30
2011
Recap: Alderson Speaks To Media At Citi Field
An article by Hojo's Mojo
Andy McCullough of the Star-Ledger took part in the media session that was held today by GM Sandy Alderson at Citi Field where he spoke to and fielded questions from reporters. He was also kind enough to transcribe the entire event which you can read here.
Basically Alderson had a lot to say about a variety of comments and I will provide you a quick summary of what was discussed.
Payroll
Alderson confirmed that he expects the team’s payroll to be between $100 and $110 million in 2012, but added that signing Jose Reyes would limit the team’s flexibility over the next two seasons. So basically the message was that if the Mets sign Jose Reyes, not to expect much more in the way of spending. That’s somewhat puzzling considering that the Mets will pick up about $55 million in salary relief just on the expiring contracts of Castillo, Perez, K-Rod and Beltran.
Re-Signing Reyes
Alderson also said that his front office has already calculated what their ceiling will be on a potential Reyes deal and he referred to it as his “breaking point”. That suggests very little wiggle room for negotiation. He has not made any contact with Reyes yet, but hopes to do that in the next day or two. He cautioned that most players who get to this point don’t typically make a quick decision and that this could continue deep into the winter.
Center Field
Angel Pagan is certainly no lock for the everyday center field job next season. Alderson indirectly took a shot Pagan’s defense in center field and stressed that improving it would be one of the offseason’s top priorities. Pagan is due a raise in arbitration and could be a non-tender candidate after a disappointing 2011 season. It was obvious that Alderson has several concerns about Pagan’s play. “Center field is a critical position for us defensively in this ballpark, with or without changes in the fences. Center field will remain a significant position for us defensively.”
Mets Closer
Alderson seemed to backpedal on comments he made last week that he does not believe next season’s closer was currently a part of this organization. Today he said that next year, “the closer can come from the organization”, but that he wants to have some backup options in place in case it doesn’t work out. Alderson also admitted that he will have to spend more on revamping the bullpen than he did last season.
Daniel Murphy
Alderson had plenty of praise for Daniel Murphy, but seemed unclear as to where he will fit in exactly next season, but sounded quite certain that Murphy will definitely be a part of the 2011 Mets either as a starter or a super-sub who can get 20 at-bats per week. He also said that whether Reyes re-signs could determine where Murphy will play next season which would suggest second base if Ruben Tejada were to take over at shortstop. Alderson said that Murphy had a “spirit and tenacity” that many of the other players should, but don’t have.
Mets 77-85 Record
Alderson was discouraged that the team started off poorly and ended poorly saying that both the first and last impressions were not what anyone wanted or expected. He cited injuries as one of the reasons, but also pointed out that the Mets had many under-performing players who did not meet a minimum level of expectations. He also said that one reason for the declining performance in the second half was “self-inflicted” due to the trades of Beltran and K-Rod. He was particularly disappointed with the bullpen who he labeled as a collection of six-year free agents, non-tenders, minor-league contracts and so forth. “Blowing saves at a pretty spectacular rate is debilitating on a team,” said Alderson.
Injuries Uncovered Some Gems
The Mets GM believed that many of the injuries the team suffered in 2011 came with a positive side-effect in that it uncovered some players that will be a big part of the future in Lucas Duda, Ruben Tejada, Dillon Gee and Justin Turner. “There were a number of guys who emerged and were very useful parts of the team this year, and will be in the future. So I think in that regard, too, it was an encouraging year for us.”
* * * * *
With 2011 coming to a close, it’s now fair to say that the honeymoon period has officially ended for Sandy Alderson. And while few would hold him directly responsible for this season’s 77-win season, he will be on the hot seat moving forward.
I didn’t sense an overall plan or strategy from his comments today, but I think it’s a little premature for that right now. He does have a solid grasp of what things need fixing and he left no stone unturned. For now, I believe that’s enough.
About the Author: Rob Johnson
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That says to me Santana is going to be the first to go but probably not until the trading deadline when a decision on Wright and Bay will also be made.
Wright will probably be in the same Boat Reyes was before the deadline. Show me you want to stay here and are worth the money your likely to get or I trade you for kids.
Santana and Bay will probably be traded with us paying some salary as further payroll reduction for 2013.
