21
2013
Alderson Makes Another Joke About The Outfield
An article by 
According to the NY Times, Sandy Alderson was at it again on Saturday night at the annual dinner sponsored by the New York chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America.
Addressing the audience before he introduced Rusty Staub and Bud Harrelson from the pennant-winning 1973 Mets, Alderson impishly said he had good news for Mets fans: “I’m in serious discussions with some outfielders that I just met on the Internet,” he said.
The line got a big laugh and became the latest instance in which he has poked fun at his own team, which has had too little talent and too little money in the two seasons he has been in charge.
As for the Mets’ outfield, it now consists of Lucas Duda, Mike Baxter, Kirk Nieuwenhuis and two recent pickups — Andrew Brown and Collin Cowgill. There’s not a single everyday player among that group, nor anyone guaranteed to hit even .250 on a part-time basis.
More gallows humor from Sandy as he gets set to preside over his third straight losing season as Mets GM. The Mets outfield was the least productive in the majors last season, so the good news is that it can’t get any worse. However, I would caution you never to look directly at the Mets outfield in 2013 or you could cause permanent damage to your eyes.
Our own Jim Mancari was on hand covering the event and he will have something posted with many of the more serious and less comical moments from the evening as well as quotes, pics, etc. from some of the players in attendance.
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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Well, you can say this about Sandy – he is shooting for the number one draft choice next year. He does have a plan!
hey so long as you have a Harvard degree and use words with more than 4 syllables in consecutive sentences, does it really matter what you say?
http://articles.courant.com/2010-10-29/sports/hc-web-sandy-alderson-20101029_1_citi-field-signs-four-year-deal-jerry-manuel
“I view the position of general manager of the Oakland — excuse me, of the New York Mets,” he started, eliciting groans from the crowd.
Sorry folks, but your standards for excellence were met as soon as you saw Sandy Alderson’s diploma.
He has been nothing but a public relations nightmare, putting his foot in his mouth time and time again.
I can not recall one incident where Omar every bashed another player in baseball, another GM, another fan-base. I cant recall one incident where Omar made fun of his own team. You can say he spoke like he was a normal avg Joe, you can say he made some bad decisions, but Omar ( who grew up rooting for this team, a few blocks from Shea Stadium ) had something that Sandy Alderson can never graduate with….and that was a sincere love for this franchise….
Sandy has a distance between himself and this club. His legacy is not tied to it, he has no aspirations of being a GM elsewhere, so what does it matter that he throws the players under the bus? what does it matter if he makes fun of Washington signing Werth, or Pablo Sandoval by saying his nickname got him nominated for the ASG, ( not the fact that he was hitting .310 with 9 HR at the break, or the SF fans for voting him in.
Sandy has time and time again, put his foot in his mouth, because at the end of the day, Sandy has no future working for any teams anymore. Why should Sandy care if the Mets win 100 games or lose 100 games ?
“Sandy has a distance between himself and this club. His legacy is not tied to it, he has no aspirations of being a GM elsewhere…”
Which is why Selig sent him to the Mets to save the ownership. A perfect person to come in and gut the team. He doesn’t really care about the players or the fan base – he works for Fred and he is doing a great job.
“Pablo Sandoval by saying his nickname got him nominated for the ASG,”
Yeah but you have to admit that was a hilarious comment.
and there was a legitimate gripe about Sandoval …
There were a bunch of people who argued (and with good reason) that it was numerically impossible for a city the size of S.F. to make up the ground in votes that they did in the time they did it to over take David Wright and NY., believing the system was hacked or rigged somehow.
I know Joe D. recently posted about Commenting Guidelines…though at this moment it’s so hard to abide by them.
Alderson’s a funny guy. That’s good since this season we can either laugh–or cry.
Maybe instead of SNY, the Mets can have their games broadcast on Comedy Central.
This guy is such a joke and embarrasment
Stay tuned everybody. I’ll have photos and quotes tomorrow. Mostly from Dickey and Phil Niekro. And also the stuff Joe wrote about Sandy
Gallows humor, indeed. Its like Sandy is one step away from open insubordination. He should just go for it & publicly bitchslap Fred & Jeffy already. Its not like they can fire him, & the best part is that he knows it. Sandy feels ou pain & he is one of us (wink)!
How good would Carlos Beltran and his 30 home runs 90 RBI’s run scoring production with great RF defense have looked in our line-up?
