Mets Make History With Highest Ranking Baseball Ops Employee

New York Mets approach new MLB season

Elizabeth Benn has just become the highest ranked female baseball ops employee in the history of the New York Mets. The appointment came last month when Benn was hired to be the Mets’ director of major league operations. 

It was the first front office hire made by Billy Eppler since he became the general manager of the baseball team. While the move is unlikely to have an impact on the Mets odds at most New York online sportsbooks, it does show a willingness from the franchise to change with the times.

Not that the hiring of Benn is some token gesture made by the Mets. She was a renowned pitcher who became the first woman to play in the New York City Metro Baseball League over five years ago.

Plus Benn gained further experience behind the scenes when she worked for the MLB’s front office in areas such as youth engagement and labor relations. She said that she has taken inspiration from other pioneering women in the baseball industry such as Jean Afterman at the Yankees and Kim Ng at the Marlins.

Benn’s main tasks at the Mets will involve areas such as roster construction, management and transactions. Alongside the general manager, Billy Eppler, she will be sharing tasks with the three assistant general managers, Ben Zauzmer, Ian Levin and Bryn Alderson. Other tasks include major league payroll, coach contracts and even travel.

What can Benn bring to the Mets?

Interestingly, Benn is a lifelong Yankees fan, but hopefully this won’t distract her from the task of keeping things running smoothly with the Mets. The team are currently locked in their spring training schedule where they have racked up some impressive performances. Yesterday saw a comfortable 7-3 win over the Cardinals which followed a 4-2 victory over the Nationals.

The fact that the Mets were narrowly beaten 2-1 by the Astros will have sent some alarm bells ringing, but upcoming training games against the Marlins, Astros and Nationals should give the team the chance to get up to speed.

All of this comes before fans can fire up their betting apps for the start of the MLB season proper with a fascinating game against the Nationals on April 7. With a good chance of improving on the lackluster form of the 2021 season, Benn’s arrival couldn’t be better timed.