The New York Mets have named Brodie Van Wagenen as their new general manager, reaching across the negotiating table in hiring an agent to represent the team in dealings with, among others, agents. He played baseball at Stanford, became co-head of Baseball at CAA, and secured record setting guaranteed contracts for players such as Yoenis Cespedis ($138 million with the Mets) and Robinson Cano ($240 million with the Mariners). Beyond Cespedis, Van Wagenen’s clients on the Mets have included Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and, well, Tim Tebow. Indeed, one way to look at the hire is the Mets conceding: “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.
Analyzing the Shift From Player Agent to Team Exec
