MILWAUKEE — The baseball landscape in New York could have looked vastly different over the past several seasons if a managerial hiring process had gone another way in late 2019. Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy revealed that he was the choice of then-general manager Brodie Van Wagenen to succeed Mickey Callaway following the 2019 campaign, a detail subsequently confirmed by Van Wagenen, who now serves as Murphy’s agent.
At the time, Murphy was serving as the bench coach in Milwaukee and found himself as a finalist for the New York position alongside Carlos Beltrán and Eduardo Perez. Murphy recalled that he badly wanted the job, though his lone reservation during the exhaustive vetting process was travel logistics. The Wilpon-owned franchise flew him to New York for three rounds of interviews, and Murphy humorously remembers being seated in a middle seat in coach on every flight.
During the interview process, Murphy participated in a mock press conference. Van Wagenen confirmed that the coaching veteran excelled throughout the evaluation phases, stating unequivocally that Murphy was his recommendation for the position.
Despite the glowing endorsement from the general manager, internal hesitation remained within the organization regarding whether Murphy’s folksy, blunt leadership style would successfully translate to the intense media market of New York. Jeff Wilpon stated in a text message that he could no longer recall what ultimately swayed the decision away from Murphy and toward Beltrán.
Beltrán was officially hired on Nov. 1, 2019. However, his tenure ended before it began when he resigned on Jan. 16, 2020, without managing a single regular-season game after being the lone active player implicated in the Houston Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scandal.
Murphy noted that the Mets made further inquiries with him during that subsequent leadership vacuum. Even though he harbored lingering disappointment over not being selected as the initial choice, Murphy acknowledged that he still held a strong desire to take over the managerial post at that time.
