The fun never stops for the 2019 Mets, who’ve endured a nightmarish, drama-packed campaign after starting it with playoff aspirations. Following Friday’s loss to the Phillies, general manager Brodie Van Wagenen assembled the Mets’ coaching staff, including beleaguered manager Mickey Callaway, and “lashed out” over the fact that the team wasted ace Jacob deGrom’s excellent performance, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports. Van Wagenen further expressed his displeasure by throwing a chair and ordering Callaway to go conduct his “[expletive] press conference,” according to Puma.
The GM neither confirmed nor denied the incident took place, per Puma, though Anthony DiComo of MLB.com and Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News tweet that it did indeed happen. If we’re to believe these reports, this looks like just the latest strange occurrence of the season for the Mets. Van Wagenen reportedly had deGrom pulled from a start June 1 because of a hip cramp, and just two weeks ago, Callaway and left-hander Jason Vargas got into a dustup with Newsday beat writer Tim Healey. Vargas’ actions reportedly left the team’s front office “incensed” and could hasten his departure either by the July 31 trade deadline or in the offfseason.
As with Vargas, it’s fair to wonder how much longer Callaway will continue with the organization. The club has gone a horrid 116-134 since it hired him entering last season, though that’s not to suggest he’s the lone source of blame. Led by the neophyte GM and ex-agent Van Wagenen, the Mets surely expected to wind up as deadline buyers this year. In January, when Van Wagenen was amid an aggressive offseason that was supposed to turn around the downtrodden franchise, he told the rest of the National League East to “come get us.” Three months into the season, the division has done just that.
Among their divisional foes and the entire NL, the Mets have bettered only the rebuilding Marlins as the All-Star break approaches. At 39-49, the Mets are a whopping 13 games behind the East-leading Braves and seven back of a wild-card spot. Frustrations are boiling over as a result.
gmetwagner
Every BVW signing has been an utter disaster. Not one has materialized.
T.T.P.
The Mets have a worse record than the Giants. Let that sink in.
Ji-Man Choi
Dang I didn’t think it was that bad
imgman09
Watch others teams too and you might learn something because you sound really Dumb
DodgerNation
Let’s see who the Mets are better than *checks NL standings* Only the marlins LOL
hiflew
Gee and some people thought hiring an agent with no front office experience was a good idea. This was the worst front office hiring since the White Sox hired their announcer, Hawk Harrelson, as GM in the mid 80s.
bestno5
At least Hawk could say “he gone” when he traded or released someone
Ronk325
BVW got the job because he’s just as delusional as the Wilpons. Every other GM candidate they interviewed probably wanted to make the obvious play and sell high on deGrom and Wheeler but that wasn’t what the Wilpons wanted
ColossusOfClout
Calloway should have been fired immediately after the Vargas incident.
murphydog
Callaway wasn’t the one who put that hump Edwin Diaz on team.
Seaver rules
He should have been fired when he messed up the batting order last year. He is the worst manager I have seen in 40 years of watching the Mets and MLB. BVW should fire him tonight and hire Girardi and then Wilpons fire BVW at the end of the season and give Girardi the whole ball of wax.
carlos15
Agreed it was a perfect out for them to cut bait in Mickey
Metfan1964
i can’t stand Calloway but he didn’t build this team Brodie did. We need a complete overhaul from the GM down . We all know the Wilpons aren’t selling so we are stuck with them. Brodie never should have been hired, The Rays guy was superior in every category. Calloway is in way over his head.
mets1536
Hechavarria
greategret
oh, they’ve materialized. It’s just that the material is a big pile of poo!
bosoxforlife
J.D. Davis was a good addition but the roster construction was appalling. I think BVW expected McNeil to be part of the catastrophic deal with the Mariners which is why he signed Lowrie and, for reasons not known to anybody with a brain, brought Keon Broxton, one of the worst players in the game who has proved it often enough that even a blind man should see it, as the fourth outfielder.
heater
Do you suppose that’s why he was yelling at the coaching staff?? Lol. You could also possibly add the Mets FO signing of BVW himself into your offseason failures comment!!!!
fits65
He’s a commissioned salesperson. What else do you expect from a GM that knows NOTHING about managing a team. Worse yet this guy knows nothing about player development, drafting or roster development.
