In Brodie We Trust?

A former agent becoming the General Manager of the New York Mets? Many scoffed at the notion when it was first announced that Brodie Van Wagenen would be replacing Sandy Alderson as the next Mets GM. The CAA agent was young and knew how to handle players, specifically members of the Mets. How would that transition to a club role, however?

It turns out, with a flexible pool of money and patience (along with the backing of the Wilpon’s), Brodie Van Wagenen has produced the busiest Mets offseason in quite some time.

Coming into an intense atmosphere like New York, Brodie opened his introduction to the club with words of encouragement and a bold statement.

“We will win now, we will win in the future,” stated Van Wagenen. “We’re going to develop a winning culture and a winning mindset. And we will deliver this city and fan base a team they can be proud of.”

Words are nice, but fulfilling the promises he made is where it matters. In the span of a few months, Brodie seemingly became a man of his word. He signed players like Wilson Ramos, Jed Lowrie, and Luis Avilan. He brought back Jeurys Familia while also trading for Robinson Cano and closer Edwin Diaz. He also added a plethora of utility and relief players, including Keon Broxton, J.D. Davis, Justin Wilson, Adeiny Hechavarria and Rajai Davis. While some didn’t work out, or others got injured, the idea of adding productive players that can make a difference is something fans have been yearning for.

Then, there are the internal moves. The team brought in Al Leiter, John Franco and Jessica Mendoza in as advisors, as well as a variety of baseball minds to help the team. Those with almost the same mindset as Brodie. The team also went against the norm, bringing Pete Alonso on board as an Opening Day starter while also extending Jacob deGrom, last year’s Cy Young winner, to a five-year contract.

Is it time to embrace Brodie Van Wagenen as the team’s savior? It is truly hard to come up with an answer, as a few months of excitement doesn’t always lead to success. Brodie’s mindset is still that of an agent, but perhaps that is what is needed in order to get the results he expects from the team. His negotiating tactics to sign deGrom to an extension is that of a man who knows what people want.

It is easy to say he is a man of his word, but perhaps Sandy Alderson was chained down when it came to making moves. The Wilpon’s loved Brodie right when he saw him, with a variety of reasons why that might be. Regardless, what the Mets have is someone with support and the mindset to win.

One offseason has shown that with the right resources and backing, Brodie is a man on a mission. As the season comes to a start, how he handles all of the success, setbacks and everything else in between when it comes to the Mets will be what makes his run important. For now, the Brodie Van Wagenen era will look to start on a hot note. From there, the journey he has led us all on will be a fascinating one.

A busy offseason is over…It all begins tomorrow. #LGM pic.twitter.com/0ddd7gb46n

— New York Mets (@Mets) March 28, 2019