Mets GM revealed terrible idea to hold a symbolic protest: ‘He just doesn’t get it’

He didn’t know he was being recorded.

Update: Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen and team COO Jeff Wilpon now say it was Wilpon’s idea to orchestrate a team protest, not Commissioner Rob Manfred’s. We have updated the article to reflect this change. 

When it comes to baseball’s leadership, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred was made just about every wrong decision. From not punishing the Astros players for cheating to his complete lack of awareness on social and racial injustice, Manfred has been an embarrassment.

On Wednesday, the Milwaukee Bucks responded to the police shooting of Jacob Blake by refusing to play their playoff game against the Magic. The NBA postponed games for Wednesday and Thursday. And in baseball, three Wednesday games were postponed due to player protests. The New York Mets did play on Wednesday, but Dom Smith kneeled during the national anthem and gave a tearful postgame press conference on racial injustice.

Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen — unaware that the Mets’ press conference stream was still live — detailed an especially tone-deaf idea that he believed was from Manfred on Thursday.

He said:

“Baseball’s trying to come up with a solution, saying, ‘You know what would be super powerful?’ — three of us here, can’t leave this room. They’re saying, ‘It would be really great if you had them all just take the field and then leave the field. And then they come back and play at 8:10.’ And I was like, ‘What?’ Rob (Manfred). ‘This job of scheduling is gonna be a nightmare, there’s so much at stake. And I said, ‘That’s not happening. They’re not playing.’ But that’s Rob’s instinct. Exactly what you and I were talking about — that leadership level, he doesn’t get it. He just doesn’t get it.”

Van Wagenen saw what he believed was Manfred prioritizing a staged “powerful” social moment (and avoiding interruptions to the schedule) over actually trying to hear out what the players were protesting about. MLB and baseball owners have influence in their communities. Baseball players have a platform. There should have been a dialogue.

But instead, it sure seemed like — according to Van Wagenen — that Manfred cared more about the theatrics of a protest than the message.

Update: Van Wagenen released a statement to clarify and apologize for his remarks, saying it was Jeff Wilpon’s idea, not Manfred’s. The Wilpons have also released statements.

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