SAVAGE VIEWS – Two Strikes

 

February 5, 2021

Seems there is a lot of vitriol being directed at Sandy Alderson in the wake of the accusations being leveled at Jared Porter and Mickey Callaway.  One columnist at the Post claimed there were two strikes against Sandy.  I suppose if there was a way to connect Sandy to the Beltran situation it would be three strikes and he is out.

When the Mets hired Jared Porter most of us considered it to be a good hire.  Porter had an excellent track record with the Red Sox, Cubs and Diamondbacks prior to be hired by the Mets.  He was considered to be a rising executive and the Mets were considered to be fortunate to have secured his services.

Mickey Callaway served as the Indians pitching coach for several years before joining the Mets as Manager for the 2017 season.  He inherited a dismal team and still managed to win seven more games than the 2016 squad.  The 2018 Mets won nine more games despite poor performances from the Seattle imports, Diaz and Cano.   His inability to manage relations with the NY media led to his dismissal.  Was he a poor manager?  I don’t think so.  I’ll gladly take any manager who can improve the team by 16 wins over a two year period.  Could he have done better?  Of course, but we can say that about any manager.  These are those who campaigned for Girardi or Baker.  Look at how well Girardi did in Philly last year.  As I have said many times before, I wanted the Mets to hire a young person who had the potential to mold the team over the next decade.

Now, was Alderson culpable in hiring Porter and Callaway without properly vetting them?  Both men were highly regarded and had worked for other organization in MLB and no red flags were raised.  Going forward all teams will have to re-examine their hiring practices to avoid being embarrassed by such accusations. 

I will admit to being a supporter of Alderson.  I think he has done a good job when given the proper resources and tools.  Thus far, he has had a successful off-season.   There is still work to be done.  Everyone agrees that upgrades are needed in CF, 3B and bench.

It appears that a Trevor Bauer signing is still a possibility.  Clearly, if that happens the Mets rotation will rank among the best in baseball and they would be among the favorites to make it to the World Series in 2021.  However, Bauer is somewhat controversial in his outlook and I wonder how well he would be treated by the NY media and how he would react.  I’ afraid of opening up a Pandora’s Box.

If JBJ is gunning for a 4 year contract at $15MM per, I say good luck in finding a team willing to satisfy his demands.  If necessary, someone like Jake Marisnick could fit the bill.  The Mets have enough firepower to support a weak bat in CF. Any way you look at it Nimmo cannot be allowed to play CF.

Perhaps passing on Bauer and Bradley will allow them to engineer a trade for Eugenio Suarez assuming they can retain their top seven prospects.  I also like the idea of adding MarwinGonzalez to the bench.

We’re a couple of weeks away from the opening of spring training.  It’s going to be interesting to see what additions are going to be made before then. 

 

Ray