As the above tweet illustrates, the Mets’ search for a new General Manager threatens to extend beyond the end of October, despite what seems like ample opportunity to decide amongst the available candidates. With COO Jeff Wilpon issuing daily updates on the club’s progress or lack thereof, former A’s/Padres execuitive Sandy Alderson and recently canned Arizona GM Josh Byrnes are scheduled for further talks in Flushing next week, and while Fake Fred Wilpon has some quality questions lined up, NY Baseball Digest’s Mike Silva is far from sold on the younger contender.
Give Brynes credit for acquiring Dan Haren and Adam Dunn in 2008. He felt his young team was peaking and could be a threat in the wide open National League. Unfortunately it didn™t work and the result was trading all stars like Carlos Gonzalez and Carlos Quentin, while giving out a bad contract to Eric Byrnes.
His draft record in Arizona is equally unimpressive. I realize selecting amateur players is a crapshoot, but Byrnes passed on Joba Chamberlain, Daniel Bard, Kyle Drabek, Tommy Hunter, Rick Porcello, and Jason Heyward. Paying over slot dollars might have a lot to do with some of those players, but Byrnes regime didn™t churn out much from the draft during his tenure.
The final nail in the coffin, for me at least, is how he fired Bob Melvin and replaced him with the inexperienced A.J. Hinch. It was a perplexing move that made a bad situation worse. By this summer the D-Backs were back to the league joke they were when Byrnes took over in 2005