There's a theory going around that one reason the Mets didn't fire the very fireable Mickey Callaway on Monday is he provides cover for general manager Brodie Van Wagenen and chief operating officer Jeff Wlipon _ i.e., that if Callaway is gone and the team continues to struggle, people will focus their attention on the front office's mistakes.
I rejected that theory even before I heard Van Wagenen address the media on Monday afternoon with Wilpon standing nearby in front of a poster of the 1995 Mets yearbook.
If Van Wagenen has proved anything since Wilpon plucked him from the relatively anonymous and super lucrative life of a player agent, it's that he isn't afraid of the spotlight. Quite the opposite.
