I recently had the opportunity to interview Ariel Speicher, head of human resources for the New York Mets baseball team. She shared valuable insights into the team’s scouting departments during our interactions. According to Speicher, governance has had a significant impact on the running of the group. The team’s operations are influenced by structures that impact their operations, decision-making mechanism and success. For example, the team is in charge of setting policies o team players’ contracts which both players and the team’s staff must comply with. Moreover, its management structure and ownership in control of major decision-making thus has a significant influence on New York Mets operations, committee and organizational structure. New York Mets baseball team might face leadership and management in the future. This is due to the recent updates of Steve Cohen taking over the team’s ownership with his recent purchase of the entire team and Sandy Alderson taking over the team’s executive committee chair. Throughout the interview, I learned that the team’s overall administration plays a critical role in shaping the team’s daily operations. Players, team staff and fans must comply with New York Mets baseball policies to maintain strong management structures by developing positive and productive relationships with the team’s major stakeholders to ensure its success.
The New York Mets comprise the American professional baseball team. The team is based in New York City and is called the metropolitan baseball club. Its committee structure comprises individuals that oversee its operations. They include owners, executive committees, scouting, baseball, player development, analytics, medical, marketing and finance committee (Horwitz, 2022). The owner is the team manager that sets and manages the league’s operations aligning with rules, regulations and bylaws. Steve Cohen, the owner of the team, controls its operations, as noted by his recent changes in the team. This can be noted in Cohen’s desire to hire two executives to run the team’s operations. The executive committee oversees the team’s daily operations, including finances and players. The team’s executive committee comprises Sandy Alderson, the chair who manages all of the team’s operations. Billy Eppler as the general manager whose role centers on formulating strategies to acquire new players, roster composition to determine eligible players for the team, staffing and player contract negotiations. Bryn Alderson as the assistant general manager is responsible for finding new potential players for the team.
The baseball operations committee makes decisions connected to player development, personnel, and scouting. Jonathan Strangio serves as the vice president, Baseball operations. Ian Levin as the assistant general manager. Elizabeth Benn is the director of major league operations. Nick Spar as the director of baseball operations (Horwitz, 2022). The individuals are tasked with making coach head recommendations, creating schedules and rosters, and mentoring the coaches. The scouting committee evaluates players and recommends suitable picks and trades. Tommy Tandus acts as the vice president amateur and international scouting department. Michael Schofield as the scouting performance coach.
The medical committee controls the team’s health issues and concerns, thus having a large team of medical practitioners encompassing an orthopedic physician, medical consultants, rehabilitators, therapists and health professionals. Dr. David Altcheck chairs the committee, while Dr. Harry Gulotta heads its orthopedic department. Brain Chickld as the director of player health (Horwitz, 2022). Sean Bardenett as the Coordinator of rehabilitation and reconditioning. Josh Bickel as the reconditioning therapist. Carsan Dittman as the performance dietician. The team is responsible for treating and diagnosing players’ injuries. They closely work with the training staff to ensure proper conditioning before any match.
The player development committee, headed by Kevin Howard as the Director, Player Development, accounts for the team’s players’ preparation for major leagues. Howard has two assistants, namely, Kevin Walsh. Assistant Director, Player Development and Andrew Christie, Assistant Director Player Development, along with Dick Scott, Coordinator, Coaching Development and Instruction and other important individuals, ensure players are well-versed in countering their opponents. The analytical committee headed by John Morris, Executive Director, Business Analytics & Intelligence and a team of other scouting directors utilizes data and statistics to make informed decisions on the team’s daily ventures (Horwitz, 2022). The marketing committee headed by Andy Goldberg, Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer, deals with team promotion and its branding to attract global fans and potential financial sponsors to the team. The Finance Committee, headed by Jeff Deline, Chief Revenue Officer, and Marly Mensher, Executive Assistant, manage the budget and financial operations of the team.
New York Met’s organizational structure is categorized into major league coaching staff, major league performance staff, support staff, medical department, baseball analytics, baseball systems, pro player evaluation & personnel, amateur scouting, international scouting, player development, minor league performance, minor league operations and minor league coaching staff. Major league coaching staff leads and manages the team players. They equip the players with skills and techniques for a successful match against opponents (Horwitz, 2022). The team has one head coach with two assistants; however, in a major league, the team can have up to six coaches maximum. Two coaches are often in charge of the bullpen, taking players through warm-up activities. Major league performance staff chooses batting order and starting pitcher technique for each game. They make substitutions throughout the game.
Support staff includes medical practitioners tasked with providing healthcare in case of injuries. The medical department provides medical attention through care and treatment to treat and prevent injuries. Moreover, they partner with the team coaches and trainers to ensure that players are physically and emotionally ready to participate in the match.
Baseball analytics measure the player’s performance and trends to predict play character and improve on strategic decisions for better performance. Analytics enhances a player’s development skills and aids with spotting potential injuries. Baseball systems are tasked with developing and maintaining the team’s website package. They test and implement effective web-based packages and mobile applications reinforcing the team’s operations. Pro-player evaluation & personnel helps maintain the players’ physical fitness and guide the team on scoring approaches against their opponents. They determine payers’ abilities and skill levels in gaming activities.
