It was shocking to many when the New York Mets hired agent Brodie Van Wagenen as their general manager in October 2018. A little over two years later, he left the organization following the first move from new owner Steve Cohen and president Sandy Alderson.
The Mets didn't make the playoffs under Van Wagenen's watch, but the last two years in Flushing have still been memorable for both the right and wrong reasons.
To evaluate how he did as a GM, let's look back at some of Van Wagenen's most notable moves and moments while running the Mets.
The Good
The blockbuster deals generated headlines, but Van Wagenen's best trade was a smaller one.
In January 2019 he sent three minor leaguers to the Houston Astros for J.D. Davis, who was deemed expendable in Houston due to a glut of outfielders. Davis quickly became an integral part of the Mets, posting an .895 OPS in 2019 while shifting between third base and the outfield. He produced another good season in 2020 and is under team control for four more years.
Two of Van Wagenen's other unquestionably great moves weren't trades.
At a time when many teams were keeping top prospects in the minors longer to manipulate service time, Van Wagenen bucked the trend and put Pete Alonso on the club's Opening Day roster in 2019. Alonso rewarded him by hitting a Mets single-season and MLB rookie record 53 home runs.
Van Wagenen also kept two-time Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom in Flushing, getting his former client's name on a five-year, $137.5-million deal in spring 2019. Free-agent relievers Justin Wilson and Brad Brach also returned good value for Van Wagenen over the last two years.
The bad
The Jed Lowrie signing (two years, $20 million) was a disaster. For their troubles, the Mets received a .000/.125/.000 slash line over eight plate appearances from Lowrie.
Van Wagenen's biggest trade - acquiring Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz from the Seattle Mariners for five players, including top prospect Jarred Kelenic - isn't looking good.
Cano was back to his old self at the plate in 2020, and he might look better over the final three years of his expensive deal if the universal DH rule remains in place. But Diaz lost everything that made him the AL's best reliever in 2018. Kelenic, meanwhile, is on the fast track to the big leagues, and he's seen as a core piece of the Mariners' future. And while it's not Van Wagenen's fault that Marcus Stroman opted out of the 2020 season, trading two good young arms - including another top-100 prospect in pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson - for what could end up being only 11 starts may haunt the franchise.
Signing catcher Wilson Ramos (two years, $19 million) also didn't entirely pan out. Ramos did give the Mets one solid offensive season, but controversy erupted last summer amid reports that pitchers didn't like throwing to him. His presence may have also pushed Van Wagenen to release Travis d'Arnaud early in 2019. After leaving the Mets, d'Arnaud re-established himself in Tampa Bay before joining the Mets' NL East rivals in Atlanta and winning a Silver Slugger Award this year.
The former GM also deserves some blame for how the Yoenis Cespedes saga ended after the outfielder opted out of the 2020 campaign, leaving without informing the team while reportedly not pleased about his playing time. Van Wagenen negotiated Cespedes' ill-fated $110-million deal as the slugger's agent, and he was GM when the team withheld part of Cespedes' 2019 salary and had to renegotiate the rest of his contract after a union grievance.
Cespedes should get his share of criticism, but the optics of the situation still don't reflect well on Van Wagenen.
The hilarious
In August, Van Wagenen was caught criticizing commissioner Rob Manfred on a hot mic that was accidentally livestreamed. The criticism was in regard to Manfred's supposed plan for the Mets to take part in the protests against police brutality that were taking place throughout sports. Under the apparent plan, the team would leave the field and then return to play an hour later.
Here's video of Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen discussing a plan in which he says MLB wanted the Mets to take the field, leave it and return an hour later. Van Wagenen is critical of the idea and commissioner Rob Manfred, saying: "He just doesn’t get it." (Video via @NickCocco18) pic.twitter.com/46Z9neVkJt
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 27, 2020
Van Wagenen apologized for what turned out to be a misunderstanding. Then on a press release, then-Mets owner Fred Wilpon and COO Jeff Wilpon somehow misspelled Van Wagenen's first name as "Brody."
The final evaluation
In some ways, Van Wagenen's impact on the Mets is incomplete. A quick turnaround under new ownership that's more willing to spend could help his legacy grow, especially if Alonso continues to ascend and Davis remains a key piece. However, the last two years featured plenty of questionable moves and odd, almost "Metsian" moments that will likely define his tenure.
One thing you can't accuse Van Wagenen of is not trying, even with the former ownership group limiting him. For all of his faults and moves that didn't work, Van Wagenen wasn't afraid to swing for the fences, damn the consequences. Unfortunately, he gave up too many good young players and his win-now moves didn't work out, and that's how Van Wagenen will likely be remembered in New York.
