With Steve Cohen officialized as the New York Mets‘ owner last week, the team can now, finally, direct all of its resources to find both a president of baseball operations and a general manager to work under new team president Sandy Alderson, who is actually a familiar face in the organization having worked as the GM between 2010 and 2018.
And, naturally, several names have been thrown around. The New York Mets are a pretty desirable destination for any hungry executive with aspirations of handling baseball decisions in MLB. They have a wealthy owner and a strong core of young players, especially on offense.
Bobby Heck, who is currently the Tampa Bay Rays special assistant, is a capable baseball mind. However, the New York Post’s Mike Puma recently reported that despite those rumors about Heck being “in play for the top position, an industry source on Saturday indicated he likely won’t be the Mets’ choice.â€
MLB Trade Rumors speculates that given the words used by Puma, Heck could be considered as a GM candidate but not as the president of baseball operations, which is the “top position.” Specifics aren’t know, however.
The Mets’ main candidates
Rays GM Erik Neander could also be a good candidate for any role, but Puma hears that the Rays’ majority owner Stuart Sternberg “isn’t particularly fond†of Cohen, which could result in Tampa denying the Mets permission to interview Neander.
Puma wrote down two names to keep in mind, a pair of experienced and successful candidates: Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff, with a track record of success with the Cleveland Indians.
Per the Post, other names that could “gain traction include Athletics assistant GM Billy Owens, Diamondbacks assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye, Royals assistant GM Scott Sharp and J.P. Ricciardi, who has twice worked Alderson. Another potential candidate is John Ricco, who served as the interim GM following Alderson’s departure in 2018.”