Mike's Mets - The Mets Are Still Searching for Stability

 

Is this man's hiring imminent?

By Mike Steffanos

The Mets' decision to let go of key personnel might be a sign that a President of Baseball Operations hiring is imminent, but it also signals that there is still a long way to go for organizational stability.

While the Mets were idle on Thursday, news came out that the club had fired several folks in their organization, including some who held high-ranking director roles. Among them were Kevin Howard, the Director of Player Development; Director of Pro Player Evaluation Jeff Lebow; Director of Performance Jim Cavallini; and Director of Baseball Development Bryan Hayes. I guess it's no surprise that heads were going to roll as the Mets wrap up possibly the most disappointing season in team history. That's quite an achievement, given how many hugely disappointing seasons Mets fans have lived through.

The implications of these pink slips are quite obvious. Rumors continue to circulate concerning former Brewers head David Stearns taking over baseball operations for the Metropolitans. One interesting nugget that I came across was this from Peter Gammons on Friday (Hat tip to Mark Healey  for the retweet)

As several organizational changes hit the Mets yesterday, the feeling with those remaining is the new President of Baseball Operations will be named within two weeks.

— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) September 1, 2023

I know Gammons still has excellent sources around the game. Still, I find it hard to believe that famously prickly Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, who reportedly has no love lost for Steve Cohen, would let Stearns out of his contract early. While Stearns stepped down from his PBO role with Milwaukee last October, he remains in an advisory role with the team throughout his contract. That reportedly is through the end of this season. The Brewers are currently in first place in the NL Central and will likely make the playoffs. And sure, some owners might just let a guy who's leaving anyway depart a bit early, but Attanasio doesn't seem to be that kind of guy.

Of course, you can't overlook the possibility that there will be a PBO named within two weeks who is not David Stearns. The Mets in the Cohen era leak less copiously than they did under previous ownership. Still, it seems unlikely that the Mets would be having significant negotiations with anyone to run baseball ops, and nothing leaked about it. Whether it's Stearns or someone else, I'll believe someone is hired once there is an official press conference announcement.

Firing directors of important departments allows an incoming PBO to place his own stamp on the organization. This season was quite a failure, but I couldn't tell you how much blame any of the reported firings deserved. But I doubt that this was about individual performance as much as just letting a new guy have the people he wants working for him.

The biggest name was Kevin Howard, who was hired as the Mets' Director of Player Development in January 2021. Assuming that the hiring was by Jared Porter, Howard served under three separate GMs in his relatively short tenure. He also infamously bounced into an assistant hitting coach role in May 2021 when the Mets fired Chili Davis and Tom Slater, then back into the Player Development position after the season. A year isn't enough to judge Howard's work. He's just serving in a role where an incoming head of baseball ops will likely want his own person.

According to reporting, Lebow and Hayes had both been with the Mets for 13 years. Cavallini had 5 years with the organization. I never enjoy seeing anyone lose a job, much less folks who have held those positions for over a decade. One thing I noticed about all of the departures whose names were reported: they all predate Billy Eppler's arrival in November 2021. There is speculation that Eppler might already be taking some direction from Stearns on what positions he would personally wish to fill.

There is constant turnover in MLB organizations. People are let go for performance issues or move on to other jobs inside and outside baseball. But we've seen an awful lot of churn in the Mets organization since Cohen took over in November 2020. Given Cohen's ambitions for the club, the amount of folks going in and out of the org is understandable. And it certainly isn't shocking that an incoming PBO would want his people there. But I also believe that it's become crucial that Steve Cohen makes sure he has the right person running the show, whether it's David Stearns or someone else.

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