When Steve Cohen came on board as the head honcho, he brought with him a very familiar face in Sandy Alderson. Most folks seemed to have suffered from some kind of temporary amnesia and thought Alderson was a terrific addition to the Mets front office.
Apparently they had not remembered the several suffering years of 2010 to 2018 when Sandy Alderson was fully or partially involved in the running of the Mets. Think harder and most of that time were the mostly losing Terry Collins years.
Now, not to be overly harsh on the Mets’ losingest manager. Collins could only manipulate the roster he was given. En route to his staggering 583 losses he was well liked by many of the players but he was not as successful at motivating them to play at their highest level. He could have benefited from having a better roster, but the owners at the time handcuffed Sandy Alderson, granting him very little money with which to obtain and develop players. Consequently the Mets were scrap heap picking for the castoffs from other teams and shopping in what Scott Boras called the “fruits and nuts” section of the supermarket.
Bringing back Sandy Alderson was, to be fair, a familiar voice of reason in how things can be done. Then it was revealed he would not be the GM, but instead head up some kind of President of Baseball type of title while they shopped for others to help out.
What happened next? They couldn't pry anyone loose from other ballclubs to help address the layer of management between Alderson and the yet to be named General Manager. That put Sandy Alderson back into the driver’s seat and the team announced they would have to wait until next season to get that other baseball executive.
Energy and enthusiasm went into the selection of a GM. After rejecting a great many viable candidates, the Mets confidently revealed that Jared Porter would be the new man in charge of roster construction and other GM duties. Well, we all know how that went.
This weekend rolled around after missing out on George Springer traveling north of the border to ply his trade for the Toronto Blue Jays. When the cost and duration of the contract was revealed, a great many fans were willing to forgive Sandy Alderson and Steve Cohen, echoing the sentiment it was too much money for a guy who most feel will be forced off of center field less than halfway through his six year contract.
Then came Sunday -- yesterday -- and frankly for a great many who had been pleasantly numb to the Sandy Alderson lean years suddenly found themselves questioning why rather loudly. Top lefty reliever on the free agent market, Brad Hand, signed with the division rival Washington Nationals for a sum of $10.5 million for a period of just one year.
Now, had the Mets been more clear about their plans, they could have picked up the same Brad Hand for one year at $500,000 less simply by exercising the option to sign him after the Indians cut him loose.
It’s understandable that Hand may want to play the free agent game again next season, assuming, of course, that the teams have turned profits and would be more willing to cough up some green. Or it could be that he didn’t want to come play second fiddle to previously loathed reliever Edwin Diaz. Or it could be that the Mets put on the brakes on any real offer given they’re obligated to pay Jeurys Familia nearly $11 million and Dellin Betances the $6 million he’s getting after pitching to a 7.71 ERA in 2020.
I had the opportunity to swap Sandy Alderson opinions with a great many people who are a part of the Macks Mets family. Some of the frustration and bad memories surfaced big time. I don’t think Sandy Alderson is incompetent nor do I think he’s a terrible choice for Steve Cohen to have made. However, right now, it would appear he’s in over his head wearing three hats as President, whatever the lost executive position is, and now GM as well. That’s not a good thing.
18 comments:
I think the Asst GM, who was runner up to Porter, should be OK as GM, and adding Eppler will help. Now, with Springer and Hand gone, we still have the mission to finish (for now) fixing the roster. I still am optimistic in that regard.
Sandy’s was hired to help get Cohen approved
So for that he was invaluable
But as a GM there was nothing to be excited about since he wasn’t great at acquiring major league talents
He didn’t even want cespedes and should have never signed him the second time
Reese - I think you nailed this. Perfect explanation on why Sandy is not getting things done. Though the word is that the Lindor trade was all his - though I would have kept Gimenez and signed Springer instead.
I would have kept Rosario and signed Springer.
Wow. . so many thoughts and so little time. I try to limit my Mets blogging time to my cup of coffee in the morning and a bit in the evening, but am bleeding into the day a bit deeper today.
Yes, Reese, good job. The executive team is just one area where this organization is out of balance.