Good luck trading Bay. Unless he comes back strong in 2012 (sinuses willing to cooperate, of course) the only thing you’ll get for Bay in a trade is another, possibly worse contract. Think Barry Zito of the Giants for one, Adam Dunn of the White Sox for another. Those, of course, are just names that I can think of off the top of my head. Neither player is likely to inerest the Mets in the least. But if Bay keeps up a line of .251/.337/.386 those are the only types of players team will swap for Bay. Of course, if the Mets move the LF fences in Bay is likely to benefit. Ditto David Wright. Good Luck moving Bay, for anything! LOL
You pay his Salary then there is no risk to anyone to take him. They cut him and lose nothing!
And I will note the same things were said about K-Rod this year wreren’t they?
different situation. Plus, Rodriguez’s agent fouled up the no trade clause.
Not different in any way shape or form!
Rodriguez was the Mets closer, someone who is brought in for very specific situations. He was also not terrible. The Mets traded him to a team that could make better use of him and avoid his very expensive vesting option, which Rodriguez then negotiated away.
Bay is the left fielder, who plays everyday. also, he’s signed for 2 more guaranteed years, plus a vesting option easily attainable for a healthy starting player. He’s been disappointing, to put it nicely. He’s going to make at least $35 million over the next 3 years.
So, different in pretty much every way.
I don’t think there is too much chance of that option vesting Donal. I believe it’s 500 AB’s in both 2012 and 2013 or 600 in 2013 on it’s own.
No way the union can complain if Bay only plays 2/3 of the time and that’s about 400 AB’s, so we got him for 2 more years, maybe less if we dump him but come 2014 we’re Bay free for sure.
Not one thing you mentioned alters his tradability! not ONE thing!
Just a lot of words that do not address the subject at hand…CAN WE TRADE HIM?
Yeah we can trade him, if we eat all the money, otherwise what’s the point. We won’t get anything for him and there is no way of knowing if Fern will be able to compete in the Majors or even remain healthy.
Now come 2013 Lagares could very well be ready to take over and at that point it would make sense to just dump him for whatever salary relief is available and put that savings into another area.
We ate all the money due Beltran and got Wheeler…
We ate most of the money due K-Rod too!
Eat the money and you get something…
They ate 2 months of salary for each of them. Bay is due 2 more years plus at at least a buy out.
Plus, Beltran and Rodriguez weren’t depressing.
And keeping him isn’t changing ANY of that!
Paying for him and getting something for him might at least get a contibution out of the money you spent your not getting now and open up a spot for one of those kids you say we don’t have!
Yet when they get here hit like crazy!
let’s see by march 1st of the next season what exactly he’s done, let’s see how creative and smart he truly is. NOW is where he can show US whether he’s comitted to winning or not…
Does the season start on March 1 now? When did that change?
hojo, he also said this comparing free agency to grocery shopping: ” “You’ve got a list until you get to the checkout stand and then you start reading PEOPLE magazine and all this other crap ends up in your basket.”
what the hell he meant by that????
Don’t know what he meant by it Alex but if I had to venture to guess you could say that normally when you go grocery shopping you have a list and set out to buy the things you feel you need but when your get to the checkout stand you find yourself reading something in a magazine that you find interesting and by the time your done you wind up having more items that you don’t necessarily need but that you find you like and want to try.
In other words Alderson may have a list that says in it try to resign Reyes, get a closer and rebuild the pen but he may end up also adding some player that he may think he didn’t he would need or for that matter be available at the time he made up his list.
At least that is one way to look at it.
Thats pretty simple to translate…
You go to the market looking for some things and in the end and during the proccess you find other things that you need that you can afford!
This year Sandy is going to look for Pitching, In the proccess he may find a good OFer or Catcher that he thinks will be better than what we have and worth taking a risk on.
And it relates to his Payroll estimations.
He expects to have a payroll in the 100-110 mil area just he goes to the supermarket only expecting to spend X amount there. But he might spend more if he sees something wortyh buying (perhaps on sale) and the 110 Top limit could be gone over!
Nice, but who does the “crap” get into the shopping cart. Only if you fell asleep while shopping.
Meant how does the crap get in, not who.
