Those Mets

REBUILDING CONTINUES

FORMER DODGERS GENERAL MANAGER PAUL DEPODESTA NAMED VP OF PLAYER DEVELOPMENT

Sandy Alderson's remake of the Mets has started at the top. The new general manager added another marquee name to his front-office staff on Monday, naming former Dodgers GM Paul DePodesta vice president of player development and amateur scouting. Alderson and DePodesta worked together in the front office of the Padres from 2005 until Alderson's departure early last year. "I am thrilled to reunite with Sandy during this exciting time for the Mets," DePodesta said in a statement. "I know firsthand the type of vision and leadership he brings to a franchise. This is a tremendous opportunity to help develop a winning culture for the Mets and our fans. "Immortalized in Michael Lewis' bestselling book "Moneyball," DePodesta will also reunite with J.P. Ricciardi, another of A's general manager Billy Beane's former front-office staff members in Oakland. DePodesta, Ricciardi and incumbent assistants John Ricco and Wayne Krivsky give Alderson one of the most experienced front-office staffs in baseball. "Paul has one of the top analytical minds in the game and also has a strong background in more traditional aspects of player development and amateur scouting," Alderson said in a statement. "He will help establish direction, standards and continuity in all areas of our player development domestically and internationally." After helping Beane -- an Alderson protégé -- develop the A's into an American League powerhouse early last decade, DePodesta became the third-youngest GM in baseball when the Dodgers hired him in 2004 at the age of 31. Though Los Angeles made the playoffs not only that season but also three times in the ensuring five years, DePodesta did not stick around for all of the success. The Dodgers dismissed him after they missed the postseason in 2005 -- his second year on the job. The following summer, DePodesta joined the Padres as a special assistant of baseball operations, eventually earning a promotion to executive vice president and shifting his focus toward the business end of the franchise. In New York, the Harvard graduate will focus more exclusively on baseball operations, reporting directly to Alderson. Having begun his career with the Indians in 1996, DePodesta is most famous for his role as an assistant under Beane from 1999-2003. Jonah Hill will play DePodesta's character in the upcoming movie adaptation of Lewis' "Moneyball," the book that introduced DePodesta as an unwavering proponent of advanced metrics. Displaying those statistical leanings in Los Angeles, DePodesta made a series of controversial moves with the Dodgers, most notably trading wildly popular catcher Paul Lo Duca to the Marlins as part of a package for Brad Penny, Hee-Seop Choi and Bill Murphy. DePodesta's hiring, along with that of Ricciardi, provides yet another glimpse into Alderson's strategy during his first year in New York. Aware that the Mets cannot be remade overnight, Alderson may act conservatively regarding player acquisitions this offseason, allocating a large chunk of his baseball operations budget to front-office personnel. Ricciardi, DePodesta and Krivsky are all former GMs who have worked closely with Alderson in the past; Ricco is widely considered a future GM and one of the game's rising front-office stars.