Billy Beane called because he had a strong objection to the perception that working with Sandy Alderson for Steve Cohen’s Mets is anything but a highly attractive opportunity.
“The only reason I would consider leaving what I’m doing now is because of Sandy Alderson and Steve Cohen,” the iconic executive vice president of the Oakland Athletics told SNY by phone from the Bay Area on Wednesday night.
That begged the question of why Beane removed himself from consideration in the Mets’ search. To him, the answer was simple: His family is more important than his career.
“Creating chaos in my children’s lives for my own ambition feels like a selfish thing to do,” Beane said.
Beane has twin girls entering the same Catholic high school that his wife attended. They are involved in sports and have built a life there.
Because of that, and because Beane enjoys his work with the A’s and ownership stake in two European soccer teams and a cricket team, he made the difficult decision last weekend to withdraw from the Mets search.
But Beane has no patience for the narrative that young executives are reluctant to work with Alderson or Cohen. He sees the job as a tremendous opportunity to work with a passionate, well-resourced owner while being mentored by the executive who made his career.
In 1990, when the A’s sent Beane to the minor leagues, he instead asked Alderson for a job as an advance scout. Over the next several years, he became Alderson’s protégé in pioneering the use of advanced statistics that would later become known as analytics.
Beane succeeded Alderson as GM in 1997, and the rest is history: Low-budget success, Michael Lewis’ bestselling book Moneyball, and a movie starring Brad Pitt.
Beane is adamant that none of that would have happened for him without Alderson. And he noted that he valued his time with Alderson so much that he brought him back to the A’s front office after Alderson’s time as Mets GM ended in 2018.
Beane was irritated by speculation that he wouldn’t want to work under Alderson again, and adamant that a career-making chance awaits whomever the Mets hire.
“This is such an amazing opportunity for a young executive,” Beane said. “You get to work with one of the smartest executives of all time. I had that opportunity and I’ve been happy with the way my career has gone.”