The New York Mets have a hard time finding a president of baseball operations or a general manager. As I wrote last night, while there are still candidates left, all the big names the Mets were targeting said no. And to the names I mentioned yesterday, we have to add Brandon Gomes (assistant GM for the Dodgers) among the people who have asked not to be considered for the job.
Many said no, but in some cases it was a potential candidate’s team that said no first. This is particularly what happened with the Blue Jays since the formation of the Ville-Reine refused, as reported by the New York Post, at the Mets the right to speak to the club’s president of baseball operations, Mark Shapiro.
Marcus Stroman must be happy, he who did not get along well with the management of the Jays, but who obviously wants to stay with the Mets.
It would have been amazing to see Shapiro leave for New York. Why? Because, according to what everyone is saying, he seems to like his position as president of baseball operations in Toronto. He has rebounded the franchise after the last rough years and he seems keen to bring the project to fruition after two interesting (2020-2021) seasons.
He also just signed a five-year contract extension in Toronto earlier this year, showing the bosses have confidence in him.
Moreover, as Ben Nicholson-Smith explains, Shapiro is not only president, but also a CEO. This means that he has a leadership role not only at the baseball level, but also at the business level.
What can this include? In particular to manage the file of a potential new stadium in Toronto, a file for which there have been rumors in the last year.
And since the Mets arguably wouldn’t offer Shapiro such a big job / role, taking over as president of baseball operations would be a step backwards for the 54-year-old executive.
So it’s unclear whether it was Shapiro, who worked for 25 years in Cleveland before moving to Canada, who asked the Jays to say no to the Mets or whether the club owners turned down the squad’s request. New York without asking the president for his opinion. But the result is that Shapiro stays in an environment he seems to love instead of going to work for a Steve Cohen who does things… differently.
The Mets will therefore have to continue to search to find their man. Will they ask Ross Atkins, GM of the Blue Jays?
