Mets: Three lessons Brodie Van Wagenen seems to have learned

Trust the kids

Haters are, as the kids who have probably grown up now would say, “gonna hate” and people who despise Van Wagenen are going to say I’m reaching here. Does he actually trust the kids? His lack of action may be in part because he hasn’t gotten a good deal for any of the younger players already on the MLB roster. Another element may be that he actually trusts the youngsters.

Let’s go back to Opening Day 2019 for a moment. Pete Alonso made his way onto the roster out of Spring Training. Other general managers may have attempted to delay his MLB debut to save a year of control.

Van Wagenen did do the sensible thing here. And as a former agent, I think his mind was still in the “what’s best for the player” mode.

Alonso is only one example. This winter, it’s the not trading away Brandon Nimmo (yet) which has me wondering if this is a lesson he has learned. Compared to last offseason when the Mets added Robinson Cano and Jed Lowrie, it seems like the team is disinterested in taking risks on more veteran players.

Sure, BVW has added older guys this winter. However, none are nearly as ancient as the duo of Cano and Lowrie.

Van Wagenen doesn’t fully trust all of the kids. Thank goodness he doesn’t. Not all of them are capable of performing at a high level in Major League Baseball. I’m specifically referring to the army of relievers we’ve seen shuttled back and forth from Triple-A.

The trust the Mets’ GM has in the kids is nothing too outlandish. I think after what many of them did in 2019, we all believe in them a little more.