Why the Mets haven’t found their guy yet.

Like many fellow Mets fans I’ve sat and wondered aloud why nobody is willing to take the job to run the Mets.

Many a beat writer have taken a stab at it and they’re all wonderfully logical takes.

There’s the Sandy is still there and will likely be the real person in charge theory.

There’s the “entire industry is colluding against Cohen” theory that’s fun all over Mets twitter.

But let me throw my own theory out there for why the Mets consistently can’t get interviews with the level of executives they’ve targeted: maybe the job we all assume is on the table isn’t really what’s being offered.

Here’s everything we’ve heard about this search: we’ve heard names being theorized, and then declining the interview.

They aren’t even willing to sit in an interview.

Now the LOLMets contingent will tell you that the Mets are run poorly and they’ve got a myriad of problems and issues and I have to tell you that even in jest some truth is told.

When Cohen took over he promised a culture change but the guy he brought on as his beard, Sandy Alderson, allowed the culture to fester under his watch during his first go around and let it continue even when he came back. Mickey Callaway was hired under Sandy’s watch. Jared Porter was hired under Sandy’s watch. The organizational hierarchy that stood in the way of multiple allegations of sexual harassment being dealt with was under Sandy’s watch.

If Cohen wanted to turn a new leaf in Flushing, he hired the worst possible person to oversee that change. The Jeff Wilpon excuses end the moment Jared Porter is hired and nobody from the old guard is fired when Sandy was brought back.

But getting back to why they aren’t even accepting the interview, are we to believe that these issues are specifically unique to the Mets and the Mets only? Nobody can be THAT naive.

The Mets list in the beginning of the search was Theo Epstein, Billy Beane and David Stearns. Theo had a 15 minute chat where both he and Cohen agreed they weren’t a fit. Think about that. Despite knowing he wasn’t taking the job, he still agreed with Cohen to tell him that in person. Are we to believe that Theo takes the interview, even to say thanks but no thanks but Peter Bendrix doesn’t bother even getting on a Zoom? Cmon.

Billy Beane was already on the exit ramp from baseball. He’s been the Queen of England in Oakland and the idea that he was going to get back into that grind, at his age, being the CEO of a company that’s about to get a buyout and with young children being on the west coast and uprooting his family now was laughable but every good team checks in. The connection with him and Sandy made sense on paper but not in reality.

We’ll get to David Stearns who didn’t even get a chance to say no because for the second offseason in a row, Brewers controlling owner Mark Attanasio didn’t even open the door to allow him to interview.

Go back to the reporting done last offseason when the Mets first went after the big fish. Cohen was taken aback by MLB policy that team owners had to give formal permission to allow employees to interview with other teams. If we’re supposed to buy into the Bobby Axelrod legend I’m sure some furniture was tossed when Cohen first heard Mark Attanasio decline the Mets overtures for his top guy.

No, what I think is happening are all of the names that were mentioned are being offered lateral moves. That Steve Cohen is not interested in taking his third or fourth choice. That he’s still thinking about the one big fish that he does have a shot at.

To be fair, I don’t blame a single executive who’s declined the Mets overtures if in fact they are only being given the GM job. Post Covid, why uproot your family if you truly enjoy the organization you work for even for the chance at winning a championship in New York? Why leave for a lateral move, even with a likely pay bump, if you aren’t being given full control? In public they have leverage to ask for the top job but I don’t think Cohen is in any rush to fill a position just to satisfy the fanbase who are growing more agitated by the day from the perception that nobody wants the job.

And frankly? GOOD!

Good for those who’ve said thanks but no thanks for knowing their worth and good for the Mets for not feeling pressure to fill a position and giving this up.

Which brings me back to David Stearns. Born and brought up in NY. Harvard grad. Former Mets intern. He’s got the requisite resume, and the roots that would make too much sense. If I’m Stearns, I have some interest in taking over the Mets and becoming the point man. But let’s put a pause on whether he even wants the job-which by the way we don’t know if there’s interest because Cohen hasn’t been formally given the opportunity to interview him.

What do we do about Sandy Alderson? There’s no denying that Sandy offers prospective applicants pause. His son Bryn has ascended to an assistant GM title. So even if Sandy oversells him wanting simply to oversee the business side, there’s someone within the chain of command that exists who in theory could be telling Sandy everything and undermining anybody who would take the big job.

And who would believe Steve Cohen wants to change the culture if the guy with all the stink from the previous f’up’s is still around the building? Doesn’t make a ton of sense. Which brings me to this- why is Cohen hanging on to Sandy Alderson at all?

Cohen’s background at SAC was enough to give some owners pause about what he would bring to the table as one of 30 that the vote to approve his bid was tense. Adding Sandy to his camp was meant to appease those who had fears that he would just run his ship the way he ran his hedgefund- thumbing his nose and doing what ever the hell he wanted. And doing that in NY would certainly have raised heads.

Ultimately the money won out- remember this is one big pot that the rest of them shared and seeing how long the J-Lo/ARod partnership lasted the owners should consider themselves lucky that they got the money they did. But Sandy’s presence calmed alot of the owners fears. Which brings us back to if the industry buzz is that Sandy is the guy preventing them from hiring their guy, why wouldn’t Cohen just ax him?

My guess is that Cohen isn’t backing down from Stearns. My guess is that Stearns will be given the President of Baseball Operations job in a year. That Cohen, thru presumably back channels, has been told Stearns is more than interested. And if waiting a year (actually two) to get the guy he wants to run the team is what has to be done then that’s what has to be done.

The idea that Cohen wouldn’t fire Alderson if he was a hindrance doesn’t make any sense. Cohen settling for his 8th choice doesn’t make sense. He did it once already. Look how that worked out. Cohen has been the guy leading the interviews. He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy to waffle.

Again I’m prepared to be completely wrong but I expect everyone to acknowledge that adults are in the room. That just because they’ve heard a bunch of no’s doesn’t mean the Mets job isn’t an enticing position. If indeed the Mets know they are hiring Stearns after next year and have communicated that to prospective candidates, why would they move to a new org knowing they will have not just Sandy, but also Stearns coming soon? I don’t blame a single one for not wanting their dream job on those terms.

Are the Mets screwing it up? Time will tell. Zack Scott’s DUI was a disastrous decision that could’ve killed someone.

When the Mets hired Scott and Porter they hired them as GM’s. Not as President of Baseball Operations- why? Because Cohen and Sandy didn’t think they were ready for that kind of bump. At the time they felt like perhaps they could grow into that role but that would take time. Once the allegations on Porter came out they had to pivot and they made Scott the acting GM. Was Scott’s DUI a stain on the Mets culture? Or a disastrous decision made by an employee after a charity event held at the home of the owner?

No, I think the signs have always been there that Cohen, in his mind, has already made his hire. The Scott situation left them in a lurch and have them in a bad situation without a top hire. But that can’t be put at the feet of Sandy or Cohen.

If you were to truly believe the Mets that they were looking for a better culture then keeping a guy who just had a DUI was probably not the right look no matter what Buster Olney tries to convince people of. Keeping Sandy is Cohen’s way of having a former GM on board at a very critical juncture of the organization. They have huge decisions to make on Conforto, Thor, and the long term health of the franchise. Keeping Sandy, while nauseous to some, is a must given the important decisions they have to make this offseason and also since we’re headed towards a lockout (from every article I’ve read). Cohen needed a trusted baseball head and looking around the room the only guy left is Sandy.

The Mets have their guy. They just have to wait for him. Unfortunately for Mets fans they will have to wait too.