Well folks, here we are after another ugly loss and sit only
ahead of the Marlins with a still-winning record of 19-18. Jacob deGrom was obviously rushed back after
his hyperextended elbow and manager Mickey Callaway did his Terry Collins
imitation going to the same few relief arms again and again and again. He didn’t use Buddy Baumann at all after he
was recalled from AAA and let Corey Oswalt collect dust on the bench.
However, today is not going to be a condemnation of
Callaway, but rather a condemnation of Sandy Alderson and his off-season choices
that have perhaps led to the team’s run of bad performances. Obviously I’m not going to cite players like
T.J. Rivera, David Wright and Rafael Montero who were injured before the season
even began, but there’s plenty of fodder for this discussion.
Let’s start with the reliever, Anthony Swarzak. He has been in the league since 2009 and has
had exactly TWO good seasons, one for
Minnesota back in 2013 and again last year.
In between it was pretty ugly and he’s got a 4.22 ERA and a 1.327 WHIP
for his career. Granted, he was not
attached to a compensatory draft pick and we all know how “brilliantly”
Alderson has used his picks, so that made him desirable in that “lightning in a
bottle” value picking choice when significantly better options were on the
table. For Swarzak Alderson committed
$14 million. Think about that again for
a moment…do you want to know who cost less?
Steve Cishek cost $1 million less for a career ERA of 2.71 and a WHIP of
1.168. Luke Gregerson cost $3 million less
and has a career ERA of 3.07 and a WHIP of just 1.082. Joe Smith with a career ERA of just 3.06 and
a WHIP of 1.190 signed for only $1 million more. Now
the oblique injury is not something you can put on Alderson but it’s merely the
cherry on top of an e coli tainted sundae.
Next came the starter no one but Sandy wanted – Jason Vargas. Yes, it’s true that Vargas was an All-Star in
2017 but ANYONE WITH A COMPUTER can look up the numbers and discover he was so
horrific in the second half of the year nobody wanted him. At the end of the year he was allowing opposing batters
to hit to the tune of .297 against him and resulted in an ERA for that period
of 6.66. Over the year 2017 Harvey
pitched to an equivalent 6.70. They just kicked him to the curb. However,
they threw $16 million at Vargas for two years based upon that amateurish output…again,
no draft choice compensation was attached to him. Are we seeing a pattern here? Not only are bad choices made, but you don’t
even enter into the top tier of available talent due to those precious draft
picks that have resulted in a great many flops since the smartest guy in the
room took charge.
Jay Bruce and Todd Frazier were not as bad but one could
easily argue that one top tier slugger like J.D. Martinez plus Wilmer Flores at
3B would have resulted in greater productivity, but we understand that for a
guy who has eschewed defense for his entire tenure all of the sudden is
supposed to be praised for not handing a full time starting job to Flores?
Of course, the bottom feeding behavior has resulted in Jose
Reyes and Adrian Gonzalez being considered major additions to the roster when
again there were significantly better options there for the taking if you spent
more wisely or judged talent more astutely.
I feel the most condemning issue for Alderson is the lack of hope moving forward.
ReplyDeleteThe major league club shows no signs of greater potential moving forward.
The minor league system is not stocked in a way that offers hope of improving the major league roster in a significant way this year, or next year, or the year after that.
And Alderson has not communicated through words or action,a change in organization building philosophy that recognizes where his has failed.
What does Sandy do well?
ReplyDeleteSarcasm
He makes fun at the players he picked "what outfield".
He allows good core players to leave (Murphy), keeps bringing back unproductive ones(Reyes)
He took what? 3 years to replace Wright?
Was Sandy an upgrade over Omar? not sure.
Definitely did not deserve either of his 2 extensions.
ReplyDeleteFolks:
ReplyDeleteMorning.
We now have parts of 8 seasons to analyse what Alderson has accomplished here:
2011 - 2018: 570 wins 600 loses
He also has built no foundation that this team can build a future on.
