Reese Kaplan -- Baseball Not Adhering to Business Legal Rules

Every now and then you read something about the game of baseball as a business and realize how very far indeed the folks in charge live in an alternate reality when it comes to the way in which differ from the rest of us who must exist in normal professional life.

You don't need to dig very deeply into the news headlines to find out that baseball is more about the high value of being a celebrity which in turn raises money for the team owner than it does in respecting other human beings nor adhering to standard labor practices when it comes to hostile work environments, sexual proclivities, domestic abuse and drug usage.

Think for a moment about how many times a pitcher like Steve Howe was given another chance after a drug suspension. (The answer is 7!)

Now ponder the Mets players who were involved in situations which would have resulted in the termination of employees in any other non-entertainment business. Cleon Jones, Darryl Strawberry, Doc Gooden, David Cone and others who were caught doing things that were not abiding by the letter of the law when it involved actions with members of the opposite sex.

On domestic violence, the latest headline regarding rookie Khalil Lee is not something new or never before seen in the media when it comes to professional ballplayers. The list of known players with problems in this regard involve violent tempers like Carl Everett or escalations of disagreements which escalated into criminal level actions such as the in-the-ballpark incident perpetrated by Frankie Rodgriguez.

In none of these situations did it spell time in jail, immediate termination of a job nor the end of a baseball career. Occasionally a club will make a hasty trade for lopsided value to rid themselves of a problematic player, but the likelihood of that happening often bears a direct correlation to the club's value the player's on-the-field behavior has to the team's ability to win games.

For the Mets, they have broken new ground in highly questionable employment practices this week when a lawsuit brought by former employee Phil Regan was levied at both the team itself and previous general manager Brodie Van Wagenen on the basis of age discrimination. Now nothing is proven until the suit plays out either in court or settled without that step being necessary, but it's another example of how baseball is not beholden to the rules and regulations of a regular business.

For a refresher, back in the 2019 baseball season the Mets were having some real issues with the performance of their pitching staff that was suffering due to both execution and recovering from health problems. At that time Dave Eiland was in charge of leading the pitching staff, but the club was having a nearly 5.00 ERA and had already suffered from bullpen woes reflected by the 16 blown saves they gave up to opponents.

Having seen quite enough by late June, Brodie Van Wagenen opted to terminate the club's association with Eiland and they needed to find someone to take over on an interim basis for the remainder of the season. Van Wagenen took the easy road by tapping internal minor league pitching guru Phil Regan to assume the big club's pitching coach role.

Now at the time some were a bit surprised given Regan's senior status as a coach having played his major league ball starting in 1960. When he was given this responsibility in 2019 he was already 82 years old which seemed beyond the realm of conventional hiring. Folks wondered if he was able to withstand the pressures of the job at that age.

Somewhat surprisingly, the Mets dropped their ERA by .70 for the remainder of the year. For a guy taking over without any real time to establish relationships with the New York Mets starters and relievers, it was a commendable job and seemed at the time to suggest that Van Wagenen had gotten it right with this midyear selection.

Unfortunately, the story did not continue as one might have expected. Granted, an 82 year old coach turning 83 is probably not how you build a long term coaching staff. Van Wagenen went out and recruited former Met pitcher who was 50 years younger in Jeremy Hefner to head up pitching supervision and Regan was relieved of his duties at Citifield.

Again, if the story ended there, it would be unfortunate but maybe understandable given Hefner's potential for success and his ability to develop both himself and his pitchers for several years into the future. What happened next was not consistent with employee regulations in any other kind of business.

According to Regan, he was given another position in the minor leagues but had his salary cut, his housing allowance cut and he had his career evolution cut off. Again, none of these issues are pleasant to hear but the proof of any wrongdoing is difficult to get acknowledged.

However, in the forms provided by Regan he said he was told by Van Wagenen that his age was the reason he was being removed as the pitching coach, not his performance, and that the actions taken afterwards seemed punitive in a way to coerce Regan into retiring from the staff.

No one knows whether or not that allegation is true, but it certainly is an embarrassing situation that likely will get resolved out of court to avoid any further ramifications. After all, at some point baseball will be held accountable for how it conducts business.