GM Possibilities - #10 John Ricco

Yeah I'm a few days late - so sue me! Do I honestly think Ricco is only #10 on this list? No I think his chances are definitely a bit higher than a number of candidates should Minaya step down or get the axe at season's end. He's a familiar face, and we know from recent years how the Wilpon's like to promote from within the organization. This list isn't for Fred and Jeff though, it's for you guys who would like to see a change at the head of baseball operations. So let's take a look at Ricco in the #10 spot. (Note: no John Ricco is not in that photo.)

John Ricco has been with the Mets organization since April 2004. Prior to that he spent 12 years in the Office of the Commissioner and worked there in a number of different capacities. He spent the bulk of his tenure there as the Director of Contract and Salary Administration, essentially managing the Labor Relations department. At that position he also worked with Major League GMs, ensuring their compliance with the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Ricco carried all that made him a smash at the Commissioners office and brought it over to the Mets organization. Together with his two headed stat team of Ben Baumer and Adam Fisher, Ricco has formed one of the more successful departments within the Mets front office. Yes some bad contracts have been doled out on his watch, yet it has been well documented that Omar is known to go against his advisers, such as in this Post article from 2007. From what I've read about Baumer, I doubt ANY stat projection he handed Ricco was a green light to give Oliver Perez $36 million over 3 years.

Would promoting Ricco to the GM role be the worst thing in the world? Absolutely not. He's well liked within the organization. More importantly for the Wilpon's, he is relatively unknown amongst the majority of the fan base. Seriously - finding a photo of this guy is a challenge (not even the AP has anything). This makes it highly improbable a stir would be caused by his promotion.

The big question mark behind any advance of Ricco would be his stat personnel and the status of scouting head Sandy Johnson. Should there be a big front office shift who knows if they stay / have any incentive to stay given the state of the team. In my honest opinion for the betterment of the organization it might be the right move to really cut ties and move in a completely different direction.