Since I’ve given Sandy Alderson flack for sitting on his
hands and doing nothing to improve the club, I thought I would take some time to
think back to some of the shrewd deals and clinkers made during this era in
charge of the Mets. Working in reverse
chronological order, green signifies a win and red a loss. For the sake of civility, I've left the Terry Collins contracts out of the mix:
2016
Yoenis Cespedes (twice – initial contract and 2nd
contract) – He surprised everyone with getting Yoenis Cespedes to
return at the 11th hour before the 2016 season began and surprised
people even more by getting him to agree to a four year deal to stay in New
York after the 2016 season ended.
Neil Walker – He played chicken and lost figuring
he would get a compensatory draft pick if someone else wanted to sign Neil
Walker. Instead, Walker took the QO and
now Alderson is on the hook for his 3rd highest paid player at $17.2
million, bad back and all, with the same soap opera set to repeat at year’s
end.
Antonio Bastardo – On paper this looked to be a
solid signing to fortify the pen but some guys just don’t perform well in New
York.
Carlos Torres on
waivers was another bad move as he appeared in 72 games for the Brewers with a
2.73 ERA for the season
Dilson Herrera for Jay Bruce -- The logic made sense as Bruce was leading the league in RBIs at the time he was acquired, Michael Conforto was a non-entity and his paycheck is below that of guys like Curtis Granderson and Neil Walker. Herrera, for all he did in the minors, never even made it to the majors with the last place Reds. I think to be fair this one is an incomplete since neither side benefited yet (on the field or as a trade chip).
2015
Yoenis Cespedes for Michael Fulmer – you have
to give to get and while in retrospect it hurt to give up a guy who has
flourished in the AL, the fact remains you don’t get to the World Series in
2015 or the post season in 2016 without Yoenis Cespedes’ bat.
Jon Neise for Neil Walker – It’s surprising
that the Pirates would even talk to Sandy Alderson after getting fleeced on
this one.
Addison Reed for Matt Koch and Miller Diaz-- Reed was simply brilliant down the stretch when the bullpen needed it most and he was even better in 2016.
Asdrubal Cabrera – Fortifying the shortstop
position where Wilmer Flores was hitting enough to stay in the lineup but his
range was somewhat statue-like
Alejandro De Aza –
It’s hard to get too down on this signing because at the time it looked as if
he would be the starter when Yoenis Cespedes was a free agent. However, de Aza was pretty disastrous!
Daniel Murphy – With a guy not only leaving but
helping the division winners with a near MVP season at what is a relatively
bargain price, Sandy has an omelet, two over easy, some poached and some
scrambled on his face.
Bartolo Colon – Bringing Big Sexy back for
another year was a lifesaver when just about everyone in the rotation went down
at one time or another with injury. Letting
him walk to Atlanta is not awful considering you have theoretically Robert
Gsellman, Seth Lugo and Zack Wheeler available to take over his slot.
Juan Lagares contract extension – While the Gold
Glove and the .281 campaign seemed like the start of something great, his
injuries and stagnant development have made this one a stinker. The way the deal is structured he gets
dramatically more expensive each year, so it might be prudent to trade him if
you can find another person capable of playing CF.
Jerry Blevins for Matt den Dekker – Arguably one
of the best trades Alderson ever made, den Dekker has struggled to maintain a
spot in the big leagues while Blevins has been rock solid. Too bad that hasn’t netted him a new
contract.
Extending Ruben Tejada – After turning in a .202
season, they kept him around and he “rewarded” them with a .237 season. So they extended him again to the tune of
$1.88 million (which, for perspective, is 1/3 more than they paid superior
player Ronny Cedeño in a similar role).
Finally they saw the error of their ways and cut him loose after another
year of ignominy and he’s struggled to get a major league job ever since.
2014
Bobby Abreu – Enough said
Michael Cuddyer – Not only did they rush into
signing him against seemingly no competition, but they also gave up a
compensatory pick to do so. Cuddyer was not
awful for the Mets, but he was not what they had hoped, delivering just 10 HRs
and 41 RBIs with a .259 average. That
was a very steep drop off from how he performed in Colorado.