Sign Jose, trade Wright for pitching. It’s a no brainer. The team is BETTER with Jose and no Wright than with Wright and no Jose. I am 100% convinced of that.
Move Wright and his nice looking stats on paper and replace him with Murphy or a Murphy/Turner combo at 3B. Those guys can deliver big hits in big spots and that’s what you need to win, not window dressing stats from a guy that also has problems hustling all the time, backs down under pressure and goes out of his way to make one handed catches in the infield. I don’t think we’ll see Murphy or Turner catching pop ups with one hand on the infield.
Do it that way and you’ll have your flexibility to make other moves like signing another starting pitcher to go along with the starting pitcher you get when you trade Wright and have already moved Capuano to the bulllpen to strengthen that area.
I highly doubt Bay will be moved and besides since the fences are being moved in it may give him new life.
Mike Francesa was saying how he would take Evan Longoria hitting .250 than Wright’s stats because Evan Longoria has a history of being a guy who delivers in big spots and I agree 1 Million percent. I’ve said here a million times I would rather have a LESS talented player at 3B but one who also is more capable of delivering the big hit in the big spot.
at minimum they just need to platoon Bay. he still hits lefties pretty well.
Who knows, could even be with F Mart.
I suggested that a few weeks ago. My only issue with that is do we want Martinez platooning up on the big club? Granted, he’d get a pretty good chunk of playing time being the lefty bat, but still, he’ll need to face lefties at some point.
It’s a credible suggestion. The only problem I have with it is the composition of the OF. Say it was Duda, Pagan (or replacement) and Bay. Add Fern and Hairston or someone else who can play CF and come in for late inning D in RF. I could see that happening. One thing it would do is give Fern another year here and it would allow us to protect a different kid who isn’t ready to help on the 25 this year.
Actually it’s a pretty good idea, depending on getting that 5th OFer who can also play CF.
what do you think Ankiel will cost? He’s not a terrible option.
Ankiel’s best year is equal to Pagan’s worst one. What’s the benefit?
more power and a better arm? Not drastically better in either case, but still, an improvement.
Ankiel is also a much worse hitter than Pagan.
Jason Bay will not be platooning next year.
Based on what?
Based on my opinion.
Well if Francesca said it………Really. First Michael Kay and now Fatboy. Unbelivable.
Plus it’s always a good idea to trade guys when their value is at it’s lowest. Even if Wright played exactly the same way he did this year he will almost have to have 10 more HR’s and 15 more doubles simply due to the fences and his back.
Murphy has a .933 fielding percentage in just 60 Major league chances at 3B and a .919 fielding percentage at 3b in two minor league seasons. To turn 3B over to Murphy even in a split situation would be INSANE until you KNEW he could handle it.
It makes perfect sense to him as long as it means replacing Wright. That’s all this is about, not about making the team better, but unloading Wright. First time in MLB history someone wasn’t driving in from 3rd base late in a game, first time EVER…………oh wait…….
After all, Murphy is still on 3rd and he saw it with his own eyes.
Well if Mike Frances says it, then it must be gospel.
Anyone that quotes that lardbutt and believes what he says is clueless.
Another member of the I hate Wright and will make up what every crap I want to.
I’m looking at Cots to see what the current commitments for 2012 are. Right now, we’ve got 5 guys on the payroll for next year. I’m not including Rodriguez in this. I think everyone else is either a free agent or still on their original league minimum deals. https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tfJWfaPG4VXbDyBscIZf1MQ&output=html
Santana $24 million
Bay $18.13 million
Wright $15.25 million
Dickey $2.75 million
Corrasco $1.2 million
That so far is $61.33 million. If payroll is going to hit $110 million, that leaves $48.67 million. Signing Reyes will most likely take at least $18 million. that leaves us at $30.67 million divided up amongst 19 players. Also, Pelfrey and Pagan are due arbitration raises as well. That will probably be another $14 million or so for both of them, assuming the are offered arb.
Now, we’re at $16.67 million for 17 players. Not horrible when you consider Ike, Tejada, Turner, Murphy, Niese, Gee, Thole, Beato, Herrera, Parnell, Evans, Pridie and Duda, are still all Mets property for league minimum. Put Martinez in there and its 14 guys for about $6 million. And we’ve got a few more guys in Buffalo that can come up. That’s a little under $11 million to get another starter, a right handed hitting catcher, and a center fielder.
