Mets dysfunction hit an all-time high with Brodie Van Wagenen’s audition for karaoke. It’s not what he said, it’s the chaos that surrounds it.
Mets’ dysfunction within the organization has the same familiarity with fans as Mets team batting average, the Mets lineup, and just as easily with anything associated with the Mets in any context.
Dysfunction is a way of life in a Mets culture that has never been nurtured, much less born.
Fans across America caught a glimpse into that dysfunction when Twitter released a video (view further down) of a distracted Brodie Van Wagenen, the Mets General Manager.
We see Van Wagenen aimlessly pushing a chair back and forth and “speaking” his innermost thoughts about MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred to two no longer unknown enable
On Monday, final bids will be entertained by the finalists who are somehow still interested in purchasing the New York Mets.
For the moment, though, Fred and Jeff Wilpon are still the prime movers behind the Mets.
Mets Dysfunction Barks In The Night
And therein lies the story behind the story of Van Wagenen’s entry into the Mets Hall Of Dysfunction Fame.
Before we get to the dastardly reaction of the Wilpons to Van Wagenen’s fodder forever caper, let’s pause to ask:
In your major league city, what would be your owner’s typical response if your GM had an incident like this?
My thinking is that a private call expressing the owner’s displeasure to the GM would immediately take place.
My next step would be to assign the team’s public relations director to advise the GM as to how he might handle, and eventually walk back from the incident.
The Dysfunctional Mets In Action
Not the dysfunctional Mets, though. Their owners came out hissing with venom spewing forth, serving only to create an additional firestorm around the person they hired.
In a story reported by the New York Post, here’s what Fred Wilpon had to say “in support” of Brodie Van Wagenen
“I am very stressed and disappointed to learn tonight that our General Manager, Brodie Van Wagenen, made disrespectful and inaccurate comments about our Commissioner, a long-time close friend of mine,” Fred Wilpon said in a statement. “I hold Rob in the highest regard and in no way are Brod[ie] ‘s remarks reflective of my views or the organization’s.”
I’m telling you, even after years of doing this, you can’t make this stuff up. But that’s not all.
Jeff Wilpon, Fred’s son and the man entrusted with the task of “running” the Mets, felt compelled to enter the fray as well:
“To clear up any misunderstandings, it was my suggestion to potentially look into playing the game later because of scheduling issues,” Jeff Wilpon said. “Brod[ie] ‘s misunderstanding of a private conversation was and is inexcusable.”
Mets dysfunction?
Indeed, and it boils down to a parody of Al Pacino’s inflamed and memorable “City Hall” verdict on the trial he was adjudicating, “You’re out of order! You’re out of order! The whole trial is out of order! They’re out of order!”
Mets Players Rise Above The Dysfunction
As in the movie, there are no winners, only losers. Regretfully, the same is true of the New York Mets (players) and their fans.
The focus last night should have been, and ultimately was through the graces of SNY, on Mets players, and most especially Dominic Smith for carrying the banner his teammates would grab hold of to force the postponement of the Mets/Marlins contest last night.
The leading MLB sports news on Fox-TV this morning was the video of the ritual taking place on the field leading up to the postponement. It’s poignant, so let’s include it:
After a moment of silence, the Mets and the Marlins have left the field.
The only thing remaining on the field is a Black Lives Matter shirt. pic.twitter.com/t7QfWwofOS
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 27, 2020
Mets Mea Culpa, Maxima Culpa Doesn’t Work.
There have been far too many moments of Mets dysfunction, and if your heart is in it, open up this link to my main page and do a search on “Mets dysfunction” that will take to the long and lurid incidences that have polluted these pages.
Brodie Van Wagen is no saint in the matter, however, and someone wrote for him, if not himself, released a spinning statement in an attempt “to explain” what he really meant.
Those things fly in the wake of every Mets dysfunction, and they only add to the trail of Quotables to be pounced on at a later time by the media.
There’s A Backdrop To This Incident Though
The motives of Fred and Jeff Wilpon are clear. Their incessant defense of Commissioner Manfred is meant only to stay on his “good side” as the sale of the Mets moves forward.
Steve Cohen has all the money and is expected to be the highest bidder, presumably to fall in favor with the Wilpons, who have masterfully plunged the Mets into enormous debt over the years.
It’s only with Manfred’s support that the eventual sale will be granted to Cohen, given his already proven mistrust of MLB owners who must approve a purchase by three-quarters in a vote.
Alex Rodriguez and his backers can get close, or even slightly over, the owners unofficial $2 billion minimum to purchase the team. The shell game will be exposed on Monday, and we’ll go from there.
Mets Players Again Caught In The Middle
One can only imagine how the entire scenario is going over in the Mets clubhouse. The team is fighting for its very life even to make the expanded playoffs of eight teams in each league that was endorsed as a means to generate interest in this pandemic plagued season.
Mets players are fighting to survive while enduring extreme but necessary protocols to finish out the season.
Veterans like Jacob deGrom, Michael Conforto, and Jeff McNeil have seen the best and the worst from the Met’s front office.
Their guidance within the clubhouse will help to tell the future of a team on the decline, but one that still has the talent, and hopefully, the ability to keep the noise out.
I wouldn’t bet on it, though. Too much Mets dysfunction has reached the point of enough, and the sale of the team can’t come soon enough.
Here’s the video I promised you:
Holy shit Rob Manfred is trying to force the Mets to pull a social justice awareness stunt tonight by having the players symbolically leave the field at 7:10 before returning an hour later to play at 8:10 even though the players don’t want to play tonight pic.twitter.com/4BJLaPUkoy
— Nick Albicocco (@NickCocco18) August 27, 2020
Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.