We couldn’t offer Beltran a 13-15million deal?
ss Tejada
cf Baxter/Newhouser
2b Murphy
1b Davis
3b Wright
Rf Beltran
Lf Duda
catcher
pitcher
If Murphy hits .300 with 15 home runs
If Baxter/Newhouser can hold their own
If only we had given signed Beltran
If Davis continues to improve
We could have been a contend.. whoaaaaaaaa! hold on lets not get crazy..
But sheeet! I do miss Beltran!
There’s something wrong with Sandy Alderson and it becomes more and more evident each and every time he utters the absurd which is occurring with increasing frequency. This is a very self-absorbed person.
Sandy Alderson sounds like a man assigned to a job rather than striving for excellence.
Who is Sandy Alderson’s real employer, Major League Baseball or the New York Mets?
Hi Lifelong,
That is an interesting observation about the way Sandy comes across. It could just be his style, however.
What I think is wrong is that he is making jokes about the outfield as if the Mets were making their best efforts to resolve it and are hitting a wall instead of building it instead. It’s funny when coming from an outside source but insulting to the fans when said by the one who saw fit to make it that way.
It also does appear put-down of the players we do have – and though it is one thing for the fans to do so (right or wrong) that type of humor should never come from the one at the top even if it’s just at the expense of being humorous.
I’ve often heard that, but why? If an employee doesn’t do well, you’d think his boss would be the first one he’d hear about it from. I get not airing these issues to the media, but then you have this elephant in the room situation where you’re watching someone desperately trying to put a positive spin on a ridiculous circumstance. He’s just being honest, in a funny way, which I actually appreciate.
Well take it to the extreme Matt…
If a guy accidentally nuked Kansas it wouldn’t be very good for him to make a joke about Not needing night lights in Kansas anymore….
Someone ELSE could maybe make that joke at Sandy’s expense but it was kind of like the joke was on US…hahahaha I didn’t get you an OF soo funny isn’t that hilarious?
Lets see how hard he’s laughing when he is the only one in the stadium watching this joke of a team.
I bet his laughter will echo through the emptiness of the ballpark so loud, he will even scare off the crickets!
Sandy Abbott needs a short fat guy and then they can do comedy together. Abbott and Costello’s routine never identified the name of the RF.
The names given in the routine for the players at each position are:
First Base: Who
Second Base: What
Third Base: I Don’t Know
Left field: Why
Center field: Because
Pitcher: Tomorrow
Catcher: Today
Shortstop: I Don’t Care/I Don’t Give a Darn/I Don’t Give a Damn
right fielder is never identified
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who%27s_on_First%3F
How depressing… Normally when you identify a problem you don’t joke about it. You attempt to address it.
I think Sandy is too caught up thinking in 80′s prices for these Free Agents.
The man is a complete IDIOT. What will happen in trade talks. “Oh sure Sandy you are willing to trade Baxter, Duda and Nuwenheis. You all but called them losers and garbage and now you want me to take them off your hands. Go blow it up your A..! ” You see how loose lips will come back to bite you. What an IDIOT! Oh I already said that, but it is worth repeating.
Remember his remarks about Dickey, Ike, Wright and Reyes. He never did anything to help the team when they were 46-40 at AS break and FF mysteriously injured. We’re facing the two teams ahead of us the Braves and Nats on the road. All downhill fast from there.
i know. i never saw a guy who likes the sound of his own voice so much.this guys arrogance knows no bounds.what a dbag.
It’s ironic that the biggest joke in baseball is this clown Sandy Alderson. He’s so ignorant that he believes they are laughing at his dry sense of humor not knowing it’s him personally they are laughing at. The oldest GM in the game is in the throes of senility and delusion.
The sad part is that Terry Collins will pay the ultimate price for the outfield Sandy built.
Can I be honest for a second?
I think people need to get a grip and stop getting hurt feelings about one line jokes a guy makes at a dinner.
Mark Texiera was at a dinner for my organization and during his speech he torched his team for going silent with the bats in the playoffs.
Nobody woke up the next day acting like Mark is a bad teammate or insulted people.
I mean really, get over it. He’s using pop culture to make a joke and using a team relevant subject to make sure it hits the audience. Big deal.
I mean really it’s gotten so bad that this guy can’t sneeze without people questioning the color of his snot.
Wanna know why he did it? Here’s why
“The line got a big laugh”
We wanna question his actual efforts with the OF, be my guest. Go get em. But acting like a 1 liner at a dinner function is a crime against anybody but comedy is really a stretch.
Case closed.
jessep — I never take what a GM says seriously. Whether it’s Omar, Sandy, Ricco, Beane, or Cashman. They all have to speak guardedly and can’t give the media or fans the real deal on what’s going on behind the scenes.