He has a big Mouth who bragged his way thru the interviews with mindless Wilpon’s who believed his nonsense that they were a player or two away from the post season.
After making the absolute worst trade in MLB history, he Single handidly bragged his way to post a Large target On the team’s back.
Metfan1964
Not everyone – Ramos has been ok.
Rick Wilkins
BVW should just fire himself at this point.
mike156
It’s not just the FO and management. Many of the players haven’t performed either. But that being said, there’s a feeling of a window closing shut more than a rebuilding year. Strange vibe
david klein
Remember when Jeff said at Brodie’s presser that he hasn’t seen his dad this excited about a gm hire in a long time? That should have been a red flags. Brodie is pretty much an Al Harazin clone. He refuses to be accountable and talk to the media what a disaster
jdgoat
Get the heads rolling!
metnoxious
I’d have told Brodie to stick it if this is true. “Hey Brodie you put this mess together. Go yell at yourself.”
dirtbagfreitas
ESPN mini series coming soon. You’ve seen The Bronx is Burning, welcome to The Queens Dumpster Fire.
metvibes
If BMW wants the mets to play better sit cano or better yet put him on the Il for the rest of the season . Get rid of callaway bring in Backman for the rest of the season he knows most of the players give backman the 3erbase coach position for next season
Ruben_Tomorrow 2
The Mets have a lot of sponsors, I don’t think BMW is one of them though.
Captain Dunsel
The Mets front office needs a coupe d’etat.
Koamalu
The Mets are a complete train wreck.
metvibes
Thor can’t blame Ramos for his horseshit performance today.
realgone2
Some how would have to get rid of the wilpons. Cut the head off the snake.
Socrates Curveball
BVW knows the minute he fires Mickey the pressure increases on his makeshift Front Office. Selling will only magnify the mistakes of this past offseason, but it’s the logical route for the longterm future of the Franchise. With Wheeler, BVW must evaluate between a potential return v. the draft pick he’d likely net via the Qualifying Offer. A more analytical driven FO will look at the Wheeler peripherals and realize the pitch mix is a concern combined with dismal defense behind the talented righthander. The Bold move is dealing Syndergaard who will still command a significant return again from an analytically driven FO that believes a change of scenery combined with repertoire tinkering & improved D will allow Noah to rebound. The return for a Todd Frazier isn’t going to inspire a move, as it’ll likely only return spare parts. Do they consider making Michael Conforto available? Only a few contenders have Outfield Need plus the willingness to take on money in the near and longterm via Arbitration.
Mets are in a no win situation. Trending towards 72 Wins with the current group, a purge could make things worst and the criticism in New York for BVW will be significant. Another lost season…..
Socrates Curveball
Feels like Joe Girardi is having a 4 hour interview to replace Mickey right now on Fox.
chicagofan1978
Girardi will not manage the Mets
Cave Johnson
“Is it what you want? Well, not in so many words…”
Questionable_Source
What draft pick? Wheeler would sign the qualifying offer.
phenomenalajs
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Look how well Ryu has performed after signing his.
SFGiants74
Wheeler is not going to receive a QO. Why would they do that?
its_happening
To save face for not dealing Wheeler when they have the chance. I’m with you Vince, why would they do that? Wheeler isn’t worth it.
Socrates Curveball
Wheeler will assuredly decline the Qualifying Offer if given. That’s the last case scenario if the Mets don’t deal him before the deadline. The rest of baseball will believe the Mets have mismanaged Wheeler and he’s suffered from a dismal Defense behind him plus poor framing/blocking behind the plate. And his top 5 in baseball 2nd half last year is fresh in most smart evaluators view. Mets fans can’t see the forest between the trees… The rest of baseball believes the Mets are a dysfunctional mess and certain players can be had on the cheap and quickly reclaim their form.
of9376
Well said. They will have to start selling some
major pieces as they have significant payroll tied up next year. Cano, Cespedes and Degrom are going to account for $70+ million next year. Add in significant arbitration numbers for Thor, Conforto and Diaz on top. No way the Wilpons pony up the cash to dramatically improve next year so they will have to get some cheap talent from trades.
