Black Monday Special: 2020 MLB Edition
By Ryan Sanders
In honor of Black Monday in the NFL and all the coaches who got/are going to get fired. We take a look at whose seat is going to be hot in the upcoming MLB season.
On Black Monday, Freddie Kitchens in Cleveland, Bruce Allen in DC, Pat Shurmur in NY have already been let go of at the time of writing. Jerry Jones will presumably be letting go of Jason Garrett in Dallas any time now. Plenty of other changes will ripple through the coaching ranks over the next few days.
Meanwhile, MLB is cruising through its offseason and there are many teams who are feeling the pressure to start winning OR ELSE. General Managers, Chiefs of Baseball Operations, whatever their title may be, will all find themselves on the chopping block in the event of underperformance.
Whether you reside on the East Coast, West Coast, or somewhere in between, there are baseball folks that could be in trouble. Which is why we’ve decided to provide you with this Black Monday: MLB edition.
Let’s start with everyone’s favorite agent turned GM in Queens.
Brodie Van Wagenen – New York Mets
It was presumed that Chaim Bloom would be bringing his magic from the Rays to a Mets organization that #LOLMets every chance they get. The Wilpons then came out of the clouds and instead hired an agent they have a close relationship with.
BVW went bold trading prospects to Seattle for Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz from Seattle. The Mets continued the boldness when they shocked everyone by acquiring Marcus Stroman and not trading Noah Syndergaard.
Despite all the craziness in Queens, the Mets finished with 86 wins (surprisingly more than another team we’ll talk about) than and were on the periphery of the Wild Card. The Mets have had another quiet offseason outside of reworking the contract of Yoenis Cespedes. The Mets are at a critical juncture where they have key guys approaching peak value and free agency.
Syndergaard, Michael Conforto, Stephen Matz, are all intriguing veteran players who could bring a huge return. If BVW’s boldness can’t get the Mets into the playoffs, then the organization may need to find someone (Ben Cherington type?) who can develop a farm and turn the present MLB talent into pieces for the next great Mets team.
Turning to the…