There are one or two fans who think what a GM says is important and who will spam a thread with quote after quote on Sandy. It’s irrelevant. (With the exception of attacking people perosnally; A GM should never do that.)
The only thing that’s relevant is what the GM does for the team. I know, people are going to say that Sandy hasn’t done squat for the OF yet. And that’s true (with the exception of letting Bay go). But spring training hasn’t started yet, so he still may make some moves. And personally, I am more worried about the bullpen than the OF. The Giants won the WS with a sub-par OF. They won with pitching. So the OF to me is not the most critical aspect of the team. The bullpen is.
So I don’t worry about what Sandy says, or what fans say about what Sandy says. Actions speak much much louder than words.
While I agree, didn’t you just post that Alderson’s informal offer was evidence of a legit offer? You not only took what he said very seriously, but you took what he said while offering a flimsy statement of an informal offer “way too seriously.” Lets commit to only discussing real offers in the future and not hypothetical or informal ones.
KMaxx — Let me make this clear – I was talking about things that are not factual assertions. If it is a factual assertion, I will take anything at face value. For example, if the GM says they went down to Virginia to talk to Wright after the season, then I am going to believe it. There is no reason not to.
What I will never take seriously are plans, projections, estimates, speculation, opinions, theories, or assessments made by a GM regarding something in the future or the subjective state of something in the present or future.
Factual assertions regarding things in the past = YES
Speculative hypotheticals and opinions = NO
“Factual assertions regarding things in the past = YES”
Like Sandy Alderson stating he never made Reyes an offer !
No, like Sandy asserting there was a CLEAR UNDERSTANDING between him and Greenberg as to what the Mets would be willing to give Reyes — and that was up to 100 MILLION DOLLARS!
So, while not a formal offer, it was essentially an offer in every other respect, and Reyes would be a Met today if he had merely said YES!
up to 100 million IF Reyes performed well enough to hit certain incentives…
the same reason why no one calls Santana’s contract a 165 mil contract…its only the guarenteed portion !!!
Since Sandy has never put out what the guarenteed portion is ( and neither did the anonymous source ) we can speculate to our hearts content how much LOWER than 100 mil that number is…
it could be 70 mil with 2 options for 15 mil a pop !
it could be 55 mil with 3 options at 18 mil a pop !
Hell it could be a 10 mil contract with 9 options at 10 mil a pop !
How many players do not take the guarenteed contract and instead take the contract that he has to take a risk on ?
Sandy knew that by making that offer, Reyes was going to turn it down, unless he had NO OTHER OFFER….which is why Sandy in November said this was going to take several MONTHS!!!
He was waiting for all of the offers to come in, so he can give the low-ball parameters that Reyes would never accept !
Its not like he offered a 106 mil contract with options that make it 120 ( the marlins did that )
106>80
Uh, no. “If reyes performed well enough” was not a part of the option. He just had to be healthy and stay on the field. That’s it.
And Santana’s option is different. It’s a CLUB option. Plain and simple. Which means the team has TOTAL control over exercising it.
The option year in Jose’s contract would have been a vesting one. All Reyes had to do was stay on the field and it would vest, whether or not the club wanted that.
And Sandy said in the video clip it was “an option” .. SINGULAR. Not multiple options.
There are many players who turn down more guaranteed money to play where they want to. Sandy was hoping Reyes would do that for the Mets
And, nonsense … Sandy did NOT know Reyes would turn down that offer. Even after Sandy made it clear to Greenberg the Mets were willing to offer up to 100 MILLION, Reyes did not immediately accept the Marlins offer. He had to go to his father and ask for his advice. It was not a slam-dunk.
The fact was, besides the Mets and the Marlins there were no other serious offers. NONE. And the Marlins initially low-balled Reyes. So if Loria hadn’t upped his offer, Reyes would be a Met today without Sandy having had to raise the 100 MILLION package he offered Reyes.
2014 club option becomes player option if Santana:
wins Cy Young award from 2008-13 and finishes second or third in the Cy Young vote in one other season or ranks second or third in Cy Young vote in any 3 seasons, 2008-13
OR
is on the active roster for the final 30 days of 2013 season, and:
pitches 215 innings in 2013, or
pitches 420 innings in 2012-13, or
pitches 630 innings in 2011-13
SO NOPE, if Santana is healthy and pitches 215 innings, it becomes a 165 mil contract, a figure no one uses or refers to
David Wright on the other hand has a 8 year 138 mil deal. No stipulations. very plain and simple
While both parties were initially far apart, what about the art of negotiating a settlement? Was Sandy in turn saying to Jose’s agent this was his first and only offer with no formal talk about deferred payments like what was worked out with Wright and even Bay after his release?
