Elizabeth Benn was on a baseball operations call with her new Mets front office colleagues on Tuesday when reality began to set in.
“Yeah, I was trying to figure it out in a professional environment, but I was also always thinking, ‘Wow, that’s so cool that’s my job,'” said Benn, the new Mets major league manager. operations, said Wednesday on SNY. “The way they talk about players was just fascinating to me. I learned a lot during this one hour call just by listening to these guys talk.
The Mets announced the addition of Benn to their baseball operations staff on Monday, making her the highest-ranked woman in the department in franchise history.
Benn joined the Mets from Major League Baseball, where she has spent the past five years — most recently as the senior baseball operations coordinator. She said her main responsibilities will be roster construction, management and transactions while working with general manager Billy Eppler, his three assistant general managers (Bryn Alderson, Ian Levin and Ben Zauzmer) and the rest of the staff of the baseball operations.
“On top of that, anything major league players and personnel,” Benn said. “So the major league payroll that I will be working on, coaching contracts, performance staff, clubhouse and travel related things. So really all about the major league players that I’m going to be working on.
Benn, who grew up a Yankees fan in Toronto – her mother is from Jersey City – said she looked up to Yankees assistant general manager Jean Afterman and Marlins general manager Kim Ng (whom she worked with in the MLB) as the women of baseball who came before her. .
“I know people look up to me and watch what I do, so I want to do the best job I can,” Benn said. “It’s not necessarily because of my gender or the fact that I’m the first in this role with the Mets, but it’s just the way I generally like to work.
Now Benn — a former pitcher who became the first woman to play in the New York City Metro Baseball League — will chart her own path as a member of the Mets’ front office.
“I thought for a while that I would at some point consider moving to a club from the commissioner’s office,” Benn said. “I didn’t think it would happen again, but this opportunity came up and really, every box has been ticked that I would want to go to a club. Talking to Billy Eppler initially, I couldn’t imagine a better GM to work for and his leadership is incredible. It’s just a really great team and front office to come right now. So I’m absolutely thrilled to get into this.