Amateur scouting provides pro-scouting services by training players to improve their playing and scoring skills. Through this, players are assessed to pinpoint the best players to play on behalf of the team. International scouting provides players with an opportunity to learn at a global level. New skills are learned as the team attracts prospective contributors to the team. Player development provides players and team staffing personnel mentorship and life coaching services. Minor league performance and operations enhance prospects’ bids, improving players’ apprenticeship.
The New York Mets’ scouting department incorporates specific decision-making processes for the team’s success. The scouting directors begin by drafting players as the first step. The officials interact with the amateur team coaches to help in identification and recommendation processes to pinpoint the best player with the highest potential and possibility to score goals for the team’s success. However, the draft rotation incorporated follows a reverse-order approach. This implies that players from previous years are prioritized, and the best player is highlighted. The players are available in the organization’s draft. The drafting process is followed by the pre-draft mechanism whereby scouting directors hold an audition and hence have an opportunity to incorporate professional play and workouts to identify stronger and more effective players. After the pre-drafting, the scouting directors unify their work and create a list of potential players. Players are chosen from the list as they await the negotiation date to begin their contract with the team and affiliate with its members.
The second step is acquiring players through trade and agencies. The directors provide input to attract target players from potential agencies and trades. This comes through baseball transactions whereby teams trade for the best players through trade based on contracts as bargaining agreements between the players and the league. In this case, the team’s leadership can choose players from free agency or trade. It is important to note that players from free agents may include a player from a previously expired contract or a potentially known player who wants a resurgence. Similarly, the organization can choose players from a trade involving players’ bartering, encompassing monetary payments to the player.
The third step is the evaluation of opponents, which involves analyzing opponents’ strengths and weaknesses to help identify key players and make recommendations on strategic approaches toward the game. This helps to determine the level that favors players best and approaches to enhance players’ baseball skills.
The fourth decision-making step process is the team players’ evaluation. The players are tested on their skills through actual engagement with the game for practice. A maximum number of run scores quantifies the scouting director’s test for efficiency. The evaluation helps directors pinpoint areas requiring more practice while noting recommended changes to the players’ approach. Hence, full potential is analyzed for future development to become an effective baseball player. All stakeholders, such as health professionals, trainers and coaches, work together to improve playing skills.
The last step is the decision-making process during gaming activities. The scouting director works with the team’s coach to establish effective decisions based on reports and data to identify players with their roles and positions. For example, positioning fielders and substitutes.
Governing bodies from different departments have collaborated to manage change by embracing the pre-scouting team, amateur team and international scouting team, including a formal scouting director encompassing three regional scouting directors and dismissing ineffective scouting officers from various departments. The team’s departments are delegated to evaluate the league’s players at different levels. Thus, they must unite to pinpoint and help the player develop their talent following the teams’ objectives and goals. As a result, they have adopted the efficiency and restructuring approach to reinforce the scouting and talent development operations.
The dismissal of ineffective scouting officials from various departments comes after the New York City Mets lost six continuous games in their entry to Philadelphia Phillies. Thus, in 2020, scouting officials such as Jim D’Aloia and Andy Martino lost their professional positions on the team. The dismal was cited as necessary to improve scouting in the context of enhancing scouting talent crucial for improving player scores. Hence, improves efficiency because the team will regain its ability to run smoothly and efficiently its operations (Small, 2019). Similarly, it boosts team culture based on trust between players and shouting officials, hence improved fan perception vital for an expanded baseball fan base (Horwitz, 2022).
Adding three regional scouting regional directors within the formal scouting director improves expertise because the players are exposed to differentiated directors with distinct abilities to learn from. Moreover, it enhances communication because the director will succor an interactional bridge between players and the management to facilitate a connection that provides an opportunity to identify and address issues and encourage players to improve their gaming skills (Horwitz, 2022). Furthermore, accountability is enhanced because the scouting director can establish clear performance and professional parameters that ensure consistency and effectiveness (Russell, 2020). For example, Houston Astros and Jeff Luhhow were fired for sign stealing, which went against organizational ethical professional standards. Embracing a pre-scouting team improves preparation abilities (Horwitz, 2022). Players, coaches and health medics collaborate in preparing adequately before a match. This elicits an increased possibility of the team’s success over their opponents.
The players’ development is improved because they are familiarized with their strengths and weaknesses before the main match, thus improving decision-making skills regarding their playing role. Amateur teams allow coaches and directors to identify the best talents while improving others’ abilities through training. Therefore, the players develop the fundamental skills to establish a strong baseball player foundation. Such skills include hitting, pitching and fielding, as they determine the league’s success if incorporated effectively by the player (Horwitz, 2022). Accommodating the international scouting team allows the New York Mets access to diverse talents from which they can draw lessons to learn and improve their gaming skills. It expands its fan base, thus increasing revenue opportunities from exposure to global markets.
References
Russell, J. (2020, November 07). Steve Cohen officially takes over as Mets owner – and cleans house in front office. https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/11/06/mets-steve-cohen-front-office/
Horwitz, J. (2023). 2022 New York Mets Media Guide.pdf. /publications/MLB media Guides/. https://pressbox.athletics.com/Publications/MLB%20Media%20Guides/2022%20New%20York%20Mets%20Media%20Guide.pdf
Small, D. (2019, August 30). Mets scouting department undergoing extensive changes [report]. https://elitesportsny.com/2019/08/30/new-york-mets-news-scouting-department-undergoing-extensive-changes/
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