Brodie Van Wagenen, former general manager of the New York Mets, joins Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Sports as COO

Former New York Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen was hired as chief operating officer of Roc Nation Sports on Wednesday, returning to the business of acting two years after his unconventional leap forward from baseball.

Van Wagenen, 46, had worked in the past with Roc Nation when he was co-director of the Creative Artists Agency baseball division, helping to negotiate nine-digit contracts for Robinson Cano and Yoenis Cespedes.

The Mets fired Van Wagenen as part of a broad overhaul of their baseball operations department, when Steve Cohen bought the team in November. Roc Nation, owned by Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and directed by Juan Perez, offered a role that includes head of strategy and business development titles.

“We believe in Jay and Juan’s vision in 2013,” said Van Wagenen. “We kept in constant contact with them. It was a natural return home.”

Van Wagenen, whose clients included Cano, Cespedes, Jacob deGrom and Tim Tebow, said he would focus on broader issues, rather than the daily work of his past as a baseball agent, but would remain active in the baseball world.

“Brodie’s knowledge of the business is indisputable and unparalleled,” Carter said in a statement. “Since we first worked with Brodie, we have realized the shared commitment to athletes on and off the field. He has always been a relative and is now official.”

Van Wagenen’s tenure with the Mets began with a highly successful negotiation that sent Jarred Kelenic to the Seattle Mariners via Cano and All-Star closer to Edwin Diaz. Although the Mets improved to 86-76 in Van Wagenen’s first year, they fell short of the playoffs. After the team struggled to finish fourth in 2020, Cohen emptied the office.