I try never to say anything negative against someone with cancer, since I live with it every day, but there is a time and place for all of us.
I am sick of starting at the bottom.
Start with the top here.
Having cancer is not carte blanche for doing a bad job. If it is impacting his day to day responsibilities, then he should take time off to deal with his health which is far more important. If it's not, then it's fair game to chastise him for the miserable job he's done. At least Omar could spot talent.
ReplyDeleteNot really quite sure where a GM change will help, you're going to get a Ricco or Ricciardi who will have the same drafting and organizational philosophies that the Wilpons intend on instilling. It doesn't matter who is in the front office, as long as the Wilpons own the team, it's going to be business as usual.
ReplyDeleteOh, the imagery, Reese!
ReplyDeletee coli tainted sundae......I love it.
Sandy has been a mixed bag, but his last few seasons are definitely
not his best work. I am losing faith in his abilities and I am now openly wondering if we can do better?
Especially when I look at the speed of the Yankees and the Braves' turnarounds.
Sandy has had since 2010, right?
Why is Alderson running the Mets? Because Fred Cluless Wilponzee and his Genius son Jeff think Sandy is Brillant. As long as the Wilponzees own this team it will be more of the same. We might get lucky once a decade when the stars align. Look for them to play The draft on the cheap side. Fred thinks Sandy is Dandy.
ReplyDeleteWhether Wilpons are here or not, Alderson has proven himself incapable.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis is so up my alley...
ReplyDeletebut like many of you said it starts with the Wilpons... they are the cancers that need to be removed...
However a Good GM could be savvy enough to win here... At least I do hope and believe that.
Had we drafted Jose Fernandez, Seager and Judge (instead of Nimmo, Cecchini, and D. Smith) in those first 3 draft picks under Sandy we would have been light years ahead. Those were not the Wilpons. and even though Sandy or any GM actually chooses the player, the Bucks stops with them...
But... But...but...Reese has told us for years that it's all Terry's fault, and firing him would solve our problems. Now he's gone, and it's Sandy who "must go".
ReplyDeleteAnd for those who blame the Wilpons, I have bad news; they aren't going away. If you can't root for their team, find another.
I've been off the Sandy bandwagon since year 2013 when, after his chosen manager went 224-260, he REWARDED him with a contract extension. Hire a loser, get losing results and that's exactly what happened since the Skipper finished with a record of 551-583. A good manager in any business does not tolerate nor reward subpar performance. Sandy Alderson has proven himself to be a bad front office manager.
ReplyDeleteGiving up our first round pick in 2015 to sign Michael Cuddyer as a free agent was another bad move too. I expected more out of alderson when hw took over in 2010. Another tbing that bothers me to no end is his approach when it comes to the free agent market. He always talks about "letting the market come back to him" but what that does is allow other teams to sign the best available free agents while he settles for the remaining players on the clearance rack that no one else is chasing and we get what we pay for. Mediocre results. At what point does he realize that approach hasn't worked for him and hes let a lot of other quality players sign with other teams?
ReplyDeleteHey, we've gotten 2 fair outings out of an almost 33 year old Swarzak, and compared to Vargas, that's good, right? $30 million over 2 years for Frick and Frack. Awful.
ReplyDeleteBargain bin signings, unwilling to truly play with the big spending teams. Have to keep the cash flow freed up for real estate deals.
The Yankees want the stars to align annually. The Yankeescrecognize the competitive landscape in the Red Sox and truly prepare to win a war. As said above, our dummies hope the stars align once a decade.
We picked the wrong team to root for. Owners assume we will all stay loyal. Many don't. After all, Amazon plays in the Bronx. Buy that stock.
I hope Sandy noticed that 34 year old Chase Headley (6 for 52) was DFA'd by The Pods. Another chance for Dollar Tree shopping. We can have Old Timers Day every day.
ReplyDelete