There’s been recent news in Mets-land, as the club promoted Ben Zauzmer to Assistant General Manager (AGM). Zauzmer joined the Mets last year, hired away from the Dodgers to become the Mets’ Director of Baseball Analytics. Zauzmer becomes the club’s third AGM, joining Ian Levin and Bryn Alderson. On the front office org chart at MLB.com, the AGMs are listed third in the Baseball Operations section, behind Billy Eppler and Tommy Tanous, the club’s Vice President of Amateur and International Scouting.
Zauzmer graduated from Harvard in 2015 with a degree in Applied Math and Computer Science. He worked as an intern with the Phillies and then moved on to a full-time spot with the Dodgers before joining the Mets. Still listed on the MLB.com org chart as the club’s Director of Analytics, Zauzmer is/was one of 26 people in the Mets’ Research & Development department.
It’s an incredible rise and it’s natural to wonder where he fits in the pecking order of the club’s AGMs.
The other two AGMs have areas of emphasis along with their title. Levin has Baseball Operations in his title while Alderson has Professional Scouting in his. Since Zauzmer was also in Baseball Operations, it will be curious to see what his line eventually becomes. Perhaps it will be Analytics.
Meanwhile, according to his LinkedIn profile, Levin joined the Mets as an intern in 2005, first in Media Relations and then in Baseball Operations. Following the 2006 season, he was promoted to Coordinator of Amateur Scouting, where he spent six years. Next was a two-year stint as Manager of Baseball Analytics then two years as Director of Minor League Operations. Then came two years as Director of Player Development and then nearly three years as Senior Director of Baseball Operations. Finally, six months ago he became an AGM in July of 2021.
Back in 2013, when he was the team’s Manager of Baseball Analytics, Levin participated in a Q&A with FanGraphs’ David Laurila. Among other things was this quote, which illustrates how far the Mets have come in their analytics department:
“There is probably more of a public perception now about what we do because of Sandy Alderson and his history — his penchant for using statistics. But we’ve always done the analysis; it was just a little more under the radar before Sandy became our general manager.
“We have four people, in-house, working directly with analytics. Along with myself, there are Adam Fisher, TJ Barra and Joe Lefkowitz.”
Fisher and Barra are no longer with the club. Lefkowitz ended the season as the Manager of Baseball Analytics, the third person listed under Research and Development.
Moving onto Bryn Alderson, he spent eight-plus years with the Athletics before joining the Mets. With New York, he spent six years as a professional scout before being promoted to Assistant Director of Professional Scouting, where he spent two years. In 2019, Brodie Van Wagenen promoted Alderson to Director of Professional Scouting. Here’s what Van Wagenen said at the time:
“Bryn and Jeff (Lebow, who assumed Alderson’s previous position) are talented members of the baseball operations department,” Van Wagenen said. “Jeff Wilpon, Allard Baird and I have been incredibly impressed with their initiative, work ethic and creativity. Most importantly, these promotions are a direct result of their positive contributions to the Mets culture and winning mindset.”
It’s pretty common for fans to say that Alderson got to his position through nepotism but it’s clear that he’s done the time to earn his way up the ladder and one of his biggest promotions came under Van Wagenen. Alderson became an AGM at the same time as Levin last July.
In an article about the Levin/Alderson promotions to AGM, Andy Martino said this about Alderson:
This year, as pro scouting director, he has overseen the department as responsible as any other for the Mets’ success in the face of many significant injuries.
Any fan who is grateful for acquisitions like Kevin Pillar, Jonathan Villar, Billy McKinney, Albert Almora Jr., Aaron Loup, Jose Peraza and All-Star Taijuan Walker can credit the Mets’ pro scouts for their diligence in choosing the right depth pieces, some of which became much more than that.
Circling back to the present, we have a situation where six years after graduating college, Zauzmer becomes an AGM. It took Levin 16 years to get there and it took Alderson 18 years in baseball before he got his current gig. As mentioned previously, it’s an incredible rise for Zauzmer.
One has to think that Zauzmer, despite his age, is on track to be a General Manager in the not-too-distant future. He could be one of those executives that other teams contact the Mets about requesting permission to interview for their GM job. Or perhaps the Mets bump Billy Eppler to PoBO and make Zauzmer their GM.
Regardless of how it plays out, Zauzmer is clearly a guy to watch. Perhaps now he’ll be known more for his baseball skills than for his Academy Award predictions.
Brian,
A few days back you put up an article that posited that no POBO was necessary.
Now with 3 “Assistant” GMs, each with their own area of expertise and significant staffs, their boss is the de facto POBO. Owner Steve Cohen just decided to call him a GM in their org chart, which is savvy as it provides for some flexibility going forward both in importing new executive talent as well as blocking others from raiding his talent.
Zauzmer and Levin seem to have overlapping titles in their respective rises to AGM. Not sure Zauzmer brings anything new to the table. If true, why promote him unless you were grooming him for the next step?
Grooming him for the next step or keeping a young talent from making a move to a competitor.
Adding this additional seat at the GM’s table seems like a good move. If the Mets become known for bringing in and promoting solid talent within the front office, there might be more opportunities for innovative and creative strategies to take shape.
I wonder what he dressed up as for trick-or-treat this year?
A betting man might say – something super nerdy that only 3 people got and he had to explain his costume at every other door he knocked on.
I’ll go with Arnold Schwarzenegger circa his Predator.
A Rays move. Dodgers must be getting pissed off at Steve Cohen.
Thanks Brian for the profile on Zauzmer. He is an impressive young man. His promotion seems to be will deserved and speaks volumes that analytics is of primary importance to the Mets. I also appreciate the profile of Byrn Alderson. He also seems to be a deserving Assistant GM and it dispels the impression that it was nepotism.
Alderson the Younger was clearly a nepotism hire. I mean really, outside Loupe, a genuine find (but likely a 1-year starburst) thats not a list of heroes. If the entire Alderson DNA was wiped from the Mets, Im 100% certain they could find an equally capable replacement for him. And if I were Cohen, releasing both Alderson the Elder and Alderson the Younger would have been my very first move at the end of the season.
Armed with great analytics makes Buck a better manager. But he is a good manager to begin with unlike Calloway and Rojas. Little Alderson was clearly a nepotism hire both here and in Oakland but so what. If he has scouting skills and proves his worth, which he apparently did last year, than it is a non issue. Bravo for picking up Zauzmer who will apply his mathematical talents to baseball. If he was with the Dodgers he must know what he is doing- they have always been an organization with their heads screwed on right who put a competitive team on the field every year. Cash, brains and talent is a great combination.