Former KC Royals World Series hero interviews with Mets

One of the key pieces of the KC Royals 2015 World Series team is now an executive within MLB and would like to be a team GM.

When you think of the KC Royals 2015 championship team the top players who come to mind are Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Yordano Ventura, Alex Gordon, Salvador Perez, Lorenzo Cain, Danny Duffy, and Wade Davis.  One name who gets lost in the shuffle but was a game-changer is Chris Young.

Young was fabulous in his stint as both a starter and a reliever pitching almost exactly the same amount of games in each role that season.  He continued this trend into the playoffs appearing in four games with two of those coming in relief.

His three inning scoreless outing in the 12th-14th innings in Game 1 of the World Series falls just behind Gordon’s ninth-inning blast as key plays in the postseason.  It is not overstating it to say that without Young the Royals may not have won the whole thing.

The magic was all used up after 2015; Young struggled mightily in ’16 and ’17 before the KC Royals released him.  He quickly found work in the higher levels of the sport joining Major League Baseball as the vice president of on-field operations, initiatives, and strategy in 2018.

This spring he was named a senior vice president adding overseeing umpiring and determining the amount of fines and suspensions given to players and managers.  With his 6’10” frame, Young may be intimidating to argue with if your meeting is face-to-face.

It has been confirmed by sources that the New York Mets have interviewed Young for their vacant general manager position.  He obviously has the intellect to handle the job as a Princeton graduate with a strong background in analytics.

Young joins many other current KC Royals’ executives who have been interviewed for other open GM roles. Although at a young age with a bright future in the executive world of baseball predicted, some wonder if the Mets may be reaching:

"But the fact Alderson is considering a candidate without previous front-office experience could signal a difficulty in finding available top candidates, as teams continue to lock up talented executives. – nypost.com"

Whether or not he lands the role with the Mets it is apparent that their new ownership is looking at all potential avenues to change the fan’s perspective of the team.  And whether it is in New York or somewhere else, Young will bring the same competitiveness to the front office that he did on the mound.