Zack Wheeler and New York Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen have a nasty back-and-forth in the media.
On Thursday, Zack Wheeler publicly took a shot at the New York Mets. When asked if he was disappointed about not receiving a contract offer from them, the right-hander responded that he wasn’t surprised because “it’s them. It’s how they roll.”
Wheeler was clearly talking about how New York continuously fails to spend money, even to keep their own players. It’s something that’s caused fans to express frustration for many years.
After Wheeler’s quote, Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen decided to fire back.
BVW took exception to Wheeler’s rip of #Mets.
“Our health & performance dept, our coaches, all contributed and helped him parlay 2 good half seasons over the last 5 yrs into $118M. So I’m proud of what our group was able to help him accomplish. I’m happy he was rewarded for it”— David Lennon (@DPLennon) February 14, 2020
With this statement, BWV is ignoring the fact that Wheeler has statistically been a top-10 pitcher in baseball for the last two years. But that’s just how the Mets roll though. They don’t focus on the analytics, possessing one of the smallest departments of such nature in the MLB.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that Van Wagenen views Wheeler the way he does. Nonetheless, it should come as a surprise that he made that view public.
Yes, Wheeler took the initial shots at the Mets. But there’s still no excuse for an executive to call a player out. It’s a quick way to alienate the players on your team and potential free agents. Who would want to play for a general manager who attacks players?
All in all, it’s just another example of why Van Wagenen was a great agent, but not the best general manager.
