Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen said on Wednesday night that he and other baseball operations leaders throughout the sport would be making donations in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, following nationwide protests against police brutality and racial injustice after the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor.
Those donations will be made to Campaign Zero, Color Of Change, the Equal Justice Initiative, the Jackie Robinson Foundation, and the NAACP.
Speaking Wednesday night during a Zoom call with reporters where he also talked about the 2020 MLB Draft, Van Wagenen discussed the donations and the Black Lives Matter movement.
"This was a conversation that started internally amongst that group," Van Wagenen said about his fellow general managers and their decision to act. "It was a conversation that is happening across our country right now. And we felt like this is an opportunity and a platform. ... to be in front of a national audience.
"We have a systemic racism problem in this country. It affects all of our institutions. Baseball isn't immune to it. And the way we discussed it was we have to have a voice. We can't sit quietly and watch the pain and suffering that continues to happen throughout our country, watching history repeat itself, and not say something with the voice we collectively have.
"So that's where the united for change comes, is that we were doing this together. We felt like we could amplify the Black Lives Matter message, because black lives do matter. And we're in a position both from a voice standpoint, but also from a financial one to be able to make an impact. And this was hopefully a first step of action that all of us can do as we go forward."