Sandy did not want to negotiate with Jose’s agent prior to his walk year though he did with David Wright’s agent. Yes, it is understandable that the injuries that riddled Jose the prior two seasons could make one hesitant but at the same time, would not that have been the most opportune time to negotiate from a Mets standpoint when Jose’s value was the lowest? Just because Jose’s agent didn’t try to initiate talks at that time, it did not mean Sandy couldn’t have made an attempt on his part.
As it was, Sandy did not attempt to meet formally during spring training, the first half of the season or after the season ended when the team still had exclusive negotiating rights. To contend Sandy wanted to re-sign Jose but that Jose’s agent was insisting on too much in an informal conversation without even sitting down to negotiate with counter-proposals is suggestive that his intention was not to re-sign the shortstop at all. Informally talking about a figure he knew his shortstop would not accept – just like the offer initially made to R.A. before the trade – does not represent even informal talks prior to sitting down.
Sandy is astute in the art of negotiation. Jose’s agent wasn’t the first to initially ask for unreasonable figure. Sandy knows and expects that. Executives do not conduct high level business in the informal way many people are suggesting if there is a business option they wish to pursue. They evade formal meetings when there is no interest and that is the way Sandy conducted himself. If he was considering re-signing Jose, he would have used his persuasive talent to at least try and get that figure lower when he felt was the most appropriate time for his advantage. If Jose’s agent refused to budge, that would have been a whole different situation.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/answers-mets-jose-reyes-contract-negotiations-gm-sandy-alderson-hurry-deal-article-1.138457
What Sandy does not factor in….
the NY fan is siiiinnnnnaaaacle…..suspicious….highly sensitive….rabid…..and once u get caught double-talkin….everything u say is under a microscope….
hell when Omar’s 2006 team was banging through the league and WFAN callers were still wondering if he didnt have a HS diploma ( which he did ) and that he talked English like he was running a bodega….
Can I be honest? Do you have to ask to be honest now since you got caught lying?? Why can’t you just always be honest or at least attempt to be honest like the rest of us?
Alderson made a similar joke on interview with Mike Francesa last week during a very serious interview to recap his offseason. He said the outfield was so bad that all three positions really needed to be upgraded and he didn’t get to it.
He also made a joke about the outfield in Nashville too or right before the Winter Meetings.
Your agenda is showing again.
20 something comments and only one person who isn’t angry about the outfield. YOU.
Jessep: We got rid of Jason Bay didn’t we? Outfield upgraded, mission accomplished. Alderson kept his word about significant changes in the outfield.
I got caught lying being an anonymous moderator because adults were acting like children in a chatbox that made the site look like a joke. And now where is said chat box? Oh right… “gone” and soon gone for good.
The moderator was the problem, not the actions by those who forced the site to get a moderator. Makes sense. Go away, if you wanna talk baseball – lets talk. If not, move along
“I got caught lying being an anonymous moderator because adults were acting like children in a chatbox that made the site look like a joke.”
No, you got caught lying because you will make up any old story to make your side look good
There’s a difference between being angry at the state of the outfield and being angry at a joke at a dinner that Alderson makes at his own expense.
The anger from a segment of the fanbase right now is so high, they’re going to get angry at anything. If the club tries to put a positive spin on things, they’ll get slammed for not telling the truth and being out of touch. If they tell the truth, they’re undercutting their players. If they try to make light of it, they’re accused of not caring — despite gallows humour pouring forth on every website on a daily basis from fans who obviously care incredibly deeply.
Yup. The outfield stinks.
Yup. Alderson owns not having done something to fix it and he’s admitted as much
Yup. He made a joke about his failure to find a solution. A joke. At a dinner. Rather than standing up, flaying himself with the salad tongs, while weeping and moaning “I’m not worthy! I’m not worthy!”
Egads.
Switch to decaf.
Maniac, stop it.. You shouldn’t even deal with this guy… He’s one of the reasons why Joe D has lost a lot of credibility on this site. People like you, bayonne and others have become very angry with him because of his defense for this SB. It’s a shame he doesn’t see JesseP for what he is, a slimey, slithering snake who’s nothing but an opportunist. Don’t waste your time trying to paint him as a what he is to Joe D or anyone else, don’t waste your time with him because it truly is not worth it, this guy’s greatest moment as a mets fans was when alderson got hired, this guy knows nothing about the game of baseball nor the mets and their history. who at 4 years old celebrated like crazy the championship? only a F’ing liar that’s who
You mad bro?
