On June 26th, Sandy Alderson effectively ended his Mets tenure by taking a leave of absence to fight cancer.  The Mets first started out with J.P. Riccardi, Omar Minaya, and John Ricco reporting to Jeff Wilpon.  This was a temporary solution for the trade deadline with the Mets looking for a new General Manager to replace Alderson.

Back in August, Jon Heyman of Fancred reported Doug Melvin was one of the early candidates the Mets had interest in hiring.  Despite the Mets knowing they had a vacancy, their search for a new General Manager did not begin in earnest until after the regular season ended.

On October 3rd, Mike Puma of the New York Post reported “Melvin is the first known official candidate on a first-round interview list that could contain up to 12 names.”  Puma’s article would go on to explain Melvin was selected in part because he fit the old Fred Wilpon wanted:

All indications are team owner Fred Wilpon would prefer a veteran presence with a strong background in scouting and player development leading the baseball operations, and Melvin, who has spent four decades in the industry, certainly fits that description.

During the first round of interviews, we saw a number of names either decline to be interviewed or pull themselves from consideration.  During this time, we have also seen the Mets make some key decisions about their minor league system.  After Frank Viola announced he was departing from the Mets organization, the team would announce Val Pascucci, Marc Valdes, and Sean Ratliff were not going to return to the organization.

The Pascucci and Ratliff moves were surprises.  Pascucci was the hitting coach in Binghamton where Jeff McNeil and Peter Alonso began their breakout offensive seasons.  Ratliff is a 31 year old first time manager who took Kingsport to the postseason.  Under his tutlage prospects like Luis Santana, Shervyen Newton, Mark Vientos, and Jarred Kelenic would have terrific seasons.

Over this past week, the Mets whittled down the list of candidates to five and then to three candidates.  It should come as no surprise that Doug Melvin made the cut both times.  One of the reasons why this should not be a surprise is because Mike Puma of the New York Post reports Melvin is the favorite for the job.  That’s not one man’s opinion either.  There have been other reports which have labeled Melvin as such.

When reading the tea leaves, the Mets identified Melvin as one of the guys they wanted early in the process.  During that process, it seems Melvin is the only guy who is sticking through the entire process.  Put another way, he’s one of the few willing to take over the Mets job despite reports over what comes with the position.

If the Mets have truly identified him as the guy to officially take over for Sandy Alderson, which who are we kidding, they have, the team should just get it over with and hire him.  There is a lot of work that needs to be done to build this roster into one that can win the 2019 World Series.  The Mets have wasted four months  in this process.  They should not waste one more day.

If Melvin is the choice, so be it.  There’s no use complaining about it, and we can only hope he goes out and builds the Mets into an NLCS contender like he did with the Brewers in 2011 or with the foundation he set for this year’s team.  However, for him to do it, he’s going to have to get to work.  For that to happen, the Mets have to hire the guy they wanted to hire from the time this entire process began.