Benjamin Grimm

As I said earlier, my guess is that they liked BVW's plan better than Bloom's plan. And that doesn't necessarily mean that BVW's plan was better, just that he was better at selling it.

Jeff Wilpon wrote: "I'm very excited for our fans to hear and see the direction Brodie outlined for us." I think this is probably the explanation for why it was Van Wagenen over Bloom. The Wilpon boys probably preferred VW's proposed plan. I hope that he's forthcoming during today's press conference. I'd love to know the plan!

The two of you is like peas and carrots.

Welcome General Manager Brodie Van Wagnen The New York Mets announced today that the club has named Brodie Van Wagenen the club's 13th General Manager in franchise history. He will be introduced at a press conference tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. at Citi Field, which you can watch via SNY, the Mets social media channels and mets.com. Van Wagenen, 44, co-founded the baseball division of CAA Sports in 2006 where he served as the co-head of CAA Baseball. In 2017, he was just one of three agents named on USA Today's Top 100 "Most Powerful People in MLB." "Brodie is an extremely knowledgeable, creative, progressive and collaborative leader, who I'm confident will lead us toward sustainable success," Mets COO Jeff Wilpon said. "I'm very excited for our fans to hear and see the direction Brodie outlined for us." "Brodie showed us he is a progressive thinker, who is prepared for this role and has great baseball acumen," Mets Chairman of the Board & CEO Fred Wilpon said. "Jeff brought forward an array of candidates and we all agreed that Brodie's high character, blend of analytics, scouting and development ideas illustrate why he will be successful in this role." Van Wagenen worked for IMG as an agent from 2001 until joining CAA. He began his professional career with Athlete Direct, a tech startup company that provided online business sites for athletes. Van Wagenen attended Stanford University on a baseball scholarship as an outfielder. He played for the Cardinal in 1993 and 1994 where he was teammates with current Astros manager A.J. Hinch. "I'm beyond excited and motivated to take on this new challenge," Van Wagenen said. "I want to thank Fred and Jeff for believing in my vision and abilities. I look forward to beginning the progress of getting the Mets to contend for a championship year after year."

The press conference will be tomorrow (Tuesday).

Yeah, it appears that the Mets went with the slickster over the nerd.

Ceetar wrote: Mex17 wrote: If deGrom and/or Syndergaard hire Boras before we all sit down for turkey, should we worry then? Is either shopping for a new agent? They have to get themselves a new agent. Not necessarily a new agency, but definitely a new agent.

I would think not. I'm sure he goes into arbitration hearings with plenty of analytical information.

I saw that Buster Olney predicted that this would be a disaster. I'm tend to be skeptical of both extreme optimism and extreme pessimism. I do look forward to Van Wagenen's press conference. I don't know that he'll say much of substance, but at this point, any clues regarding his approach will give us more than we have now, which is essentially nothing.

I think they typically do that in even-numbered years, don't they?

I imagine it's a hard G, but I have no idea. I wonder how Gary Cohen pronounces it? Probably "Wag-o-neese."

Bloom apparently in the running for the GM job in San Francisco. Maybe Van Wagenen was the choice because Bloom had other options, and maybe was more lukewarm to the Mets job than Brodie was?

That's really our only option!

FUN FACT: According to Matt Ehalt at NewJersey.com, Brodie Van Wagenen is the son-in-law of Neil Armstrong! Yes, THAT guy! OK, I'm confused here. Armstrong had but one daughter who died as a child. Did Armstrong's second wife have a daughter from a previous marriage who later married BVW? If so that makes Armstrong more of a step-Father in Law? Edgy MD wrote: Yes, Bodie is married to Molly, Neil's step-daughter.

Well, if that's the case, so much for that theory!

Maybe Bloom's plan was to tear it all down and suck for the next three years. If he felt strongly that that was the way to go, then I don't think I'd hire him either.

There will be a Super Sports Equinox for Los Angeles.

But is building a balanced roster all that tricky? It's not hard to identify that you need, for example, a catcher, or a right-handed bat, or a left-handed reliever. Knowing what you need is easy, finding the right player and determining if he's worth whatever it will cost (in players or money) is where the challenge lies.

Well, if it's Van Wagenen I'll just have to say, "I hope they know what they're doing." That's not an especially comforting notion.

I've seen the video of that ground ball so many times, but when I remember the moment I remember it as I saw it the first time, from high above first base in the Upper Deck at Shea. It's funny, because I saw it from that angle once and only once, but that's the one that sticks with me.

There's been speculation that the Mets hope to make their announcement on Monday, the World Series travel day. (Of course, the Series may be concluded by then.) If so, we'll have our answer soon enough. Bloom seems the obvious and logical choice. It's strange to hear that Brodie is the front-runner. I'm skeptical of that.

My fear is that, needing a new agent, both Syndergaard and deGrom end up with Scott Boras.

Andy Martino wrote: Van Wagenen in lead for Mets job, Bloom not eliminated. Story up soon Andy Martino wrote: Source: Mets don’t plan to hire both Bloom and Van Wagenen

Please explain your nickname methodology.