I agree with the Colonel here. The line was funny. And simply a dig at himself, recognizing what people are saying.
Jessep: If a guy could mock himself n dry humor if the joke is solely about himself that does not involve players and the fan base which is concerned about the 2013 version of OF as it stands now. Its like a general saying carry on and he is withholding weapons to compete in the battle. As you know I completely supported SA during the Picard lawsuit that is main mission was survival of the Wilpons as owners. Now SA has deferred money to SPEND and is still looking to give out minor league contracts. It is NOT solely the Wilpons fault. For SA to be derelict of his duty to improve the 2013 team and insult and mock his players: Dickey, Ike, Wright and Reyes and lie and say he is not punting 2013 is starting to wear on me. I go by facts and I never had an agenda for or against SA.
Hi Jessep,
The one thing about the Texeria joke is that he was torching his own self as well as his teammates. It was an attempt to be humorous at his own expense.
The joke made by Sandy gave me a laugh as well. however, many of us find anger not with the joke itself but with the bigger picture and thus the hypocrisy behind it.
Joey — How is that hypocrisy? Sandy was making a joke at his own expense.
His own expense?
How much does he pay to have to watch this team play?
SA acts as if he is powerless to do something. Then he complains about how bad the OF is.
A ton. He suffers mentally almost as much as Mets do when the team loses.
Yes, laughter is the best medicine.
What better way to make yourself feel better for the crap job you are doing than to make fun of your team !
that makes sense
It really is.
Maybe if Omar had had a sense of humor about the “crap” job he was doing it would have made watching the chokes and the old players in wheelchairs he signed a little more acceptable.
Makes sense to me!
well he broke attendance records 3 years in a row !
instead of making jokes about his teams, he merely thanked the fans for their patronage…
Sandy cant even do that….
cuz there are no patrons !!!
What broke attendance records those years was a much larger stadium — with cheaper ticket prices and concessions — in its final years!
Thanking fans does not make up for the harm he did to the roster and farm system.
Hi Metro,
As I said the joke itself was funny and that it wasn’t the joke itself that made me angry but rather that it is representative of the pretense of going to great lengths to improve the outfield when that has not been in the case. That’s the hypocrisy we have been getting on this particular subject since that September interview with Mike Francesa.
Joey — Well, it’s hard to go to “great lengths” when you don’t have a lot to spend. What “great length” player should Sandy have gone after. Just curious who you would want Sandy to have pursued.
“Well, it’s hard to go to “great lengths” when you don’t have a lot to spend.”
Well Sandy himself said even if he had alot to spend…doesnt mean he is going to spend it !
i guess thats why he dropped payroll from 140+ mil to 69 ….all those free-agents havent been worth it !!
except for Frank Francisco ( his biggest signing in 3 off-seasons )
It’s a moot point because he’s NEVER had the big bucks to spend like Omar had.
And, yes, that is exactly why the payroll has dropped to 72 million where it’s now — those free agents like Bay, Ollie and Castillo (extension) were NOT worth it!
As for the 72 million current payroll, that will likely rise before the end of the year, if not before opening day.
And that’s the thing. As a GM you’re give a budget, so you should save some for mid-season reinforcements instead of spending it all in the winter like Omar did.
Big Difference…
Tex couldn’t do anything about the bats of other players…
Sandy is the REASON we have no OF…He traded away what he had and turned his nose up at just about every MLB replacement available!
It’s kind of like Setting a fire and smiling and cracking one liners while you watch the fire department try and put it out!
I get what you are saying jessep but here is the problem: these guys work for Alderson. He is their boss. Nobody likes to have their abilities or skills publicly ridiculed by their boss.
Baxter, Kirk, and Duda might not be the most talented players in the world but they are still his OF (he was the one who brought Baxter in).
I am sure he meant it as a light-hearted joke but this is over the line considering his position in the organization.
Exactly, it wasn’t even that disparaging, the joke was more a self-deprecating jab at his own SEARCH attempts as I saw it. Big whoop.
Everyone…they are REBUILDING!!! Alderson is cleaning the mess that Omar and the Wilpons created. Beltran was never going to resign with the Mets and he fleeced Wheeler out of the Giants….he got the best major league ready catchig prospect and another Huge pitching prospect for Dickey. He had the guts to sell high on Dickey even if the fan base lashed out at him. Remember they are rebuilding and brighter days are ahead.
It is what it is, guys. We’re stuck with the ownership and the FO for the time being.
Me…I’m looking forward to the season, come what may. We may not be a post season team but we’ve got a nice crop of young guys to keep are eye on.
