Why Mets’ exec Andy Green is ready to move from the field to the front office
Andy Green’s Mets career spanned a total of four games and included exactly five plate appearances (he went 1-for-4 in 2009). It wasn’t exactly an illustrious career in Queens for the infielder, who is now back with the Mets as the senior director of player development, but it was beneficial.
“It was just long enough to get four at-bats and to raise my career average from .199 to .200,” Green said earlier this month at the winter meetings in Nashville.
Green joked that he had taken vacations longer than the amount of time he spent with the Mets in New York that season, but now he’s found his way back in a development role, a new challenge for the former manager and bench coach.
The hiring happened almost by accident. The Mets fired farm director Kevin Howard as well as several other executives in September to give David Stearns the autonomy to choose his personnel. Green, who managed the San Diego Padres from 2015-2019 and most recently worked as David Ross’s bench coach in Chicago, interviewed with the Mets for the vacant managerial position. Ultimately, the Mets went with Carlos Mendoza, but Stearns was intrigued by his background as a player and a coach.
“I think his understanding of the baseball development process from the moment a player gets into the system, through the minor leagues, up through the Major Leagues is pretty unique because he’s experienced it both as a player and a coach,” Stearns said in Nashville. “So now he gets to see it as an executive and run it as an executive. I’ve really enjoyed my conversations with him and I think he’s a great fit for the position.”
The president of baseball ops has always been adept at identifying the right candidates for the right positions, even if those candidates have untraditional backgrounds. Green wasn’t an obvious choice for a role in player development, but he had already been thinking about transitioning from the field to the front office. He understands the tough conversations that need to be had with young players and the systems and processes that need to be in place to help them advance.
Ross had been fired abruptly when the Cubs hired Craig Counsell, and though Green was allowed to remain with the organization in Chicago, a front office job seemed enticing. When Stearns offered him the job, Green saw a chance to make an impact at a different level.
“This became the one option I fixated on and the opportunity to do something really special with somebody that I felt like I connected with,” Green said. “It’s as influential of a spot as any other in this organization. (I’m) partnering with people to develop the talent that ultimately creates the culture of success. That’s what you get to do in this job.”
The Mets aren’t exactly known for their culture of success, nor their ability to develop talent. It’s been nearly a decade since the club developed all of those great pitchers. Now, the system is producing infielders but lags in pitching. Owner Steve Cohen has heavily emphasized developing major league talent since he took over the team operations from the Wilpon family. He used cash to buy better prospects at the trade deadline by paying down the salaries of outgoing veterans. The Mets created new positions and brought in highly-regarded development coaches. Under Cohen, the Mets were finally able to open a pitching lab in Port St. Lucie.
The club is still relatively behind when it comes to development and it’s going to take time before they see the results of the changes that have been made, but they’re confident in the process.
Green sees a solid infrastructure already and is eager to help implement organizational philosophies from the big league level down to the lowest minor league levels. He wants to lead with empathy and help young players mature in other aspects of their lives as well.
“Spending the last 10 years in the big leagues, you understand how powerful alignment is,” Green said. “I’ve been on the other side of that, I know what that feels like when some people weren’t prepared for that moment and didn’t understand what was going to be asked of them. So I think we’ll be able to close that gap a little bit quicker because of my life experience.”
The Mets are balancing conflicting goals of winning now while also developing talent to help them sustain winning play, which isn’t easy to do. It’s a tough job but if Green bats a little higher than .200 this time around then he should have a hand in helping the club achieve those goals.