2013
Bartolo Colon – A lot of people scratched their heads
when Alderson signed the portly PED abuser at nearly 40 years of age but he
looked like a genius when Bartolo Colon was healthy and effective for the two
years of his initial contract.
Curtis Granderson – I’ll get flack for this one,
but on the whole I grade it a negative.
He’s a high strikeout, low batting average power hitter who no longer
runs or throws (though still fields his position competently). For $64 million they were expecting more out
of him. His first season was a throwaway
and his last season was amazing in that he got so many home runs but so little
run production out of them. He’s a nice
guy, but Leo Durocher was right.
Chris Young – He was the first of many platoon
type outfielders that did not work for the Mets at all. Of course, he left here and flourished
elsewhere. It makes you wonder about the
hitting coach and manager that couldn’t motivate him.
Marlon Byrd and John Buck to Pittsburgh for Dilson
Herrera and Vic Black --
Parlaying a minor league invitee and a fading catcher into a prime prospect who
eventually netted NL RBI leader Jay Bruce was pretty brilliant. The somewhat disappointing part was how Vic
Black fizzled due to injury and control problems, but I remember writing that
when I saw him in person he was on a whole other level than the other AAA
pitchers when he was on his game.
Releasing Justin Turner –
This one may rank as more boneheaded than the Daniel Murphy decision. Turner was earning a mere $800K when they
decided to part ways and he’s just become a $64 million man for the
Dodgers. In his Mets career he didn’t
show the power he’s shown now but he did hit a very respectable .267. There have been many others paid a lot more
to produce a lot less.
LaTroy Hawkins – Another minor league
invitation who turned into solid gold for the club, I couldn’t understand why
they did not make an effort to keep him another year or so. He continued to pitch productively for two
more years for about $2.5 million per season.
2012
David Wright contract – If one deal will tarnish
the overall Sandy Alderson legacy, it will be the bizarre and foolish decision
in the height of the Madoff-forced period of extreme austerity to extend for 8
years a guy who seemed not to be hitting to his full potential since moving to
Citifield. At the time trading David
Wright in his then-healthy prime could have netted a boatload of players in
return and saved $138 million when there was no money to spend. At the time I was aghast they would offer
Wright this deal and then his health fell apart which made it even worse. The contract hamstrung the franchise for the
next few years and continues to place restraints on the team’s overall spending.
R.A. Dickey, Josh Thole and Mike Nickeas to Toronto for
Noah Syndergaard, Travis d’Arnaud, Wuilmer Becerra and John Buck –
While Travis d’Arnaud has not been able to stay healthy enough to produce a
full season and Wuilmer Becerra has not yet made it to the majors, at this
point Noah Syndergaard alone would make it seem like a steal.
Las Vegas 2-year deal – One of the dumbest moves
in the team’s history. I was especially
amused when they openly voiced concerns when they played in New Orleans that
the town might be too much of a distraction for the players. Yeah, Las Vegas is WAY less distracting…not
to mention hell on pitchers and Coors Field on steroids for hitters.
2011
Angel Pagan trade –
From reports this one was made more on the basis of personality than money or
performance and Sandy got skunked. To me
the return was Ramon Ramirez with Andres Torres being a throw-in who I thought
for sure they would cut rather than pay given his horrific performance record,
but pay they did and he made the Mets pay by hitting just .230. Maybe I’m being too harsh as he was coming
off a .221 season, so that’s actually an improvement. The surprise was Ramirez who’d been rock
solid for several years as a setup guy in the Giants’ pen, but just couldn’t
deliver in New York. In the meantime
Pagan hit .288 with 29 SBs in his first year for San Francisco. Ouch.
Scott Hairston – One of the few spare
outfielders Alderson picked up who actually was productive for a stretch…
Are there any solid wins or major losses I missed?