I have been thinking recently about how the Mets are certainly not the Libra of baseball. The imbalance of righty-lefty hitters in the lineup that has been discussed is not even top five in my list of all the imbalances.
As you state, with Alderson and an assistant GM, it is hard to tell if and how decisions are going to be made for a while. Will it affect the extension discussion with Lindor, Conforto, or even Syndergaard or Stroman? I assume they have a strawman or some strategy of what they need, but without all the pieces in place, can they get it done? They are out of balance with a strong owner on one side and a very week baseball executive office on the other.
When Cohen was introduced, he was asked how long did he think it would take to win a championship. He said three to five years. If you ask a Mets fan, they’d say three to five minutes. Turning over a roster takes time. Convincing spoiled millionaires to come to NYC isn’t easy. There’s more taxes, more congestion, more stress of reporters. Bauer is dying to come - at his price of course - but the Mets are pumping the breaks on that, and personally I’m glad. The Lindor trade also got you Carrasco, who has historically been better than Bauer. Think of it as Lindor and Bauer for that package because obviously Carrasco isn’t a sexy enough name, and you save about $25MM too, allowing you to not piss off other owners by going over the Tax your first year in order to fill-in your roster.
With Jeff’s meddling, it’s very hard to know exactly what Alderson could do and what he couldn’t do. Collins was a Wilpon puppet that Alderson had to live with - that’s not easy. Marc Craig’s article was very informative about the structure within the Mets, and he never once used Alderson’s name.
If I may offer one criticism of Alderson, it was that he took a long time to fill the GM position taking that old saying “hire slowly but fire quickly” to an extreme. Maybe he was trying to impress Cohen, maybe Cohen wanted better? We don’t know. But, to Alderson’s credit he wants to bring in Eppler or another GM type to help with the workload.
When Sandy came on board (which I said was Cohen's first mistake), what the Mets needed was clear.
Center fielder, 3B, BP, starter.
What wasn't on the list? shortstop.
So, in his typical senile mind he trades for a superstar player at a position that was not a priority while including the only two ML ready shortstops at the position. No consideration was paid the the fact that after the 2021 season, there are about 5 prime shortstops who will be free agents including Lindor.
Some here will say "what done is done" which is true. But once the Mets traded for Lindor, how can they cheap out on players like Brad Hand?. He should not have been in the market for the Nationals to come in late and grab him. He should been a Mets long before that. Didn't he say that had him been in place when Brad Hand was released he would put a claim on him?. Then he goes and loses him over 500k?.
So, what holes do the Mets still have? CF, 3B, BP. Great job Sandy, seeing you work is as exciting as hearing my wife's honey do list on the weekends.
To Gus's point about Mets fans, the second half of 2019 was a huge teaser. They were very close to the best team in baseball for the last two and a half months (tied with the Dodgers for the best record in the NL after the All-Star break).
While 2020 was excruciating to watch coming on the heels of that promising run, I, and I think many of us, believe that wasting another year of deGrom greatness is a shame. 2021 should be the year to get it done for him. Much of the core of that 2019 team is still around and really entering their prime. Players like Conforto, Smith, Nimmo, Alonso, and Davis make up that hope. Thinking about the three to five years, will deGrom still be dominant? Will he have 2 or more Cy Young's and no playoff or World Series to show for it?
Now that they have obtained a true superstar in Lindor, a much better catcher in McCann, a solid pitcher in Carrasco, and a good bullpen pickup with May, perhaps they poised to strike in the coming year with only another tweak or two.
There are a couple of fundamental issues that need to be resolved, but if Syndergaard can come back strong, this actually could be the best year to get it all done.
On the weird, Covid, 2020 season: No matter what happens, a team can't lose it's #2 and #3 starters AND have it's #4 starter put up an ERA above 9.00 and compete.
Folks can blame Brodie for that, but oh well. No matter what happens, in any season, a team is not going to survive that -- make it a short year, and you are doomed. Especially when in concept the team was built around starting pitching.
