Sandy Alderson's early off-season agenda, and a frontrunner emerges for general manager
Sandy Alderson's early off-season agenda, and a frontrunner emerges for general manager
What’s Up with the Mets? 💭
Sandy Alderson said at the GM Meetings on Tuesday he only expects to hire a general manager at this point
New York could make progress towards a resolution this week with former Nationals executive Adam Cromie emerging as a frontrunner for the job (New York Post)
The Mets are unlikely to hire a manager before they secure a general manager, per Alderson
Alderson expects the Mets to be engaged with most every significant free agent, but suggested there is less of an appetite for trading players currently in the organization
The Mets reinstated Joey Lucchesi, Jacob deGrom, Thomas Szapucki, and David Peterson from the 60-day injured list. There are 32 players currently on the club’s 40-man roster
If he’s qualified, why not Adam Cromie? 📝
On Tuesday, there were multiple reports the Mets were interested in Adam Cromie to join the organization as their next general manager, just hours after Sandy Alderson said at the GM Meetings the club was probably hiring a general manager only this winter, and not a president of baseball operations.
Cromie has now emerged as a frontrunner to become the next general manager of the Mets, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
Cromie joined the Nationals in 2007 and worked his way up the chain in baseball operations to become assistant general manager in 2014. Prior to joining Washington, he served as an analytics intern for Baseball Information Solutions.
In his final thesis at Alleghany College, Cromie wrote his paper on baseball and clubs use their minor league systems to their advantage (CBS Sports). After he graduated, he went on to Amherst College and earned a masters degree in sports management. After several failed attempts to land a job with a major league club, he was all set to attend law school before the Nationals called and offered him a non-paying job at their minor league complex. He went from that role to the director of baseball operations and analytics in 2010 before his 2014 promotion to assistant general manager under Mike Rizzo.
He left the Nationals after the 2017 to pursue a career in law for Jones Day in Pittsburgh.
Jones Day is also the law firm retained by former New Jersey governor Chris Christie in the, “Bridgegate” scandal. Last year, Jones Day was able to get the convictions for Christie’s deputy chief of staff overturned. Christie is also currently on the board of governors for the Mets, and is actively involved in the club’s front office search, according to the New York Post.
First off, Cromie wasn’t an employee of Jones Day during the Bridgegate scandal in 2013 - rather, he was an employee of the Washington Nationals. Second, Jones Day is a large firm, employing over 2500 lawyers in multiple offices around the country. Cromie also specializes in mergers and acquisitions, according to his profile on the Jones Day website.
It’s not for me to draw a conclusion on Cromie, Christie or anyone or anything involved in this matter based on the information available. That’s for the Mets and the firms they’ve retained to perform background investigations on their candidates to determine. Anything else is simply unfair and an uneducated opinion on the person and the process.
In the end, if the Mets do their homework on Cromie, his background is clean and he’s an otherwise centered individual who is morally and ethically grounded, it’s hard to argue there’s a higher quality candidate available based on his credentials. He fits the profile of the modern baseball executive the Mets or any other professional sports organization might want working for them, and has a track record with Washington to support those credentials. So, unless any evidence surfaces he has acted improperly, whether with the Nationals, Jones Day, Christie or in any other professional setting, Cromie deserves the opportunity as much as any other viable candidate in the marketplace.
Cromie may not be the sexy name people envisioned the Mets would be associated with this winter. But that doesn’t make him less qualified for the job. The only fair question to ask is, is four seasons away from the game a reason for pause with Cromie?
That could be a question that answers itself over time, but a risk worth taking for the Mets.
Hot Stove 🔥
Scott Boras said geography isn’t a factor for where Max Scherzer will sign this winter (SNY)
The A’s are willing to listen on trades for all of their veteran players as they look to reduce their payroll for 2022 (MLB Network)
The Angels have shown early interest in both Eduardo Rodriguez and Robbie Ray (MLB Network)
Prospect Watch ⚾
Ronny Mauricio (SS, No. 3 prospect): 351/.351/.568, 2 doubles, 2 HR, 5 RBI in 11 games
Carlos Cortes (2B/OF, No. 10 prospect): 1-for-4, 2 K
Garrison Bryant (RHP, unranked): 3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 HR
One More Thing ❗️
There’s still a lot of work to do with the new home of Just Mets, but here’s a preview of some of the progress we’ve made in recent weeks…
