Reese Kaplan -- Big Changes for the Mets May Not Be in the Cards

Right now there are a lot of off-the-field Twitter-verse arguments going on between Mets owner Steve Cohen and a variety of anonymous critics who seem to enjoy taking potshots at the team's demise.  Cohen has pointed to an oustered Florida Marlins front office employee, so whatever is being said isn't grounds for much of anything but water cooler talk.  

However, accompanying this revelation was the now very public news that Sandy Alderson intends to be back next year.  That news was enough to cause agita among a number of fans and media representatives who were hoping to see a clean sweep of the front office in the attempt to build a new and winning direction for the Mets team.  

Even more alarming is the announcement by Sandy Alderson that he's leaning on bringing back Luis Rojas for another shot.  Bear in mind that winning was never an important ingredient for him.  Witness the Terry Collins losing years where the man was retained again and again despite his record.  Consequently, it is not all that surprising to see Alderson ponder the easiest thing to do which would be to do nothing.  

Of course, the announcement made both prematurely and without the underscored authority to proceed in this direction could just be posturing.  After all, if the Mets are serious about bringing in some new front office personnel, it could be that he wants that person to lower the ax on Rojas' neck rather than he being the bad guy.  There's nothing new in that strategy as it allows Alderson to hold his head high, shake it from side to side and say, "Hey, it wasn't my decision!"

Already people are jumping all over the Theo Epstein bandwagon as the somehow savior of the organization, but he's had some ups and downs as well.  We won't even go through the whole litany of them, but bear in mind that Jared Porter and Zack Scott were formerly his employees as well.  That doesn't sound like someone who is any better at vetting his staff than the wishing on four-leaf clover Sandy Alderson.  

Also many clubs are reaching out to promote or extend the contracts of their top front office folks to keep Steve Cohen from poaching them from wherever into Queens.  That's smart business by the other teams and something I'd like to see more of in New York given the somewhat ludicrous headlines that had less to do with winning games than it did for following featherweight strategies to try to become competitive.  

As much as I would like to see a new field manager, it is much more critical for the team to focus on the many contractual decisions they need to make for departing free agents, players whose game skills are limited in one way or another, and addressing the pitching gaps that will exist both in the rotation and in the pen.  Furthermore, something needs to be done definitively about Robinson Cano after his one year unpaid vacation.  The would-be free agent think tanks needs to arrive at a decision on Javy Baez, another one about Noah Syndergaard, another one about Jeurys Familia, another one about Jonathan Villar, and a critical one about Aaron Loup.  

I've said in the past and will reiterate that you should not solely rely on the owner's deep pockets to buy a pennant.  For every Aaron Loup deal that works, you have Francisco Lindor, Kevin Pillar, James McCann and others that do not.  The correct route is a blend of in-house or otherwise acquired young players who will be around for several years at minimal cost supplemented by some true stars earning top dollar.  There has been neither side embraced fully.  They're not the old Yankees and not the current Tampa Bay Rays.  As a project manager, I'd like to see a plan!