17
2013
Alderson Sets Things Straight, Focused On Winning In 2013
An article by Craig Lerner
Two days ago we had a post that was contrasting the difference between what the Washington Nationals are doing and what the Mets are doing.
As luck would have it, here is a quote from GM Sandy Alderson, who was a guest of Mike Francesa on WFAN today. that happened to address the same issue.
“The Nationals are in a slightly different position from ours. I’ve been in that position before. They’re filling a niche. They’re not reconstructing, they’re not having to add major pieces. They’re fine tuning. We need to be in a position where we are fine tuning. We will get there. But we are not in the fine tuning business right now.”
Perfectly stated.
Among other things, Alderson said the following:
- Free agent reliever Brian Wilson only threw 20 pitches in his private workout for the Mets and his velocity was not where it needed to be. It doesn’t look like anything will happen here.
- When Alderson was asked to described his bullpen, he said he was “uneasy” about it. He is still trying to get a quality arm and said there were still some good options out there. He is also very high on several of the Mets young arms like Josh Edgin.
- Alderson admitted that he wished he could upgrade all three outfield spots, but that things didn’t work out that way. Still, he believes there could be a quality addition before spring training rolls around. He is very excited about what Collin Cowgill brings to the table.
- Alderson spoke glowingly about Travis d’Arnaud and said he sees him as a potential 5 or 6 hitter in the lineup that could hit 20 homers a season and play a premium position, catcher. He is not worried about the knee or the back injury and is mostly concerned with getting him some playing time after a long layoff.
- He said he wasn’t surprised that R.A. Dickey was disgruntled and said some things at the end and that he pretty much expected him to react that way because of the circumstances. He was not at all frustrated by the process of trading him while negotiating his extension.
- Alderson said he’s not looking toward 2014 to start winning, he’s looking at 2013 and so is everyone else connected with the team. He is not finished building this team and expects there will be additions before Spring Training starts.
Finally in his closing remarks:
“My focus is on 2013. I know that doesn’t really corroborate with what we’ve done this off-season. But, let’s see – when everything is said and done – where we are. I can assure you that where we are right now is not where we want to be opening Spring Training. It’s conceivable we could be in the same position, but it’s not where we want to be.”
Thoughts from Joe D.
I will be posting a full response to this interview in the morning. I’m going to sit and stew on it for this evening otherwise I may end up saying something I might regret.
About the Author: Craig Lerner
I'm a data analyst and researcher for a leading news agency who loves life and is hooked on the Mets. I love following the Amateur Draft and have a particular fondness for the Mets Minor Leagues who I follow each day. Give me a cold beer, a summer day, and a Mets game, and I'm good to go.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 24 | 18 | .571 | - |
| Nationals | 23 | 20 | .535 | 1.5 |
| Phillies | 20 | 23 | .465 | 4.5 |
| Mets | 16 | 24 | .400 | 7.0 |
| Marlins | 11 | 32 | .256 | 13.5 |
Last updated: 05/18/2013
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Someone shut off my Bullshit Meter. It won’t stop buzzing.
LOL, THIS^^^^^^^^^^^
Were you listening to the same interview I was listening to? Knocked them out of the park? He was a stuttering fool the whole time and was on his heels and defensive all the way through. Compare this defeated Sandy with the inspirational Knute Rockne interview he gave three months ago. LOL
Sandy Alderson reminds me of Lance Armstrong. Sandy apparently thinks that if he lies enough to the point of irrationality, it becomes truth. He should just shut up because he is NOT credible and comes off as lunatic with every irrational comment.
“He is not finished building this team and expects there will be additions before Spring Training starts.”
He said this about the Mets Outfield the last time he spoke to Francessa and the OF is WORST
>>>>>>>>>>
“I can assure you that where we are right now is not where we want to be opening Spring Training. It’s conceivable we could be in the same position, but it’s not where we want to be.”
Lol…Any other GM who said this would be KILLED!!! He basically said we suck right now we want to improve the team before spring training but we most likely WON’T….Lets Go Mets LMAO!!!!
