A’s VP Billy Beane reportedly steps out of running for Mets job

The A’s may not know exactly where they will be based a few years from now, but at least for the immediate future, Billy Beane will still be part of the organization.

Beane has reportedly removed his name from consideration to head up the New York Mets’ front office. MLB reporter Ken Rosenthal broke the news Monday.

Beane had been tied to the Mets’ opening for several months with their front office in turmoil after the firing of general manager Jared Porter. It was no surprise that the 59-year-old was on the short list of a franchise that badly needs stability.

Beane’s mentor, former A’s executive Sandy Alderson, is leading the Mets’ search for someone to run their baseball operations. Beane also would be a huge public-relations hit in New York, given his success and name recognition — not to mention that he was the Mets’ first-round draft pick in 1980.

Publicly, Beane downplayed rumors about the Mets’ interest, allowing only that he’s been approached in the past. The closest call probably was in 2002, which was detailed in the film “Moneyball”, when he turned down the Red Sox offer to become their general manager.

When asked about reports linking him to the Mets, Beane earlier this month told reporters, “I wouldn’t even know that, honestly. Normally the process is they would call the owner which has happened in the past. But to worry about this is to lend credibility to it. It’s all just press reports.”

It appears the process advanced to at least the point where Beane needed to bow out of consideration.

Speculation in the Bay Area was that Beane might consider a move to New York in part because of the disparity in payrolls between the two organizations as well as the A’s ongoing stadium issue and relocation talk. The other part to that equation was that Beane, in his first move with the Mets, would take A’s manager Bob Melvin with him to Queens.

Beane to the Mets figured to be a longshot. He makes around $8 million with the A’s, owns a minority share in the team and has deep Bay Area roots. He might not be around as much as the old days — GM David Forst handles most of the day-to-day operations — and he is involved in other pursuits such as English and Dutch soccer, but Beane is very much involved in the A’s baseball operation decisions.

Whoever takes the Mets job will be clearing up a significant mess in New York instead of just taking over a team on the brink of reaching the next level.

Despite having the third-highest payroll in the majors and stocked with stars Jacob deGrom, Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor, the Mets finished eight games under .500. The Mets have had one winning season since losing to the Giants in the 2016 NL wild-card game.

The Mets have gone through three managers and three GMs since 2017, and also have had their share of embarrassing moments over the past few seasons.

Porter held the job for just over a month last winter before being fired over sexually explicit text messages he sent to a reporter in 2016 when he worked for the Cubs.

Zack Scott took over for Porter on an interim basis as the Mets continued with Alderson in the team president’s role, but they appear likely to move Alderson into an advisory role with a new face taking over as president.

Beane isn’t the only prime candidate the Mets missed have missed out on: The Brewers denied New York’s request to speak to Milwaukee GM David Stearns, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post.