The New York Mets made an historic hire, by bringing on a new director of Major League operations. Her name is Elizabeth Benn and, according to the team official website, she will become the highest-ranked woman baseball ops employee in the history of the franchise.
Benn is more than qualified for the job. She has worked in the league since 2017 and has accumulated valuable experience with MLB in youth programs, labor relations, and baseball operations since the pandemic season, 2020.
Benn is a baseball player herself, having pitched in the New York City Metro Baseball League (she was the first woman to play in that circuit). She will add valuable experience to the Mets.
She graduated from the University of Toronto and the Columbia University. She will work with Mets’ general manager Billy Eppler as well as assistant GMs Bryn Alderson, Ian Levin and Ben Zauzmer.
The Mets are creating opportunities for women in the organization
Benn is part of a women’s movement across the league, as they are finally getting the opportunities they deserve.
Kim Ng became the first female general manager in baseball after taking over the Miami Marlins in late 2020. The Mets themselves wanted to add Yankees’ assistant GM Jean Afterman during the offseason, and they also requested permission to talk to Boston Red Sox’s assistant GM Raquel Ferreira.
“We might not see many women in front offices right now,” Benn had stated in a 2019 profile in The Athletic, “[but] I think that’s going to continue to grow.”
Per the Mets’ official website, “in addition to Benn, the Mets recently hired Gretchen Aucoin, the first on-field female coach in franchise history, to a Minor League role. She follows in the footsteps of the Giants’ Alyssa Nakken, the first full-time female coach in Major League history, and the Yankees’ Rachel Balkovec, who recently became the first woman to manage a Major League-affiliated team.”