New York Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen is always aggressive, but he hinted at a different strategy in Monday’s press conference.
New York Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen has the hardest job in baseball in 2020—he’s auditioning for a job with a new owner. He knows he has to make the playoffs with the expansion for the 2020 season, but how he goes about it could save or end his career as an executive.
Van Wagenen is known as one of the most aggressive GMs in MLB. He’s traded top prospects for rentals and cheaper alternatives his entire tenure. With the Mets fighting for a playoff spot in 2020, many didn’t expect that to change.
At his press conference Monday afternoon, Van Wagenen hinted at a new strategy.
"We're going to be very careful," Brodie Van Wagenen said, hinting that the Mets will be conservative at the upcoming trade deadline: pic.twitter.com/0PSDV81LLS
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) August 24, 2020
“We’re going to be very careful. I think that the aggressive approach that we’ve taken in the past is not something that we will eliminate from a possibility. But, we recognize we’ve got a 30 game season, effectively, and less than that once the trade deadline comes and goes.”
Van Wagenen makes a solid point. The fact the season is so short makes trading for rentals that much more difficult. Should the Mets trade for a rental starting pitcher who will only make five starts in the regular season before hitting free agency? Will the price come way down because of the amount of games left to be played? Is it even worth trying to trade this year with so much uncertainty?
Van Wagenen pointed to the return of David Peterson, Michael Wacha, and Jake Marisnick from the IL as “major acquisitions.” The Mets are a talented team that could make a run to the playoffs without making any moves, but is that going to be enough? Will a new owner be satisfied with a team going .500 or under and making the playoffs?