BaseballBrian
Just in—The Mets have hired a regional scouting director of chair throwing, his name is Bobby Knight.
njbirdsfan
Ever notice how everyone who gets rich in real estate is either corrupt or incompetent?
mt in baltimore
The Curse of Madoff…
The tribesmen hijacked the Franchise from Doubleday.
Karma will get you…
Flat out.
metvibes
You forgot the Wally Backman karma
phenomenalajs
What do you mean by “The tribesmen hijacked the Franchise” here? I’m not liking the sound of this…
joedirte4life
They should have rebuilt since last season. But no the trade away their top prospect for that Cano deal and they do all this and are still a 4th place team.
The Braves blew their team up and now theybare poised to dominate the NL east for the 2020s.
The Mets should quit worring about the backpages. They should hit the reset button stink for 3 or 4 years to build up the farm and get all the bad contracts off the books and try to compete with a young nucleus of talent led by Alonso.
YankeesBleacherCreature
I couldn’t agree with this more. The Cano/Diaz trade was a disaster from the outgo. I didn’t think Cano was going to implode so soon and Diaz struggling so badly now is a headscratcher. Then you have Wilson Ramos the better hitting catcher sitting out 2 out of 5 games. I don’t think BWV is the answer to Met fans’ woes. They’re like the NY Knicks version of baseball. Bad ownerships.
txman22
While Ramos is better hitter, Nido is getting better & his defense far outweighs Ramos. Getting clutch hits & every time Ramos bats with less than 2 outs, he’s an a DP waiting to happen & a clog on the bases. And look at DeGrom’s ERA with both catchers. Noah wouldn’t have gotten win last nite without Nido’s clutch double.
solaris602
I agree with that strategy completely, but the key to making that work is getting BVW to commit personally and publicly to avoid taking on any more albatross contracts going forward. He’s painted himself into this corner by attempting to correct mistakes with other mistakes.
bexbro3
BVW has made a total mess of this team. Every player that he brought in has either under performed or is completely finished (Cano) Going forward Im afraid of what else this man is capable of messing up.
BuddyBoy
I’m hoping the Mariners can get the Mets to take Dee Gordon for another prospect without eating much money. Lol
66TheNumberOfTheBest
Given the Mets’ current culture, the next manager that BVW should hire is…John Tortorella.
Perfect fit.
GB85
Bobby Valentine
Tha Dilla
Bring back Bobby V and his fake mustache.
SalaryCapMyth
Looks like the pressure is getting to BVW.
chiparm
Did you watch that mess last night. I would have been pissed too if I was BVW.
The team does not look prepared to play in the field. (Which is Calloway’s job)
With the total collapse of the pitcher’s I wonder if a) Ramos has a part in all this. b) they were not ready coming out of spring training.
This is a team with three All-Stars and they are this bad.
Don’t forget Alderson and his charges decided last year that McNeill was a AAAA player and only called him up when they wanted to quiet the noise.
Give BVW credit for bringing Alonso north. Easy move would been to start Smith and Davis at first and keep Alonso down for two months.
Shrutefarm
If the Mets were at league average in number of blown saves, they would be leading the Wild Card right now. Is that the manager’s fault? He can only use the players he is given. Who’s idea was it to acquire Diaz and Familia et al?
percontesauce
Mets fans will be mumbling “Kelenic” for many, many years.
HEFFERNAN
We mumbled Kazmir for a few years too.
Don’t start molding his HOF plaque yet.
Erik
Mets need to just rebuild already. Dumbest move was to take on a 100 million dollar contract for a 35 year old. How stupid can you get in this day and age??
YankeesBleacherCreature
And can’t DH to boot.
jayfaraday
He’s at a war with his own team, the Mets should have just hired on Chaim Bloom and just did a rebuild like they know they should have. It’s just embarrassing and I’m not even remotely close to a Mets fan.
jh8913
Why would girardi want to go to the Mets. Why would any logical person willingly go there
fighterflea
Mets are a dumpster fire. Callaway showing his ‘fire’ tonight against the Phils and particularly Jake Arrieta who has no command and is hitting batters right and left. You go, Mickey, and take your staff with you. Who hired that guy? Oh, wait ….
gmenfan
Mets gotta Met.
xpensivewinos
The Mets hired an unqualified tool to oversee their baseball operations. They’re getting exactly what they deserve.