I was wondering what magazines and sources you guys read before the season starts? I’m not a bill James handbook fan or any others that spend most of their time reviewing 2012.
Also to the writers of mets mesmerized… I know several websites similar to this for other team (Jets, Cowboys, probably so,e more) put out their own season preview magazine on kindle or so,etching and was wondering if you guys are doing something similar? Another example is the newberg ranger preview on amazon. Thanks for the great work!
The only reason i could possibly think as of why he makes fun of his outfield is because maybe he has something in the works, that he knows will get done, something that will actually improve the outfield. That is the only sane reason I could think of, otherwise I don’t understand why he does it.
He can joke all he wants, if it’s so depressing, do something about it.
Weird. It’s his job to put the team together, so any insults against the team are basically saying, “Please, laugh at my incompetence.”
THIS!
It’s so funny the question I have to ask…
Is the joke the joke or the guy who set up the underlying truth that makes it funny?
Hey Sandy they are laughing AT YOU not WITH YOU!
It was a Manti Te’o joke.
As far as the event I am looking forward to Jim’s post. I been reading tweets that the Duquette speeches were the emotional highlights of the evening.
That makes sense now. Did not even connect to that strange situation.
Yeah I thought it was pretty funny
“Duquette speeches” …. Multiple speeches by Jim Duquette or did both Jim and Dan speak? Does JIm speak about his daughter’s illness and the transplant?
I believe his daughter spoke as well.
Jim Duquette and daughter Lindsey are honored with the ‘You Gotta Have Heart’ award at the BBWAA dinner in New York
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=25564937
Hey, thanks for the link to all the clips. Scrolled through the list and there are also clips of Dickey and Sandy too. Now I’m off to listen to them all.
Metro – you’ll notice that nowhere do we talk about Alderson in the same speech mention that he hopes Dickey wins the Cy Young in 2013 and that Alderson viewed it as a privilege to watch Dickey over the last 2 years.
And i’ll be honest, I just watched the video of the joke and frankly I think its even more funny that people are “upset” about it.
Jessep — Can’t agree more. The remark by Sandy certainly got a lot of laughs too. It was a joke, and for some to take it seriously is unbelievable. Where is their sense of humor! I thought it was pretty funny.
I just finished watching every single speech! I almost never do something like that, but that’s how much I miss baseball.
I suggest to others that they watch the clips too. Or at least a few. The highlight was J. Duquette and his daughter. Almost brought tears to my eyes. Also, it was sad watching Michael Weiner.He has inoperable brain cancer and knows he will die soon. Other highlights for me included Phil Neikro talking about Dickey, a funny speech by Staub and Harrelson who were like a comedy duo, and Dickey’s acceptance speech.
Listening to Dickey,it sure doesn’t like he is too bitter about the trade. A little upset? Yeah, maybe. But he sounded sincere in his appreciation of the entire Mets organization, the Wilpons and Sandy, TC, and the fans. Maybe in a few years, if he’s still pitching well, he can come back to the Mets. That would be great.
well, just implement a self-imposed poster filter, and skip over the long winded “gotcha” diatribes from a select few people, and the problem goes away. Especially the ones that only their select few cronies even take seriously. If a username is well known for being a joke or caricature, why even bother reading their stuff and getting upset about it?
there are some sane posters trying to wade through the slop, looking for other rational fans (regardless of which side of the fence they are on) to actually have intelligent BB related conversations with. It just gets hard to find them behind all the spam and nonsense.
Hmm, that was a response to Metro, a post which seems to have gone into the ether. Hate when that happens!
“well, just implement a self-imposed poster filter, and skip over the long winded “gotcha” diatribes”
This.
Can you say “this” to a “this”?
Van, when I am forced to delete garbage that takes away from the thread, this is what happens. It’s a glitch that I have no control over.
When an entry or in this case 13 entries are deleted, the database for the site is turned upside down.
But I do agree with and applaud your advice about ignoring those in whose opinions you don’t put any credence in anyway. In my opinion, you’re just looking for trouble at that point.
Your an immortal right? You can most definitely say This to a This.
That said I agree with you and applaud van’s advice. I just wish there was some way to do that and find a balance that maintains the high level of comments the MMO community has but minus much of the redundancy.
With all the Manti Te’o jokes that’s been all over the Internet for the last week, Jersey is the only one who caught the reference?
*Hands everyone a brown paper bag*
BREATHE!
I thought the reference was that commercial with the woman who found a boyfriend on the internet cause everything you read on the internet is true….
If he wanted to cite Manti that just makes him look even dumber because like Manti he thinks he has an option for the OF but it doesn’t exist.
