Fred Wilpon, owner (minority or majority) of the New York Mets for four decades, is a wonderful human being, a genuine humanitarian, but he has made two huge mistakes in his life.
A decade or so ago, he invested millions of dollars with his friend Bernie Madoff. Given that Madoff was running an illegal Ponzi scheme and bilking friends rich and poor out of their life savings, that was certainly a Wilpon mistake.
What was the other Wilpon mistake? Well before the Madoff debacle, Wilpon put his son, Jeff, in charge of the Mets as chief operating officer. That idea hasn’t worked out for Fred either.
Named Chief Operating Officer in August 2002, the younger Wilpon quickly established himself as the most disliked executive in major league baseball. When Jeffrey Loria owned the Miami Marlins, his stepson, David Samson, the Marlins’ president, was in close competition with Wilpon, but Loria sold the Marlins and took Samson with him, leaving the field to the younger Wilpon.
In Wilpon’s case, though, the appraisal goes beyond like and dislike. Wilpon runs the team, meaning decisions are often dictated by Wilpon. The general manager may make trades, but he doesn’t act without Wilpon’s approval.
Wilpon incidentally does not have a baseball background. The last line about him in the Mets’ media guide says, “A former catcher, he was drafted by the Montreal Expos in 1983.”
That is true; the Expos indeed drafted Wilpon. But they did so as a favor in response to a request from the elder Wilpon to Charles Bronfman, owner of the Expos.
Jeff Wilpon never played professionally so there are no statistics to display, but we can show what the Mets have done with him as chief operating officer and executive in charge of everything. In his 16 years as supreme leader, the Mets have not won a Word Series and, in fact, have played in only one, losing to Kansas City in 2015. They have had 10 losing season, including 8 of the last 10. This is nothing to write home about or put on a resume.
Wilpon was intent on changing that ugly picture and last October decided to try a different approach. As the Mets’ new general manager, he hired a player agent, Brodie Van Wagenen. As bizarre as the idea might sound, Van Wagenen is not the first agent to alter his career course and become a general manager or a club executive of any kind.
Dave Stewart went from player to agent to general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Dennis Gilbert, from long-time agent to special adviser to the Chicago White Sox chairman, Rick Hahn from agent-in-training to White Sox general manager.
When Hahn began life as an agent, he worked for Jeff Moorad, who has eclipsed all former agents who have switched to management positions.
In 2004 Moorad, who represented, among many others Manny Ramirez, Ivan Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, Darin Erstad, Pat Burrell, Mo Vaughn, Eric Karros and Luis Gonzalez, became an owner and chief executive officer of the Diamondbacks.
In 2012 Moorad put together a group that bought 49 percent of the San Diego Padres with an agreement to buy the remaining 51 percent. Moorad was the Padres’ CEO and vice chairman, but the Moorad group never reached 100 percent ownership, presumably because it couldn’t gain the necessary number of votes from the other owners’ some of whom apparently didn’t like the idea of a former agent owning a team. It was believed that Moorad’s role as an agent had prompted opposition from some owners.
Moorad, however, had not made his last move. In September 2017 he joined the national law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius as a partner and chairman of the firm’s global sports industry initiative.
I mention Moorad’s latest venture because of Morgan, Lewis’ connection to Major League Baseball. Rob Manfred, the baseball commissioner, was a partner at the firm before he joined M.L.B.
This switching sides raises issues. For example, if in the next couple of years, there is a labor dispute between the clubs and the players ahead of the next collective bargaining agreement, how would Van Wagenen deal with his former clients who now may face a decision whether or not to strike?
Baseball has no rule covering conflicts of interest, but Van Wagenen clearly has one involving his former clients, such as Jacob deGrom, Yoenis Cespedes, Noah Syndergaard, Todd Frazier, Robert Gsellman, Brandon Nimmo and Robinson Cano, whom he traded for five weeks after he got the Mets’ job.
What would Van Wagenen say to them if they asked his advice? Players seek their agents’ advice on off-field matters. They will have new agents, but the old agents can still carry a lot of influence. Jeff Wilpon’s behavior will only make matters potentially worse.
Several potential candidates for the Mets’ job declined interviews but didn’t say why. It was easy to speculate that they had no interest in working for the Mets with Wilpon looking over their shoulder. That’s the reputation Wilpon has, and it’s not going away.
Under Van Wagenen, the Mets may win a World Series some day. They may win one and then another and keep on winning. That sounds more like fantasy than reality, but fantasy is in the air. Next month the Mets will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Miracle Mets of 1969.
On the other hand, the Mets have had their turn. One magical moment to a team, please. Jeff Wilpon forfeited his chance at a second magic trick by his boorish behavior when he stripped Frank Cashen of his parking privilege at the Mets’ spring training facility in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Cashen was the general manager who constructed the Mets’ 1986 World Series champions, and after he retired, he lived near the ball park. Given his history and relationship with the team, he was allowed to park for the Mets’ exhibition games adjacent to the ballpark entrance.
That spot came in especially handy after Cashen suffered a stroke several years before he died at the age of 88 in 2014. Cashen looked forward to being able to go to games and park in his spot. That wasn’t to happen. Cashen learned he could no longer park in his spot. Wilpon the younger had made that decision, stroke or no stroke, deciding there was no reason for Cashen to have that spot.