recent years," in addition to a major league roster that carried a $155M price tag last season (N.Y. POST, 10/31). The AP's Mike Fitzpatrick noted seven players on the team's current 40-man roster are "clients at CAA Baseball." That number "doesn't even include another now-former Van Wagenen client" -- minor leaguer Tim Tebow (AP, 10/30).
PEOPLE PERSON: Van Wagenen said his clients were "fully supportive" of his move to become Mets GM. He said, “What we’ve done in my role now is we’ve told them what the opportunity was, why I was doing it and, hopefully, I would be able to bring a perspective from their side to the management and hopefully bridge those gaps” (“MLB Now,” MLB Net, 10/30). But MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo said if he was a Van Wagenen client, he is "not thrilled" with his hiring and also maybe a "little uneasy about it, but at the end of the day, there’s not a whole lot you can do.” DiComo: “You have to take him at his word that it’s going to be okay in terms of his dealing with the Mets” (“MLB Tonight,” MLB Net, 10/31).
TALKING A GOOD GAME: On Long Island, David Lennon writes in the "controlled setting" of the intro presser, Van Wagenen "came off as a smartly packaged star, and he played the role to perfection." Maybe the Mets "even sold a few season-ticket packages after his unveiling." But as far as "gleaning any substance from the proceedings, or figuring out" Van Wagenen's strategy for "reaching these magical places, that wasn't happening" (NEWSDAY, 10/31). In N.Y., Kristie Ackert writes Van Wagenen gave "more buzz words than answers." Van Wagenen also said that he has been "given autonomy from a notoriously involved ownership, but he wants a 'collaborative' relationship with the Wilpons" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/31). MLB Net's Chris Rose said his “biggest question” about Van Wagenen’s hiring is whether the Wilpon family will “allow this to come to fruition in the way Brodie Van Wagenen wants to run the organization.” If they are “going to have their paws all over him and keep steering him this direction and that direction, then it ain’t going to work” (“Intentional Talk,” MLB Net, 10/30). Meanwhile, N.Y. Daily News’ John Harper said Van Wagenen is “going to want to spend money” to upgrade the team. It is going to be "really interesting to see how much the Mets end up paying deGrom." SNY contributor Adam Fisher said fans “don’t want ownership uninterested, uninvolved, because then they’re not going to spend at all.” Fisher: “However, you don’t want them calling the shots either” (“Daily News Live,” SNY, 10/30).
GIVE HIM A CHANCE: In New Jersey, Matt Ehalt writes the Van Wagenen hire is an "important moment in Mets' history, and there's reason to be optimistic that it could prove to be a rousing success, and reason to worry it could backfire" (Bergen RECORD, 10/31). SNY's Matthew Cerrone wrote while it "may be fair to worry that Van Wagenen has never run or worked for an MLB team, it is not fair or accurate to say he doesn't have the skills needed to be successful in the job considering both businesses live and die on the quality of the talent being managed." The other thing to consider is that being Mets GM is a "unique and difficult situation unlike any other in sports." Though baseball intelligence is "obviously important, equally important -- and at times most important -- is how the GM in Queens handles the media and manages the expectations of fans" (SNY.tv, 10/29). In N.Y., Joel Sherman writes Van Wagenen "may not come to this job in a traditional way, but in a forum where information is the most vital resource in decision-making, he has tons" (N.Y. POST, 10/31).
WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? USA TODAY's Bob Nightengale writes under the header, "Mets Make Strangest GM Hire In Baseball History With Brodie Van Wagenen." No matter the "elegance and grace of the presentation, the unveiling of Van Wagenen ... is one of the strangest and most perplexing hires." Van Wagenen is "extremely bright, talented, has a deep baseball background, and is one of the best in the entire industry negotiating players' contracts." But he has "no experience as a farm director, a scouting director, or even as a propeller head in a team's analytical department." He is also now "considered a traitor, at least by his former colleagues" in the agent business (USA TODAY, 10/31). In N.Y., Wallace Matthews writes only the Mets would hire a GM who is "ethically unable to participate in the two most important player negotiations of their foreseeable future." Only the Mets would "humiliate three 'Assistant GMs,' each of whom is eminently more qualified than the man who is now their boss, by forcing them to sit front and center at his introductory news conference and applaud for the cameras like trained seals" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/31).