Of course, this is under the giant assumptions that we
1) resign Reyes
2) can realistically rely on all those newbs.
And, oh, ya, I didn’t take into account the Rule V draft. We’ll need to put a lot of guys on the 40 man to protect them from poachers.
And if Wright is traded for a guy like Matt Cain (or equivalent) than you remove 15.25 million and replace that with around 9 million – Cain’s salary. So add 6 more million to work with and get another pitcher and let Pelfrey walk. I’ll go with Murphy/Turner or Murphy at 3B
Cain’s salary for 2012 is 15 M so there’s no savings at all but the trade proposal is way off. Cain for Wright? Please. The guy you hammer on every single day for Matt Cain? With his value at it’s lowest? C’mon.
Forget about the fact that Cain is a free agent after 2013. What’s his salary going to be then? I’ve heard a lot of crazy **** but this is ridiculous.
$15.333 million for Cain, so he actually costs more than Wright.
My mistake on Cain, I looked at his salary as 27 million+ and assumed it was divided by 3.
But my point is the same. Look for a team with starting pitching to spare that needs 3B, use David Wight try to make a deal for a good starting pitcher for around 9 million (give or take a million) free up some money and sign another starting pitcher.
So my premise is the exactly the same because I feel that’s the best way for this team to go. Unfortunately listening to Sandy Alderson speak sound very ominous for retaining Jose Reyes. As much as I think it’s the wrong thing to let him go I think Alderson is gonna do just that and to me it would be a HUGE mistake. David Wright is not a winning player, completely over-rated and the sooner we get him out of that clubhouse the better.
Why not look to trade Murphy for good pitching? The guy has NO position on this team.
David Wright is not a winning player – but Jose Reyes is?
Neither guy has won while a member of this team, but Reyes is a winner and Wright is a loser.
Reyes has spent the better part of 3 years on the DL, but he’s the winner and Wright is a loser.
Winning a batting title did not make the NY Mets better so don’t bother with that……..
In your wildest dreams do you think Papplebon may be available from the Sox? Buckner wasn’t safe in beantown for awhile and he may feel safer in a Met uniform. Is this realistic or am I nuts (don’t answer that)?
he isa FA after this year I believe, and hell yeah the Sox aren’t making a big push to keep him!
from sandy alderson: “He will be a Type A free agent, if he signs with another team, he will net the Mets two compensatory draft picks for next year”
HE’S ALREADY THINKING OF DRAFT PICKS?!?! that is not good news.
He’s reiterating a documented fact.
Pelfrey for Papplebon?
paplebon is a FA. isn’t he?
After NEXT year I believe. So he comes here for the year and maybe Beato takes over the following year?
Sorry Alex,
It shows in list for 2012 and I thought it was after next year.
I too feel that Jason Bay is going nowhere. He has shown life before he got hit with the flu/sinus problem. Moving in the fences will be a big help to him and to David Wright. There is little doubt that these guys and others were spooked by the dimensions of Cit Field. As far as trading Bay goes, we would have to pay most of his salary and would not get back much more in return unless we trade for another bad contract. I would keep him because he always hustles, and plays a good outfield. A .275 average with 30 homers and 90-100 RBI is what he has done in the past. He’ll do it again!
David Wright has been the face of this team for 5 years. The resigning of Reyes could determine if David could become trade bait. If Reyes stays we have Tejada to play second base and Justin Turner and or Daniel Murphy to play third base. A real good starting pitcher under 28 years old who can get us some complete games instead of 5-6 good innings is the answer for now. I’d do it in a minute for a guy with a live arm and good mechanics.
Alan I don’t really buy the whole spooked and in their head alibi’s about Citi Field.
If that were the case I really think they’d have been going more for the gaps but the strikeouts went way up because they were muscling up instead of adapting to a new environment. I’ll be the first to admit a RH hitter rarely sees a hittable inside strike. It is amazing how infrequently you see a ball wind up in the LF corner and even when you do it’s often times by a LH hitter going the other way. Pitchers are going to pitch to the park, rarely will a pullable pitch be seen but no one changed their approach and they were trying to “get their number” on the road which only caused even more strikeouts.