Will Brodie Van Wagenen keep his job as Mets GM?

I start today’s article with a question for Mets fans. Do you think Brodie Van Wagenen deserves to keep his job once Steve Cohen takes over as owner? As a fellow Mets fan I can tell you my answer to that question. No, he should not keep his job.

So where do we begin? Let’s start with the day he got hired as GM. During his introductory Press Conference Brodie was saying how he intended to hold accountability and build and sustain a winning culture. (What winning culture Brodie?) He also pledged to bring in elite players and spend the resources necessary to compete with other teams. So many Mets fans including myself felt optimistic.

Brodie’s first Transaction as a GM was a shocker. (I apologize for bringing this up Mets fans.) Brodie acquired Robinson Cano and Edwin “Sugar” Diaz from Seattle in exchange for Jay Bruce (now with Philadelphia) Anthony Swarzak (now with Atlanta), Gerson Bautista Justin Dunn and Jerred Kelenic. Initially I was shocked. But there was reason to be hopeful because Diaz had been dominant the year before 54 saves. Also we were hoping Cano could be a nice bat in the lineup. I thought we FINALLY had a closer. But alas we were wrong about both.

Cano struggled from the start with the Mets. He was older. He went into prolonged slumps for most of the season. He did get hot for brief stretches where you saw flashes of the old Robinson Cano. But he never sustained it.

As for Diaz (Oy Vey) to say he struggled would be an understatement. Now in the first month of the season he was as advertised. He was dominant. Then I’m not sure what happened, everything went downhill for him. He started blowing saves. Even when he made saves they became an adventure. It got so bad he was temporarily removed from being the closer.

This trade is a reason why the Mets didn’t go to the playoffs. This trade is Brodie’s legacy in my opinion.

Not all of his moves were bad. He did acquire JD Davis from Houston who exceeded expectations and was a clutch player for us. That trade was a steal. He also signed Wilson Ramos who played well for us, and signed our ace and now 2 time Cy Young award winner Jacob deGrom to a contract extension.  He acquired Marcus Stroman from Toronto, signed Brad Brach and Joe Panik and last but not least he promoted Pete Alonso to the Majors from Spring Training. He also fired Clueless Mickey Callaway after the season.

Brodie infamously said “Come get us” before the season (What were you thinking Brodie?) He also re signed Jeurys Familia. (What a mistake) He struggled all year. He signed Jed Lowrie (who?), who was injured most of the season.  He came back for a brief cameo at the end of the season and didn’t get a hit.

This offseason he has acquired Jake Marisnick  from Houston, resigned Brad Brach and signed Michael Wacha and former Cy Young award winner Rick Porcello to 1 year deals. But he also allowed Zack Wheeler to leave as a Free Agent (and sign with the Phillies) without offering him a contract.  He hasn’t addressed the bullpen yet. (Dellin Betances where are you?) At the same time he did hire one of my favorite players Carlos Beltran to manage the Mets. We’ll see how that goes.

So I guess you can say it’s a mixed bag for Brodie so far to say the least. But I think he was a bad fit from the beginning.  (He was an agent before becoming GM.) I think he should go after this year and Cohen should hire his own GM once he takes over as owner.

Time will tell what happens next Mets fans. All we can do is hope. As the late Tug McGraw used to say “Ya Gotta Believe”!!!!!!!

So here’s to a great 2020 season and LET’S GO METS!!!!!!!