If Minaya or Steve Phillips said this Mets fans would be calling for there heads right now….lol…i gotta go find this interview NOW and listen lol
Eh….Amaro had this to say 10 days ago about the Philly outfield:
“I’m just as scared as everybody else,” he said Tuesday on 97.3 ESPN-FM. “Other than Ben Revere being kind of a young centerfielder, we don’t have a proven everyday guy out there.”
**********************************************
All GMs make comments the fan base loves to jump on or pick apart or try to read between the lines. Especially during the off season when not much else is going on.
Yeah well,I guess if the Phillies trade away their former Cy Young award winners, Their stud firstbaseman and anyone making over the minimum then I guess I can see the comparison.
I don’t get what you’re saying….. Who traded their ‘stud first baseman’?
We have a crappier OF right now than Philly does and you’ve got their GM on record stating his OF scares him.
Maybe I’m the exception here but you have to take what any FO says with a grain of salt. It’s all posturing.
mate – sorry, I misunderstood your point.
No problem…it’s all good.
There is just 1 BIG difference here SRT
And that is, Amaro is doing everything in his power to IMPROVE his Outfield. He went out and traded for a young CF who could play exceptional defense in center and cover a lot of ground…and also table set for Howard,Utley etc…
He a LF prospect in Darin Ruf whom hit 38HRs last year in the minors and looked good during sept callups not to mention they still have John Mayberry and Domonic Brown.
And he also went out and upgraded 3B by trading for Michael Young…strengthened the Pen with Mike Adams and back of the rotation with Lannan…..He’s done a hell of a lot more than Sandy to improve his team.
Also his statement is he’s scared because they dont have a PROVEN outfielder other than a young CF…He has options but none are proven
‘And that is, Amaro is doing everything in his power to IMPROVE his Outfield.’
I liked their trade for the CF. But that’s probably as far as they can go – even though I’m sure they’d like to go after someone like Bourne. They’ve got 7 MIL to play with to stay under the luxury cap and that’s not going to allow them to pick up a better corner OF than the double platoon they’ve got now. Amaro knows this, hence his comment. Sounds like he’s not thrilled with the situation either and ownership probably won’t let them go over that 189 MIL.
And Amaro actually should be scared as his team is close to THE END of a contention cycle with the window to win about to close. So it’s indeed quite risky for a youngish and mostly unproven outfield to join their aging 170+ million $ roster.
Meanwhile the Meta are not even at the BEGINNING of a contention cycle after Alderson firmly stopped the previous ( and granted somewhat derailed ) one.
The Mets window to win won’t open until 2014 – if all goes well. In 2013, key decisions will not be made with winning the # 1 priority but rather longterm development.
Wheeler & D’ Arnaud being prime examples. If winning were the priority, neither would open the season at AAA in all likelihood – but because it’s not and their production from 2014 through at least 2019 is deemed more important, they’ ll be held back for at least a bit – with roster spots going to fillers such as Jeremy Hefner and Anthony Recker in the meantime.
Obviously, it would be nice to see a little more effort for 2013 purposes to keep the team more interesting. I suppose Alderson realizes his mistake from last winter, signing Francisco & Rauch at market value or even above before the market collapsed to somewhat appease the fan base and showing action after losing Reyes. He probablycould have signed them at half the price, had he waited a month longer ( regardless of whether they were good signings or not).
This winter he has played things a lot smarter. It’s by far the best off- season the Mets have had in a long time – including the final couple of Minaya off-seasons. The Dickey trade was a master stroke and the small scale signings and trade look a lot more intriguing than those of the past couple of winters. If Alderson & Co manage to add another SP ( Chris Young ? Shawn Marcum ? Joe Saunders ?) , at least one veteran reliever with closing potential ( Wilson ? Valverde ? KRod ?) and an OF via free agency ( Hairston ?) or trade ( Crisp ?) it could be a very strong one in the big picture if the financial slate for 2014 remains as clean as it looks right now.
So far, which each move ( or lack of thereof), Alderson has let the market come to him instead of chasing the market…
THIS!
“But we are not in the fine tuning business right now.”
