Mets interview White; Alderson still the favorite
The Mets will interview Dodgers assistant GM Logan White (left, with Dodgers 2010 draft pick Zach Lee) about their open general manager position. (Aug. 18, 2010) Credit: AP
PHILADELPHIA - The Mets wrapped up their first week of interviews Friday with a visit from Dodgers assistant general manager Logan White. The front-runner remains Sandy Alderson, who did nothing to damage that status after meeting Thursday with chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon and interim general manager John Ricco.
One person familiar with the situation said Friday that Alderson's interview went very well and that there did not seem to be any issues with how he would fit in the Mets' decision-making structure.
Alderson would want control of the club's baseball operations, an area that had slipped from the grasp of former general manager Omar Minaya during the past year before his firing.
Principal owner Fred Wilpon promised "full autonomy" to Minaya when he was hired at the end of the 2004 season, but that began to crumble after the team's historic collapse in 2007.
Alderson has been anxious to return to a general manager position ever since leaving the Athletics in 1997, and once he got the blessing of commissioner Bud Selig to leave his reform project in the Dominican Republic, that paved a path to the Mets.
Still, the Mets don't expect to name a general manager until the end of the World Series, and they have asked permission to speak with Tigers assistant general manager Al Avila, a minority candidate, the Detroit Free-Press reported Friday.
Rangers general manager Jon Daniels could have interest in the Mets' job, but Texas maintains it wants to keep the Queens native, and the team's playoff run is complicating matters.
The Mets likely will interview Avila early next week to complete the first round of interviews. The list then will be pared to a group of finalists before Fred Wilpon and president Saul Katz get directly involved in the process.
