[MadMets]

June 4th, 2020

FLUSHING, New York : In a surprise move today the New York Mets have replaced their General Manager Brodie Van Wagonen with a relatively unknown 43year old Mikko Fightmaster. Fightmaster, who was a standout collegiate catcher at the University of Florida and the former Athletic Director at ITT Technical Institute, is taking over a team mired 17 games back in the National League East with a 26-35 record.

Team owner Fred Coupon has decided to retain the services of Van Wagonen as the teams new Assistant to the General Manager. Coupon was unwilling to define the role of the former GM stating that “There has never been a question as to Brodie’s front office acumen and we look forward to his continued contributions to the New York Mets.”

There appears to be no shortage of work for the new GM as the Mets rank near the bottom of the National League in most offensive categories while slashing .226/.310/.376 as a team. As expected, the Mets pitching staff is the real show at Citi Field boasting an NL best team ERA, runs allowed, and batting average against. Staff ace and two time Cy Young award winner Jacob DeGrom is anchoring the rotation with a 2.59 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and an ERA+ of 161.

The lone bright spot in an otherwise dismal offense is IF Jeff McNiel who is slashing .343/.394/.512 with 11 doubles through the teams first 61 games.

Time will be the great determinant of the value of Fightmaster’s 3-year $1.5m contract. “I’m ready to hit the ground running”, said a visibly excited Fightmaster. “Out first priority is the upcoming amateur draft and I plan to rely heavily on my assistant during this process”. The Mets, who have the 19^th pick in this years draft, will be looking to bolster their 17^th ranked minor league system. Fightmaster added, “It is going to be a challenge, a challenge I am looking forward to. Now, where did Brodie run off to, I need a coffee. It is going to be a long day.”