Well stated Sandy. I’m not even sure the Mets are in the baseball business right now. You gut the team then say that you’re not in the fine tuning business. I have called Sandy disingenuous but maybe I’m being a bit unfair. I mean – what the hell is he going to say?
I agree that his hands are tied. But this whole thing about fine tuning…that’s what all general managers are supposed to do – not to mention the general managers in the number one market in the world.
Blame for the mess is real easy to go around…Madoff, Wilpons, Katz, Sandy, Selig, Omar but, at the end of the day, Sandy’s moves have left the team vacant of two ML outfielders in Pagan and Beltran, one of the most talented offensive players in Reyes, a bullpen that went from one of the worst last year to the worst currently and trading away an extremely popular 20 game winner who also won the cy young for a couple of prospects. And, the way the Mets are right now – no one is replaced.
And, it’s one thing to point out that the Nats are closer to the world series then the Mets but to make no moves is really baffling. Then to follow inactivity with saying that he focused on 2013 is pure bull.
Hi tl,
Why doesn’t Sandy talk about the position Washington was in just two seasons ago when he took over the Mets and the steps the Nationals did to become a division winner?
2012 98 64
2011 80 81
2010 69 93
2009 59 103
2008 59 102
2007 73 89
2006 71 91
When a team averages 66 games over a five year period I think that puts them in a worse position than the team Sandy took over. And look at what has been done with the combination of home grown players, trades and free agent signings of all ages. No, we did not have a Stausberg or Harper on the horizon but what we did have was nothing to sneeze at, either.
“When a team averages 66 games over a five year period I think that puts them in a worse position than the team Sandy took over. ”
Actually that’s exactly what put them in the position they are in now where they had a solid young core, resources to trade and money to spend. They just had to stink for years to do it.
” They just had to stink for years to do it.”
Very funny!
Yeah, I just keep reading all these comments all ver about how we need to do like the Nationals. Lol, if so we need to get a lot worse first. The same that want us to be like the Nationals are the same ones that want the Mets to sign window dressing players so they can win 76 games instead of 72. Which one do you want?
That’s the reason I don’t want the Nats plan. Give me the Braves plan any day.
Screw the Braves give me the Yankees or the Cardinals plan….but too bad this regime is half-azz…
They do everything half-azzed…When they decide to spend money they spend it but try to save in certain areas of the ball club negating the production of the money that was spent elsewhere.
When it comes to building up the farm theyre CHEAP now that Selig put a hardcap in the draft they still found a way to have a mediocre draft last year.
All of these young talented Cuban ball players that defected and were free agents the Mets werent heard of being interested in any of them….Soler 20yr old Cubs signed him 9yr 30M, Puig 21yr old Dodgers signed him 7yr $42M, I wont even mention Cespedes….This year Dariel Alvarez and Aledmis Diaz I wont be surprised if we arent in on either of them.
So we’re skimping when it comes to the players on the field and paying TOP DOLLAR for Sandy, DePo and Ricciardi not to mention Ricco….What are the Mets paying these guys to do?
And how does Ricciardi get an extension? Is he tutoring Jeffy boy Wilpon on how to be a GM if so GOD HELP US…
“So we’re skimping when it comes to the players on the field and paying TOP DOLLAR for Sandy, DePo and Ricciardi not to mention Ricco….What are the Mets paying these guys to do? ”
Whatever they are paying them they are worth it! Gutting the payroll from $150 mil to $91 mil and lower this year. Who cares about what kind of team you put on the field if you can save that kind of money.
Yeah but how much money will they lose in revenue from tickets etc….
Im sure they are going to(pardon my french) rape the pockets of baseball fans whom want to attend the All Star game this season.
“Yeah but how much money will they lose in revenue from tickets etc….”
Revenue – we don’t need any stinking revenue.
“Revenue – we don’t need any stinking revenue.”
Reply
Indeed!
‘Give me the Braves plan any day.’
This.
Don’t know if they have great scouts, a great minor league development system or both….but they sure seem to turn out some good home grown talent for the past 20 years.
