After three days of day-long interviews, the Mets know their next general manager isn’t going to be able to fix the team immediately.
“They all know the reality of where we are,” COO Jeff Wilpon said in a conference call yesterday. “It’s not a bad perception, but they understand the reality.”
Wilpon and interim head of baseball operations John Ricco already have met with Red Sox assistant GM Allard Baird, White Sox assistant GM Rick Hahn, and then yesterday, with former Arizona GM Josh Byrnes. Wilpon and Ricco said they were keeping an “open mind” in terms of what they were looking for in the next GM.
Longtime baseball executive Sandy Alderson will meet with the pair today at Citi Field, with Dodgers’ assistant GM Logan White scheduled for tomorrow.
According to Wilpon, the team still has “a few” requests out to teams for more candidates.
Wilpon also said the second round of interviews could begin next week, and that’s when Fred Wilpon and team president Saul Katz will become involved in the interview process, although Jeff Wilpon said he has kept them “up to speed” on what is happening.
Although the Mets would like to have a GM in place before the start of the World Series, Wilpon said there is no deadline and that it could take longer. He also insisted that all five candidates are being considered only for the GM spot and not another role in the organization.
The team also isn’t concerned that other teams have already begun hiring managers, such as Atlanta’s selection of Fredi Gonzalez yesterday.
“We haven’t been in contact,” Ricco said of managerial candidates. “We have a plan: Hire a GM and give that process our full attention.”
“We’ve heard a number of names that were different than our internal list,” Wilpon said. “Nobody is worried [about losing out on anyone].”
As for the autonomy issue, Wilpon said they discussed it with all three GM candidates because the notion that Mets’ ownership is more meddlesome than others is so prevalent.
But Ricco said that according to all three candidates, the Mets’ structure is the same as other teams’.
“It’s universally similar across the board,” Ricco said. “What we have here is standard.”
Wilpon refused to comment on other possible targets, like Minnesota’s Terry Ryan, Texas’ Jon Daniels and former Indians and Rangers GM John Hart.
Wilpon added that the team had “learned some ideas of how to fix the organization and put a better product on the field and putting us in a strong position.”
And while some people around baseball believe the Mets need an experienced GM to work with Ricco, Wilpon said: “I don’t think we have any preconceived notions.”
They just know it’s not going to be a quick fix — and the candidates they have met with agreed.
“The three all had various plans for the next few years,” Ricco said. “They weren’t looking short term, but long term.”
But they each seemed ready for the challenge.
“Nobody said, ‘Oh my God, I don’t want to take the job,’ ” Wilpon said.