21
2011
Jeff Wilpon: Alderson Could Bring Anybody He Wants, He Has No Restrictions
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Repeating what he has said since hiring new GM Sandy Alderson, Mets COO Jeff Wilpon told the NY Post that Alderson could bring in any players he wants and that he has no restrictions.
“He’ll have all the opportunity in the world to bring anybody he wants in,” team COO Jeff Wilpon said yesterday, without giving the GM carte blanche. “The way for him to do that is to bring the ideas to us and we’ll talk about it. But he does not have restrictions. We’ll deal with everything on a case-by-case basis.”
On October 29th, Fred Wilpon said in his press conference to announce Sandy Alderson, that the new GM will be afforded the same latitude as Omar Minaya regarding the signing of big players, “We have gone over budget 100% every season”, Wilpon said. “We never said no to any player Omar wanted. Alderson can come to us and discuss any big players he wants just as Omar did.”
Jeff Wilpon also brushed off the notion that the Mets will not re-sign Jose Reyes.
“Sandy and I have had conversations about all the different scenarios that could happen with Jose. When asked if he had lost hope that Reyes would remain a Met, Wilpon said: “Why would we? There’s a long time between now and next year [and there are] a lot of things that can happen in a lot of different directions.”
Despite the very low key spending this offseason, the Wilpons have been consistent in saying that the new GM could add payroll if he wanted, sign who he wants including a big name player, cut unmovable contracts like Castillo and Perez, and have a wide lattitude.
Aside from cutting Castillo and Perez, we haven’t seen those other things play out this season, in fact we’ve seen the opposite. But is that a function of the Wilpons, or is Sandy Alderson just implementing his own way of doing things?
One of the very first things Alderson said regarding payroll was that he thought the Mets payroll was too high. He made that comment in an interview with Mike Francesa shortly after his introductory press conference at Citi Field in October.
During Spring Training, when asked about the approximate $60 million dollars that will come off the books in 2012, Alderson warned, “don’t expect any shopping sprees”.
By the way, in a conference call I participated in, he was also asked about that $60 million and he jokingly said that he might need all of it to sign Jose Reyes. It was pretty funny.
I think what we’re seeing this season, is just a new shift in the philosophy of running the Mets with regard to spending and budgeting.
Alderson is so inherently different than any of the other Mets GM before him, that it will take some getting used to.
He is busy working his plan and whether or not the Mets were at $145 million in payroll or $200 million, he doesn’t have any desire of exceeding the $125 million dollar threshold from what I can gather.
I don’t know how that will play out in this very demanding big market, but that’s how it’s going to be regardless of how much the Yankees, Phillies and Red Sox spend and win.
We’ll just see how it goes…
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.
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The definition of insanity: “Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result”. Well this is insanity. The Mets sell us the same crap this time of the year every year and do nothing. After not signing free agents, Omar used to say that they didn’t sign player “X”, because they wanted to be able save money or have flexibility for deadline deals. What dealine deals have they made? Bottom line is that this is more Met white noise.
So Alou, Bay, Beltran, Santana (yes, I know he wasn’t technically a free agent, but they still needed to get him a deal), Glavine, Alomar, Bonilla, and on and on weren’t big deals?
My comment is about Met deadline deals that never happen despite all of the yearly “we can add payroll prpaganda. The Mets are famous for floating potential deadline deals, only to tell you that the other team was asking for too much. I may stand corrected, but I can only think of Tony Phillips in the late 90′s. I agree they’ve made many free agent signings, but they never seem to pan out. Beltran, although in a quiet manner, has panned out. Again, my beef is the same deadline rhetoric about “adding” payroll at the deadline, not about free agents. I would rather have the Wilponzi’s say nothing. It beats blowing smoke up our kazoos. Personally, I hope not to have any deadline deals and hope to begin to build by trading our bust or impending free agents with the exception of Reyes. As far as I’m concerned, everyone but Reyes is tradeable. I have faith that Alderson will bypass big free agents and build via trades. I have wanted that for many years.
The worst deals in baseball always occur at the deadline, by buyers. Smoltz and Bagwell were dealt in deadline deals by desperate clubs. So was Isringhausen and Kazmir.
Personally I’m glad Omar didn’t make any deadline trades. I’m sure he had numerous opportunities but wisely held off because of the cost to the future.
Six years (or more) of a Wilmer Flores could be 100 times more valuable than 3 months of a Wandy Rodriguez.
The Cliff Lee deal could be worth exploring because if you don’t resign him at least you can recoup a 1st and supplementary round draft pick (pending the new CBA) but most of these deals never work out for the buyer.
