According to high-ranking personnel within the Mets organization, John Ricco is believed to be the leading candidate to ultimately replace Omar Minaya's successor as general manager of the Mets, the Daily News has learned. Ricco, 41, joined the organization as assistant GM in April 2004 after spending 12 years working for the commissioner's office at Major League Baseball. Using his experience at MLB, where he helped oversee arbitration and waivers among other tasks, Ricco is the point man in the Mets' front office for rules compliance as well as statistical analysis and the financial ramifications of maneuvers. Minaya credited Ricco with proposing the Jeff Francoeur-for-Ryan Church swap that was executed a month ago, but Ricco's background primarily is administrative and not in evaluating players. As a result, Ricco likely would need to lean on his deputies for recommendations.