Philadelphia Phillies Tried to Poach Key New York Mets Executive Amidst MLB Lockout

The New York Mets have been the most put-together team this off-season. The Mets secured several key squad elements that are bound to help them this season prior to the lockout. Even after the lockout had begun, the Mets made some key hires. Notable among them, Buck Showalter. The Mets seem to be making a push for a deep post-season run and certainly have the roster to match those ambitions. But a large part of squad building is also squad retention. And Mets seems to have done just that.

The New York Mets reportedly have denied the Philadelphia Phillies permission to engage in talks with Ben Zauzmer. The executive that was working with the New York Mets in an analytics role at the time. He was apparently on the Phillies’ radar for another vacancy that they had; That of Assistant GM. However, the Mets never allowed such a possibility to come to pass.

New York Mets deny Ben Zauzmer permission

The NL East rivalry had almost spilled into the front office hires for both the teams. Prior to confirmation of Billy Eppler as the Manager, the Phillies came to the New York Mets with a request to interview Zauzmer.

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At the time, Ben was part of the rapidly growing analytics division of the New York Mets as the head of the Analytics and R&D division. The shift in hiring would likely have been an upgrade for Zauzmer as he would have filled the role of Assistant GM at the Phillies. Add to it all that Zauzmer is a Philadelphia native, and it was likely the best possible scenario.

However, the Phillies were dismissed without further questions. This is likely down to the fact that the owner, Steve Cohen, sees Zauzmer as an integral hire in the Mets’ vision to build.

Who is Ben Zauzmer?

Zauzmer was a part of the Mets’ aggressive data analytics expansion strategy. Cohen, Sam Alderson, and then acting GM, Zak Scott hired Zauzmer from the LA Dodgers in 2020 to oversee their growth from one of the smallest to one of the largest data wings in the AL.

Ben Zauzmer was elevated to assistant GM of the Mets the month following the Phillies’ advances. Possibly as a part of his retention package, Zauzmer has been given additional responsibility; While the Phillies went ahead with the hiring of Anirudh Kilambi for their assistant GM role.

The higher-ups at the Mets clearly saw something in Zauzmer. Reportedly, he was a perfect amalgamation. Highly capable of innovating with numbers, Zauzmer was a peoples person. With an unusually high EQ, or emotional quotient, Zauzmer excelled at relating to others and communicating complex concepts without condescending.

And when the opportunity to get someone like Zauzmer presented itself, the Mets were not going to let it slip away.