One thing I think Omar doesn’t get enough credit for (even by his supporters) is for not making the franchise crippling trade born out of desperation or delusion.
We would have to pass seven other teams in order to win a Wild Card in just slightly over half a season. Gaining 4 games over two or three teams is certainly a good possibility but playing better than all seven of them? Highly unlikely.
Even if we were to win the Wild Card, while anything could happen (and frequently does) we would still have to face better pitching staffs to get to the Series.
High strikeout starting pitching is what propels teams through the post season. We don’t have the guns right now to support a go for broke move.
Our focus should be on getting guys that will help us win multiple World Series’, not just help us get one Wild Card.
I like the idea of not spending money just because they can. The most attractive free agent to be out there is Reyes, so, hopefully, they will be able to resign him to a mutually beneficial deal. Perhaps something front loaded.
As great as Pujols is, he’d only be a complication here.
That said, I think Jeffy is just blowing some smoke here. Trying to get the more emotional of the fanbase to keep spending money right now.
I agree, further I don’t really get the point in talking about “adding”… the same people who want the Mets to add a big name at the deadline are the same people in love with Matt Harvey. Probably can’t have both.
Plus, I remember this convo last year. The Mets looked like a contender in mid July and we (me included) were talking about additions and then they flopped.
I’m tired of the same old Mets. I don’t mind them spending $150m on a team. I just want it spent wisely. If it’s spent wisely, then you don’t badly need additions in June. And if you don’t spend it all, then you have $ to add.
Spending $150m and being under .500 to me, there’s no excuse for it. That’s why I want them to just start over. Everybody loves homegrown players, but those same people constantly beg for big free agents and big trade deadline deals.
I like how Wilpon says “But he (Alderson)does not have restrictions” and at the same time says “The way for him to do that is to bring the ideas to us (Ownership) and we’ll talk about it.”
I’m probably misreading it but the 2 seem to conflict with each other.
What we have in Alderson is a GM who knows what he wants and how to do it. He performs his functions with a plan and a vision that doesnt change based on each season’s payroll budget number whatever that number may be. Unlike Mianaya who was an epic failure in developing a plan and sticking to it, we now have a GM who sticks to guns because he knows his plan is a good one. The $125MM figure you mention is a good number and many championships were won with much less. The Yankees should not be our model for success. You may not see Alderson sign a big name this year or even next, you know when you will see one? When the team is a player away from winning it all. What godd is signing a huge free agent if you’re still 3-4 other players away from being a top team? Omar signed players to make splashy headlines but always ended up making disastrous headlines by the end of the season. Our new GM is smarter than that and only cares about putting together a team that go all the way and then sustain it with it’s farm and with it’s core players.
BINGO! I completely agree with your statement. I feel Sandy’s plan will instill some long-term stability in the organization, something we’ve sorry lacked in our entire history (not counting the Cashen era).
Agree completely.
Deja vu all over again. How can you tell when a Wontpon is lying? His lips are moving.
The problem isn’t adding the problem is subtracting. I love Wright and Reyes and I’d love to see them finish their carreer with the Mets, however I think the two collapses coupled with injury plagued seasons have destroyed them and their chances of winning with the Mets it’s in their head now. I’m positive if one or both leave they will continue to be All Stars and everyone will say we never should have let them go but something has to change and the only thing that has been the same the last 4 years has been Wright Reyes and Beltran.
At this point, whenever anyone with the last name Wilpon opens their mouth publicly, I just want to punch somebody. We should be taking this w/ a grain of salt at this point. Why should we believe anything that Jeff Wilpon has to say anymore – since he has such a great track record? Please disperse – nothing to see here!
Omar had a great eye for talent (although be it sometimes old talent, and Bay… ugh) but evidently didn’t have the negotiation skills one would like in a GM and grossly overpaid players to come play in NY. You could argue that most of that was trying to convince a player to play in NY, but if a player needs to extra $$$ to want to play here, then thats a player that shouldn’t play here. Alderson, I believe, will get just as good of talent, without the bloated contracts.
so let me get this straight mr wilpon, saber alderson has no restriction, but if he presents an idea to you, you will basically think about it??
that’s like going to the mall, seeing a shirt you like and checking your wallet to see if you have enough.. or in your case mr wilpon, no money at all.. this is embarrassing, are we supposed to believe this guy all of the sudden?!?
i had tickets, and so far have been given them away!!
[...] agree with Joe D, who stated the following in a post to Mets Merized Online earlier today: I think what we’re seeing this season, is just a new shift in the philosophy of [...]