MLB rumors: Mets may have interest in adding Oakland’s Billy Beane to front office

The New York Mets‘ playoff hopes are steadily dwindling, and that means the first season under new owner Steve Cohen will likely go down as a disappointment. That, in turn, could lead to a front office changes this winter. 

Team president Sandy Alderson almost certainly isn’t going anywhere, but the Mets may be looking for a senior executive to take a more direct role in baseball operations. One potential target? According to Jon Heyman, it’s long-time A’s operator Billy Beane: 

Beane, the executive of Moneyball fame, certainly makes sense as a target. He has a long record of success in Oakland despite payroll limitations, and he mentored under Alderson back in the latter’s Oakland days. As well, Beane was originally drafted back the Mets back in 1980, and he spent the two seasons of his minor league career in the Mets’ system. Also appealing to the Mets is Beane’s long history and stability with the business. That’s notable given that the Mets under Cohen have already dismissed one GM because it came to light that Jared Porter sent unsolicited sexually explicit images to a female reporter while employed by the Cubs as their director of pro scouting in 2016. As well, Porter’s replacement with the Mets, acting GM Zack Scott, was placed administrative leave by the team following his drunk driving arrest. 

Beane, now 59, has been part of the A’s front office since the early 1990s, so it’s possible he may at least be looking for a new challenge — particularly with a team that has substantially more resources than the A’s do. However, Beane has a small ownership stake with the A’s, and he’d have to divest himself of that before taking any role with the Mets. Also, Beane, currently the club’s vice president of baseball operations, would require permission from A’s ownership to make such a move. Another unknown is that, if indeed Alderson returns in his role, is whether Beane would be willing to work under him. 

Those unknowns are significant and complicated, but at the same time Beane with the Mets is a fit on multiple levels. It’s a rumor that certainly bears monitoring as the Mets’ focus shifts from trying to make the playoffs to retooling this coming winter.