Back to Sandy: I've never been a fan. I think he's competent, decent, a little out of touch and tired. He's never been particularly innovative or imaginative -- more cautious and capable. He obviously hasn't done a good job bringing together a full staff. Sandy was never supposed to have this much work to do, he's 73, the oldest GM in baseball, or have this much power. As he said, he was supposed to be a voice in the room.
That said: We have to wait to see how the off-season plays out. There are still so many, many players out there. And we will see more late, bargain signings around the league than ever before.
It's unfair to judge him at this point. There's definitely room to pivot and succeed. But it does feel more like the old way of doing things rather than, as we expected, going out and getting the guys we identify as the best available.
Jimmy
There are still many ways to upgrade the pen. That ship hasn't sailed . . . yet.
Colome would be a great addition. Just do it, you know.
The thing is, Sandy has to truly want to upgrade the pen. In his 7+ previous years with the Mets, his bullpen work was abysmal. Just an outright disaster year after year. In fact, Mets had statistically worst bullpen in baseball when Brodie took over, which led in part to the desperation of the Diaz trade.
I don't think Mets can count on Familia, Betances, or Gsellman. Maybe they get something out of 1 or 2 of those guys.
Need two more arms, in my view. Colome and maybe Wilson on a cheap deal.
Jimmy
The Yankees just made a trade with Boston where they sent Adam Ottavino and his $8MM this year, $3MM deferred salary, along with an A+ Ball pitcher just to clear space. The Red Sox take on all of Ottavino’s salary and get a guy similar to Tony Dibrell for nothing. Cashman is hysterical. He always seems to find a way during the off season to find a sucker but that doesn’t work during the season and it keeps hurting the Yankees.
Getting a GM apprentice in there will allow the flow of talent to start again for the
Mets.
Ups and downs, let's hope we make the right moves from here on out so we have a 95+ win team by opening day.
So, after getting burned with the "too quick" hiring of Jared Porter less than a week ago, the Mets are now rushing in on Eppler? Have they done their due diligence this time, or are they going to assume the Angels did that (like they assumed the Cubs and D-Backs did their homework on Porter)? How do we know he hasn't been hunting endangered rhinos in Africa or something?
And what exactly is Eppler's track record anyhow? He worked as GM for an owner in Moreno who was more than willing to throw money around in Anaheim and produced a team that has been mediocre at best.
A random question for any and all commenters and columnists out there. . (and apropos to this article, I think): What do you all feel is the ceiling for David Peterson?
That's an excellent question about Peterson. Many folks thought that Steve Matz was the second coming of Jon Matlack while others thought a converted shortstop named deGrom was just wishful thinking. You never know. I may query some friends and make it the basis of an article.
The reason I am asking is more about Alderson than Peterson. In the context of 'Is Sandy in over his head', it seems that his track record for drafting players is not good at all, especially from 2014 thru 2017.
Conforto was the #1 pick in 2014 and the only player to even get at sniff of the bigs. 2015 was barren with Szapucki as the fifth round choice the only one close. 2016 had Dunn and Kay and a guy named Alonso as the top three. Obviously both of the top pitchers have been traded, but neither is yet a productive and solid major leaguer. Peterson was the first rounder (20th overall pick) in 2017, and if the ceiling of your first round picks in that of a 4th starter, what does that say about the draft? I did like the Woods Richardson pick at #2 and still think he may turn into the best of the set of pitchers discussed here.
So yeah, Sandy's track record in this area is not splendid, can we expect better now? Particularly if the entire executive office is understaffed?
Remember 1969, Sandy has 6 months to get his team up to speed on this draft. Hopefully, it will be enough.
I watched just a little of an SNY game the other night that Peterson pitched in - unlike Matz, he seems skilled at being crafty - some very nice change ups.
On a craftiness scale, think of a guy like Luis Tiant, or even Bartolo, near the top of the scale. Where would you put Matz on that scale? I know where I'd put him.
Reese, I got thinking about that pitching comment from your perspective as well and it would be an interesting piece. Would like to see Szapucki added in the same light. Will he be any help this year? Next? Ever? He is the closest prospect to the majors in the system.
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