NEW YORK -- The Mets appear to be adding a prominent member of Theo Epstein’s executive tree to their front office, as a source says the club has extended an offer to Jared Porter for the role of general manager. Porter, the D-backs' assistant general manager, began his career under
NEW YORK -- The Mets appear to be adding a prominent member of Theo Epstein’s executive tree to their front office, as a source says the club has extended an offer to Jared Porter for the role of general manager.
Porter, the D-backs' assistant general manager, began his career under Epstein in Boston and won four World Series championships between his time with the Red Sox and Cubs. His acceptance appears to be a formality. Porter had been linked to numerous GM jobs over the past few seasons, including the Cubs’ open position, for which various reports pegged him a favorite.
Instead, Porter’s next move appears to be to New York, where he will work under Mets president Sandy Alderson with expectations of building a perennial contender.
Porter has spent the past four seasons as Arizona's assistant GM, following stints as a director of professional scouting with both the Red Sox and Cubs. In both Boston and Chicago, Porter helped to end World Series droughts, winning titles in 2004, ’07, ’13 and ’16. Three of the four came alongside Epstein.
Along the way, Porter developed a reputation as a shrewd talent evaluator and well-liked executive. As news of the Mets’ decision to hire Porter broke on Saturday evening, praise came raining in from throughout baseball. One executive who has worked with Porter called him a “great, great human.”
“Mets got it right,” former D-backs pitcher Dan Haren tweeted. “He’s the man.”
Porter beat out a group of finalists that included A’s assistant GM Billy Owens, Red Sox assistant GM Zack Scott and former Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill. The Mets entered the offseason intending to hire both a president of baseball operations and a GM, but they pivoted due to a lack of acceptable candidates for the former role. Instead, Alderson elected to search only for a GM, seeking a young candidate, such as the 40-year-old Porter, who could feasibly grow into a president of baseball operations job.
Porter appears to be just that type of person. A Minnesota native who went to high school in Massachusetts, Porter attended Bowdoin College in Maine en route to internships with the Cape Cod League and the Red Sox. Once in Boston, Porter worked his way up the baseball operations ladder, topping out as director of professional scouting before taking that same job under Epstein with the Cubs. Porter quickly jumped from there to the D-backs, where he became an assistant GM for the first time under Arizona general manager Mike Hazen.
“It’s really important who you learn from when you’re a young executive,” Porter said last year on MLB.com’s “Executive Access” podcast. “It’s like going to graduate school for baseball operations.”
When Epstein left Chicago this winter, Porter became a prime candidate to return to the North Side as GM. But the Mets were able to offer growth possibilities in a way that the Cubs, with young president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer running the show, could not. For now, Alderson will retain veto power on all baseball operations decisions within the Mets' organization. He is 73 years old, however, and has spoken of his desire to be a “mentor” for the Mets’ next GM, grooming him for additional responsibilities.
“I would expect that I will be a little more involved in decision-making and mentoring,” Alderson said last month. “But I don’t expect to get down in the weeds, either.”
The charge of both men is to improve a Mets team that, despite a strong core of position players, has not reached the postseason since 2016. The deep pockets of new owner Steve Cohen should help. Cohen, who spent time Saturday chatting with fans at Citi Field during a season ticketholder promotion, was involved in the final portion of the GM interview process, according to sources, speaking personally to both Porter and Scott.
Since Cohen has taken over as owner, the Mets have been significantly more active than in past offseasons. Shortly after the transfer of power, Cohen hired Alderson to be team president. The two then mapped out a plan to fill out the Mets’ baseball operations structure, which they accomplished with the decision to hire Porter.
In doing so, the Mets fulfilled a dream. Speaking on the “Executive Access” podcast last year, Porter called a GM job “the pinnacle of our profession,” saying he “would love that opportunity someday” while acknowledging the difficulty of landing such a gig.
“You have to dominate the job that you’re in,” Porter said. “If you do that, if you focus on that and dominate that, you’re going to get other opportunities. So that’s kind of what I live by, is just dominate the job that I’m in.”
Anthony DiComo has covered the Mets for MLB.com since 2007. Follow him on Twitter @AnthonyDiComo, Instagram and Facebook.
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