RA Dickey – once again showing the met organization what the meaning of CLASS is
http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/60012/text-of-dickeys-speech-accepting-cy-young
ESPN.com: New York Mets [Print without images]
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Text of Dickey’s speech accepting Cy Young
By Adam Rubin
R.A. Dickey returned to New York to accept his NL Cy Young Award on Saturday night at the Hilton in midtown Manhattan. Here’s what he had to say …
“I want to thank everybody from Fred and Jeff Wilpon, to Jay Horwitz, to Sandy Alderson. By the way, Jay Horwitz, one of these days they’re going to make an award after him. I know it. If you don’t know Jay Horwitz, he’s the P.R. guy for the Mets. A fantastic guy. But the only thing is, it’s not going to be a plaque. It’s going to be a bobblehead, with mustard on the tie. But he’s great.
“I have so many thank-yous to my Met family. And that’s what it really felt like while I was here. I was embraced by the fans and the staff. I don’t think I could have ever wished to play for a better manager than Terry Collins. Terry, thank you very much.
“I have to also thank my agent [Bo McKinnis]. But he’s not really my agent. He’s much more than that for me. I’ve known him for a while. We both live in Nashville. And he’s the guy who when I wanted to go play in Korea, just to try to make a little bit of money before I hung it up, convinced me that, ‘You know, you might have a little bit left. You might not want to go to Korea.’ And that was in 2008. So publicly he always rides me about it. Publicly, let me say thank you, Bo, for that. I appreciate that.
“I also need to thank, obviously, my wife [Anne]. She’s here. I think Cy Young’s wife, her name was Robba. For every Cy Young Award winner who has a mate, is married, there needs to be a Robba Young Award to go alongside of it, because I have drug her from every little city in the country, to Venezuela, to Puerto Rico, to the Dominican Republic, and everywhere in between. All the while, she never wavered. She didn’t want me to have any regrets, even when I thought about giving it up to try to support our family. We were making $1,100 a month — just the months we were playing — and we were trying to get by. So thank you, Anne, for that. I appreciate it, and I love you.
“And a special thanks to who I refer to as the Jedi council of knuckleballers. They are Charlie Hough, Phil Niekro and Tim Wakefield. When I met Charlie Hough in 2005, I was on my way out. I had run my course as a conventional pitcher, was throwing 85 mph, and didn’t have the control of Greg Maddux. I was serving up some balls that still haven’t landed. And so I knew it was time to do something else.
“And I had people in my life who loved me well enough to tell me the truth. That was Buck Showalter and Orel Hershiser and Mark Connor. And they said, ‘What you’ve got now isn’t going to cut it. And if you want to try to be a knuckleballer, then we’ll give you that opportunity.’ And so I took it. Seventy-five thousand knuckleballs off a cinder-block wall later, here I am. I would not be here if it weren’t for Charlie, Phil and Tim. And this is an award not only to be celebrated with them, but with the city of New York and the New York Mets fan base.”
Yes, a no doubt a classy player and he will be missed. Regarding Alderson’s comment on the OF, I think it was unwise given the sensitivity and distrust of the fan base, but I think many of us overreact to these type of things. The same happened when Omar got into his Adam Rubin conversation, which wasn’t the greatest idea, but it was way overblown. I guess that’s NYC and the media age we live in.
Except that Sandy’s remark was clearly a joke. Omar was dead serious when he went after and personally attacked Rubin in that press conference. Night and day. Totally.
Agreed they were different but neither to me was that big a deal. So, SA was joking about the team he is constructing, and Omar didn’t care much for Rubin. Everyone has their flaws, and neither example or several other examples really has anything to do with baseball. We’re all too picky over peripheral stuff, that’s all I was saying.
Even if he were right, you don’t personally insult a beat reporter in a news conference. That’s shooting yourself in the foot. The media has a lot of power, like it or not, and everyone took Rubin’s side after the incident. It was a huge faux pas by Omar, and one of the biggest ones I’ve seen by a GM.
im not sure how good a gm sandy is but here is something interesting a gm is only as good as the money hes given give mr alderson in queens another version of a met stienbrenner who says ive got money and you better spend it good or your out of a job believe me this man would not be having the problems ownership is too damm cheap!!!!!!!
Billy Beane would disagree….
Lots of GMs spent big money last year and missed the playoffs. The Marlins were the big off season winners last year and they finished last. The Red Sox had the previous two off seasons of signing top FAs and held a fire sale in August.
Hey as far as CF, Daniel Alvarez from Cuba is having his workout this week…
lets see what excuses Sandy cooks up this time !!
I’m sure 5 months later Sandy will have some jokes about our OF again !