P.S. Everyone except the Mets saw this coming……
Ji-Man Choi
The Mets are the Meg Griffin of baseball
scarfish
Excellent
brewcrewbernie
An agent is not making a good GM? Stunner. A 35 year old coming off of a PED suspension isn’t performing? Stunner. A reliever not named Mariano Rivera isn’t living up to his performance from last season? Stunner. I feel like a victim of Stone Cold Steve Austin over here.
scarfish
Also excellent.
HarveyD82
degroms career so far has been wasted with the mets
beerman
I agree Harvey. Even friends of mine that aren’t Mets fans feel bad for him. You have a 1.7 ERA and have 10 wins.. give me a break. He would have had 23 wins last year if he played for a team like the Stros. He’s not going to win 100 games in his career at this pace. Sad.
Cam
I feel genuinely bad for Mets fans at this point. What an absolute mess of a franchise.
driftcat28 2
Brodie is a disaster of a GM and I bet will not be in that position in as little as 2 years from now. This dumpster fire that is the Mets starts at the top with him. None of his acquisitions have paid off. The Mets need a full on rebuild and need an actual GM to take control of it
mrdave
Someone running the operation needs to go. Not sure if it’s Callaway or Van Wagenen yet.
Ji-Man Choi
Why not both
Polish Hammer
Wow, look who crawled out of hibernation, haven’t seem you since you were bragging up what a great signing the Cubbies got and how their superior coaching staff would have Carlos Gonzalez hitting again. LMAO…
sufferforsnakes
That’s what you get when you hire someone who is unqualified to be a GM.
#FreeMickey
jorge78
Et tu, Brutus?
trident
When’s Brady Van Winkle bring up his client Tim Tebow to the circus?
jim stem
So they hire a manager with zero experience and then a gm with zero experience. I wonder how many other coaches in a Mets’ uniform have zero experience? How many times do we have to see this kind of failure before baseball rethinks the binder bearing people and goes back to baseball people? If it weren’t for the Mets, the Phillies would be under .500 too.
Polish Hammer
Every great manager out there got their 1st job with zero experience. Mickey might not be the greatest manager but he was handed an absolute circus.
jbigz12
He signed up for the circus. Some guys are great coaches but not great managers. Teaching guys how to pitch isn’t managing 25 personalities in a clubhouse.
Polish Hammer
And when he signed up he did so for a different GM and only parts of this lineup.
migg
Callaway should not have traded for Cano/Diaz… Oh wait
brewcrewer
I bet the under on the Mets so hard this year. I think I’m safe, they are a disaster
Cam
That chair could probably bring more to the front office than BVW.
Scrap1ron
The song remains the same as long as the Wilpons own the team.
met man
Has mikeyank been banned?
fits65
What’s your point? He battled many Mets loyalists, yet in silence seems to be having the last laugh.
OilCanLloyd
I wish coaches, GM’s and even owners would speak like they feel instead of putting on a show for the press and fans that might get offended. I know it’s business, but at the end of day we’re just spectators living vicariously through great athletes and billionaires.
jd396
Who among us could have ever foreseen BVW’s season going like this?
beerman
Look at the bright side of things Familia is back….
lowtalker1
Time to fire the gm and sell off pieces. They should have sold off in the off season. They should have never hired this dude. Mets suck what can you do
goldenmisfit
As a Yankee fan I find this very funny. If Brian Cashman had done anything like this ever how Steinbrenner would’ve fired him. But this is the New York Mets so nothing is going to be done. This team is an absolute joke from top to bottom and as I predicted at the beginning of the season this general manager experiment is a joke this guy had no experience at the role and the mats had no business hiring him the only reason they hired him because he was the one interview that did not say this team needed to be blown up even though it does.
sportsguy24/7
Former Agents do not make good GMs. Ask Dave Stewart.
angler
BVW is a clown. Take ownership of your disaster and break the team down. Your dumba## assessment to get the job was WRONG. So stop pushing blame. No manager can work w this dumpster fire.
Signed: A Die Hard Braves Fan