The closing of a sale of the New York Mets is an inevitability at this point, the only questions left being when it happens and the identity of the winning bidder.
Seven groups have been approved as suitors by Major League Baseball, and the most recent reports are that Steve Cohen, the long-time leader in the clubhouse who actually had a deal to buy the team this past winter fall through, has offered $2 billion for the team and another $2 billion for SNY, the team’s regional sports network also owned by the Wilpons.
Rumors, reports and speculation are flying about, but one person definitely isn’t saying anything about any possible negotiations: Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen.
“I’m not able to provide info, and truthfully, it’s not a process I’m involved in. For me and the baseball operations department, it’s business as usual right now,” Van Wagenen said on a Zoom media call Friday. “Jeff (Wilpon) and I are still in communication on every aspect of the day-to-day operations, Fred (Wilpon) and I are in regular communication about the team and the decision-making, and we’re collaborating in the same way we always have.”
Van Wagenen admitted that the pending sale isn’t even a topic of conversation in the baseball operations group, but eventually, it must be; whomever purchases controlling interest in the team will ostensibly be Van Wagenen’s boss, and much as changes at the operations executive level can trigger changes in the dugout, the same applies from the top down.
That doesn’t mean that whomever becomes the next Mets owner will immediately replace Van Wagenen, if that’s done at all, but either way, when asked about that, the GM was once again noncommittal on a stance at best, offering only a look at his current mindset.
“I work for the New York Mets, a franchise that I have a lot of pride in, and I think we have a great brand,” Van Wagenen said. “We live and work in the greatest market in the world, and we have a team that we feel can contend right now. A lot of things get me excited to go to work every day, and that excitement isn’t just for today, it’s for tomorrow and the long-term.”
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