Wilpons cool with Brodie Van Wagenen after hot mic oopsie

Other than being publicly reprimanded by his bosses and apologizing to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen faced no repercussions Friday from the goings-on a day prior, including a leaked video in which he ripped Manfred and his ability to lead.

Van Wagenen is still in OK standing with the Wilpons, a source said. With the Wilpons trying to sell the club in the coming weeks, though, it is not clear how much, if anything, that status means.

That meant a mostly normal day for the Mets as they sought to get back to baseball — after a week-plus stretch in which they sat out for five days because of two positive coronavirus tests, failed to score during a doubleheader on their first day back, won Wednesday but then watched Dominic Smith’s tearful news conference and Thursday decided to skip their game. They instead walked off the field with the Marlins around the time first pitch was supposed to happen at Citi Field.

Before a Jackie Robinson Day doubleheader against the Yankees, Robinson Cano acknowledged that it has been “hard” to flip the switch between baseball and the unusual, heavy off-field variables they have encountered recently.

“But at the same time, we have to understand (the pandemic and racial environments),” he said.

Manager Luis Rojas added: “We’re playing baseball, we’re competing. But we’re also being aware that there are things that are bigger than the game out there. Those two things have affected us in the last week or so — as far as not playing because the virus reason — and then (Thursday) we knew there was something bigger than baseball and that we wanted to cause an impact and send a very strong message. And that’s what the guys did.”

Distracting from the players’ gesture Thursday was a chaotic day from the front office. As the Mets and Marlins formulated their walk-off plan through the afternoon, Mets.com seemed to accidentally publish a video of a private conversation between Van Wagenen and two others in which Van Wagenen said Manfred was pushing for the players to leave the field at game time but return an hour later to play, anyway.

In the video, Van Wagenen defended the players’ intensions, saying: “That’s not happening. These guys aren’t playing.” He also said Manfred “just doesn’t get it.”

Van Wagenen later said the leave-and-come-back idea came from Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon, not Manfred.

Jeff Wilpon and his father Fred Wilpon — the Mets’ chief executive officer who almost never speaks publicly — ripped their GM and supported Manfred in statements released late Thursday night.

Both statements misspelled Van Wagenen’s first name, calling him Brody, which happens to be the name of Pete Alonso’s dog.

Fred Wilpon’s statement did not address the Mets’ protest or the larger conversation about racial injustice.

“I am very stressed and disappointed to learn tonight that our general manager, Brodie Van Wagenen, made disrespectful and inaccurate comments about our commissioner, a longtime close friend of mine,” it read. “I hold Rob in the highest regard and in no way are Brody’s remarks reflective of my views or the organization’s. Rob continues to be a great leader of Major League Baseball. I apologize for any harm this incident has caused Rob.”

Jeff Wilpon’s statement said: “To clear up any misunderstandings, it was my suggestion to potentially look into playing the game later because of scheduling issues. Brody’s misunderstanding of a private conversation was and is inexcusable. We fully respect our players and the Marlins players decision to not play tonight and appreciate the sincerity of all those who wish to draw attention to social injustices and racial inequalities that must be addressed. The entire Mets organization remains committed to creating meaningful change in our society.”

That support of Manfred existed in stark contrast to a tweet from an official Mets account that read, “FIRE MANFRED.”

It came from the Twitter handle @MetsFarmReport, which usually highlights goings-on with Mets prospects or recent former Mets prospects. It was published at 9:31 p.m. and was up for about a minute.

The Mets declined to comment on the tweet.

With David Lennon