Mets' second round of GM interviews next week
Jeff Wilpon, chief operating officer of the NY Mets, left, and Fred Wilpon, owner of the NY Mets, appear at a news conference held at Citi Field. (Oct. 4, 2010) Credit: Errol Anderson
The Mets announced Monday that the second - and most likely final - round of interviews for a new general manager will not take place until next week, with the hope of making a hire by the end of the World Series.
In the meantime, the team still is sorting through the first round, and those interviews will continue this week with the addition of Blue Jays assistant GM Dana Brown as the sixth candidate for the position. Sandy Alderson will return Thursday, but the Mets said his visit to Citi Field is to "complete" last week's interview - and that Alderson is not yet considered a finalist.
Brown, who is African-American, currently is the Mets' only minority candidate after the Tigers refused to allow assistant GM Al Avila to interview for the job. Brown, 43, will meet with chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon and interim GM John Ricco tomorrow.
Of all the candidates, Brown, a Seton Hall graduate and college teammate of Craig Biggio, has the closest connection to former Mets GM Omar Minaya, who worked with him during their days with the Expos. Brown spent eight years with the Expos/Nationals franchise, serving as the club's amateur scouting director before being hired by new Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos in 2009.
"I have aspirations of maybe one day being a GM down the road," Brown told The Washington Post when he left the Nationals, "and I thought this was maybe another stepping-stone."
Brown is a late addition to the first round of interviews, and only three of the six candidates have previous GM experience. Alderson, who remains the favorite, is the most experienced after a successful GM stint with the Athletics and later serving as CEO of the Padres.
Allard Baird, now an assistant GM with the Red Sox, spent six losing seasons as the Royals' GM before he was fired in 2006. Josh Byrnes, formerly the GM of the Diamondbacks, was fired earlier this season with five years remaining on his contract. White Sox assistant GM Rick Hahn in some circles is considered the most qualified for such a promotion. Dodgers assistant GM Logan White, who is given credit for drafting that team's young core, also is highly regarded.
The Mets said Alderson's first interview, which lasted only a "half-day," was conducted in New York City and that the second half will consist of further discussion with Ricco and Jeff Wilpon as well as other senior Mets executives. Alderson is not yet scheduled to meet with principal owner Fred Wilpon and president Saul Katz, who will be directly involved in the second round.
