Reese Kaplan -- The Luis Rojas Departure Is the Third Hiring Priority

While a little late to the game in terms of analysis of the Luis Rojas departure, but I was truly surprised by both the suddenness and the contradiction to the statements made leading up to this first day after the regular season ended.  There were a great many, "We haven't made a decision" and "He could be back" and similar non-committal comments made from the front office.  

Consequently the swift action suggested that they were ready to let him go long before the season ended but gave him the courtesy of finishing out the losing string before getting his walking papers.  Furthermore, the thoughts about the front office being prepared to go swiftly after a POBO and GM who would want to bring in their own soldiers now makes a bit more sense with the now former manager gone after two disillusioning seasons at the helm.

What's ironic to me is that they were ready to cut him loose after finishing the two years with a losing record of 103 and 119.  Being 16 games under .500 is certainly nothing to brag about, but in the past winning surely seemed a secondary priority as Terry Collins was kept around for seven inexplicable years with a record of 32 games under .500.  

By contrast, sexual harasser Mickey Callaway in his two years finished above .500 by a meager two games, 163 and 161 and was told to hit the bricks.  Of course, they thought the return of Carlos Beltran was worth an awful lot of good publicity before the Houston Astros incident forced him out before he really began.  

Right now people are clamoring to identify who the Mets will select as a new manager, but the whole exercise is somewhat pointless until they decide who will run the front office.  We've all see the articles suggesting that if Billy Beane comes from Oakland then Bob Melvin will accompany him.  

We've read about the usual suspects of unemployed managers who could get the lineup pencil like Buck Showalter and Bruce Bochy, both of whom have high name recognition but who are towards the end of their careers.  Some have even suggested a sequel hiring of Carlos Beltran as he's served his time away due to the cheating scandal, but I'm thinking that this time in they will seek someone with more major league experience as a manager, rather than suffering through another first timer's trial.  

Similarly, while folks are roaring about who should stay and who should go, they need to step back and recognize that those decisions should be made by the employed GM, not the acting GM who was once again given those duties out of necessity after Zack Scott's unwise overindulgence with alcohol at Steve Cohen's party, which led to the even stupider decision to get behind the wheel of his car.  

It was clear from the beginning that his career with the Mets was toast as they barely even acknowledged his existence once the incident was made public.  

The buzz out of the Mets organization is that they want solid, seasoned executives who have a tangible track record of success.  Apparently the green Jared Porter and greener Zack Scott taught them that first timers are probably not suited to the complexities of a New York franchise.  Last year they couldn't find the POBO to sit between Sandy Alderson and the GM.  

This year they are at least making lip service about it happening.  The Theo Epstein meeting took place this week with permission still being awaited for Billy Beane and David Stearns.  Some say Epstein is already out as is Beane.  It's possible they will dredge up some additional candidates, particularly if they are rebuffed by the A's and the Brewers over their current front office folks.  

Obviously there is a sequence wanted -- a POBO, then that person helps identify and select a GM, then that person is charged with finding a replacement for Luis Rojas.  The best laid plans don't always unfurl as expected, however, and the Mets would be wise to have Plans B, C and D up their sleeves in the event they cannot pull off the hiring sequence desired.  

The key element here appears to be speed.  Towards that end, the unencumbered Theo Epstein, with a track record of success in both Boston and Chicago, would be a smart hire, as he could come on board almost immediately to start the ball rolling towards the other two hires.  However, he's going to command the most money and recognizes that not having a team contract makes him the shiny new free agent seeking a mega contract. Cohen may or may not want to pony up the dollars it would take to secure him early.  

Furthermore, if you believe the rumors then Epstein has already decided the Mets are not a good fit for him.  That could merely be a negotiating ploy to try to wrangle some extra paycheck dollars from Cohen, but it may be that he has the Yankees' opening on his mind.

Neither Beane nor Stearns are going to be contractual bargains either, but both should come at a considerably lower price than would Epstein.  There's no need to go after the biggest toy in the box if the smaller but capable toys are also capable of doing a highly professional job.  There are plenty of other candidates as well, and for once I want to see speed take precedence over settling for leftover scraps.

Then again, Cohen may feel that the first year laughable results both on the field and in the front office demand that he hitch onto whomever is regarded as the best of the best in order to restore a semblance of dignity to the team.

As it sits right now, I'm not going to ponder GMs nor managers at any length until we know who's going to be in charge of baseball operations.  Then we can glean some messages from that person's press conferences about the types of individuals being sought.  Until then it's pure speculation and guessing.