As the bidding continues in the sale of the Mets, general manager Brodie Van Wagenen said Friday it was “business as usual” as far as he was concerned in running the team.
“I anticipate it remaining that way until there is or isn’t a change,’’ Van Wagenen said.
The first round of bids were due Thursday, but the GM said he was still in constant communication with Jeff Wilpon, as well as his father Fred, about the day-to-day running of the team.
“Truthfully, it’s not a process I’m involved in,’’ Van Wagenen said.
Instead, the upcoming season is what’s most on his mind.
“I think the important part for us is that we continue to focus on a pretty simple effort,’’ Van Wagenen said. “Our job is to go and try to build the best team we can and create an environment where this team can win each and every year. That’s been our focus. For me personally, I’m excited about the present and I’m excited about the future. And I know everybody that’s working in baseball operations has the same enthusiasm. … There are no distractions.”
Of course, a new ownership group could impact Van Wagenen’s job standing, though the GM said he is looking at the process with “genuine excitement.”
The bad weather arrived early on Friday as Tropical Storm Fay hit the area, which forced the Mets to alter their schedule. Instead of an intrasquad game, pitchers were limited to bullpen sessions and playing catch, while other drills occurred inside.
With Opening Day slated for two weeks from Friday, it wasn’t an ideal time to not be able to get a full day of work in, but manager Luis Rojas said it wasn’t much of a setback.
“From a pitching standpoint, we felt pretty good that an extra day [of rest] was OK,’’ said Rojas, who wants to play as many games as possible the rest of camp. “It won’t do any harm. We’ll use those pitchers [Saturday].”
Jacob deGrom’s performance during a three-inning intrasquad game Thursday made Van Wagenen confident the right-hander is “ready to go” for the regular season.
Rojas added deGrom, who gave up one run in the outing, looked “really good. He was easy again and repeated the delivery on all his pitches.”
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Other pitchers who have stood out to Van Wagenen include veteran left-handers Justin Wilson and Chasen Shreve.
Van Wagenen said the Mets are planning on opening their alternate site in Brooklyn “as early as next week” and will then add players to the 60-man pool.
When it comes to third base, Rojas said they have several options, from Jeff McNeil — who may also be used at second and in the outfield — as well as Luis Guillorme, J.D. Davis and Eduardo Nunez. He even said Jed Lowrie might be a possibility “at some point.”
Rojas liked what he saw from prospect Andres Gimenez during spring training in Port St. Lucie, and the manager said that’s still the case during spring training 2.0 in Queens.
“In spring [training] he started to hit the ball over the fence,’’ Rojas said of the 21-year-old infielder. “In this camp, he’s been very solid.”