Some of you need to lighten up. I understand being mad about the team (though the Wilpons have more to do with that than Sandy), but no need to get so butt hurt about every public comment he makes. It seemed to be more of a Te’o joke than mocking the current OF anyway.
The OF is pretty mockable though – so hopefully he is working on (and will actually) upgrade it.
The OF will be worse this year JoeD especially if Hairston doesn’t return so it will be worse.
I have yet to believe anything that comes out of SA’s mouth unless it is a signing or a re-worked contract because he likes to speak in generalities and does not, in his comments, give Met fans anything concrete, it is like quick sand, slippery while being swallowed, what this team looks like going into 2013.
Are you sure of that? Do you want to put something important to you on the line to back up that statement? A little reminder: Bay hit .165 and Torres hit .231. Do you not think that anyone from the 6 the Mets have can top those numbers? I would not bet against it.
The Mets OF might not be AS material but, remember, with Bay and Torres, the bar was set very low.
At this point, who cares anymore… We all know this man is an arrogant as**ole so, no need to point the obvious anymore..
I glad Sandy has sense of humor because he will need one if they we do not up grade our outfield.
Instead of joking about it, maybe he should try fixing it.
I see that a certain someone never replied to my actual baseball part of my comment. No surprise there.
It’s interesting to read criticism directed at Omar for leaving us a minor league system in shambles when Paul DePodesta said to Adam Rubin: “First, I think the system when we first arrived was underrated. It included current big leaguers like Dillon Gee,Ruben Tejada, Lucas Duda and Kirk Nieuwenhuis, among others.”.
Paul wasn’t just saying nice things for the sake of it. What he said above is completely true.
Joey — it’s all relative. All Depo said is that the farm system was “underrated.” Well, underrated from what? If he means underrated in relation to being rated near the very bottom, well then I would agree.
But was the Mets farm system good when Sandy took it over? I bet even Depo would say only AVERAGE. That’s about what I would say. If you rated a farm system on a scale of 1-10, I would say the Mets system at the end of 2010 maybe warranted a 5 at best, and more likely a 4.
Hi Metro,
But that’s the point. Let us say it was as you believe, average, That is much different than others who say Omar left him with a minor league system that was practically in ruins.
Joey, in terms of the minor league experts who rate farm systems, perhaps in some cases the Mets farm system was underrated. In terms of fans in forums like this? Well, sometimes saying things like “in ruins” is a matter of hyperbole! You have to admit, both sides do it!
Some had the system ranked 26th and some 28th when Omar left. If it was underrated then what does it jump up to 24th? 23rd? Either way it was a system that was more quantity over quality.
It’s a question of which is more valid – projection or the end result.
Projections are not fact. It feels good to have highly ranked prospects but it feels even better to see them actually produce.
Take a look at the attached written after the 2009 season. Notice which team is ranked number 26?
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/12/01/farm.systems/index.html
Joey — That’s before they drafted Bryce Harper. Also, the Nats are doing well because they’ve spent for free agents such as Werth, Jackson, and LaRoche, and because they made a great trade for Gio Gonzalez. IOW, their farm system may not have been all that great at the time.
Hi Metro,
As far as MMO is concerned, you are right on target – mostly hyperbole. In fact, we can refer to MMO as the Hyper Bowl!
As far as Washington, it was only to make that point. Look how great they rised even in Baseball America the last few years to become number one! Bryce Harper helped make that jump but as we all know, it takes many to make a farm system, not just one player. If that was the case, MLB.com would not have ranked them 26th since they had Strausberg.
Getting late, work day tomorrow for both of us.
Ciao
http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120201&content_id=26538548&vkey=pr_was&c_id=was
“What he said above is completely true”
Yes it was and despite that they have continued to purge the MLB squad of anyone that was good with the exception of Wright under the premise that the Minors needed those kids due to it’s poor makup anyway.
Just more proof that what many believe Sandy was here to fix the ledger not the team is true…
The excuses and under rating of our Minor Leagues was merely more PR (Like signing Wright) to help sell the fans on the Salary dumping that is the ONLY goal being accomplished here….
I have been reading everyone’s comment and I do
Have say that when the top dog of your team the one in charge of
Getting the help that is needed to at least try and contend
Makes a joke like that humorous or not he shouldn’t be
The NY Mets GM. Do your job and stop making jokes about
The fact your not doing your job with the outfield. Pitching
Is coming around but what happens when the ball is hit to
The outfield the mets record will be a lot worse than the last
Two years you ran this team to the ground thanks for nothing
Signed A True Mets Fan.