He never said it does not look like nothing is going to happen on Wilson at all. And I am not sure what you guys where listening to but what i got out of it was he has a plan that is more long term, as we all know, and that he is not done constructing the 2013 team, which is also apparent.
M. Donald Alderson.
Nice, I’ve been calling him Sandy Wilpon myself. It’s nice that he goes on the radio to face some questions, but at this point he could sing Mary Had a Little Lamb and it wouldn’t make any difference. He needs to land some players to improve this MLB bottom 5 roster in order for any Met fan to believe anything he or anyone else says, or more importantly, spend any money on the team in 2013.
“or more importantly, spend any money on the team in 2013.”
And people don’t believe me when I mention this.
Cant wait to see D’Arnaud and Wheeler here already.
When he said he was focused on winning in 2013 he must have been using the Mayan Long Count Calendar….
He is not going to do anything major, and he is annoying me with these vague statements and answers. I would just rather him say “this is what it is, come see it if you want, if not, oh well.” At least then I would respect him.
This must be what Steely Dan meant by “Pretzel Logic”.
“When Alderson was asked to described his bullpen, he said he was “uneasy” about it. He is still trying to get a quality arm and said there were still some good options out there. He is also very high on several of the Mets young arms like Josh Edgin.”
This is exactly what I’ve been saying all winter: the bullpen. This leaves me to ask the following question: If there’s still good options out there, why is he letting them pass him by? He really missed the boat on Kyle McClellan, who was signed to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training with the Rangers. For a team that has been signing this guy or that guy to minor league deals, and you couldn’t bring in McClellan? Brandon Lyon, Scott Atchison, Matt Lindstrom, Jose Valverde, Kyle Farnsworth, Kameron Loe, Rafael Perez are still available. How about getting some arms instead of talking about it?
He starts of the interview with a damn corny JOKE!
“”Well I’d say right now its incomplete but there is still time in the semester, haha—Sandy Alderson”"
Reminiscent of the time he gave us this gem when asked about the condition of the Mets Outfield….Alderson replied,”What Outfield? hahaha”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What does he think this is Def Comedy Jam?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But the answer to your question was at the beginning of the interview when he said…
“TO SAY WE’VE BEEN PATIENT IS PROBABLY AN UNDERSTATEMENT BUT THATS….THATS WHAT WE’VE BEEN—Sandy Alderson”
Smh….No one wants to hear about how they fell asleep behind the wheel….we as fans already know this….
hence the long running joke here on MMO about erecting a bronze statue at Citi Field of Sandy Alderson sitting on his hands lmao….
This guy talks about things that need to get done to improve the team yet never does it just talks about it…I always thought GM’s get paid to show results not talk about them…
I guess this is why David Wright loves Sandys plan so much he told him about it…Executing of this plan is another story…he’ll tell David later that things didnt work out as planned smh
OY VEY!
Does it suck having the Mets current roster and hearing from the GM that they’re committed to winning in ’13?
Yes!
Does it suck that every player is overpriced for the Mets’ tastes these days?
Yup!
Is he right when he points out that despite these two previous questions that the Mets are not in a fine tuning situation?
100% correct.
He’s right, the Mets roster at this point dictates that they are far from adding one or two great pieces to complete a playoff contending roster. They just aren’t there yet and the 20 mill they supposedly have to spend in today’s market couldn’t possibly fill the Mets glaring needs. 20 million in today’s market won’t get you a good outfield, a good bullpen, and a good fifth starter unless your also willing to part with some top prospects in a trade to get a great, young, cheap outfielder.
They just are stuck in this holding pattern as long as every penny over that “miniscule for NY” payroll keeps going towards paying off more Wilpon debt.
People can continue to point to Aldy and scream that the man refuses to spend on a legit ML’er, but the fact is, that the Mets should comfortably be able to fund at least a 130/140 million dollar payroll. I’ve never been one that thinks a huge budget creates a winner, but in this case, having a payroll that’s reasonable for a team playing in the sport’s biggest market would easily transform the Mets into a playoff contender.
Look at the roster… Their infield is set and pretty good; it’s, in no way, holding the team back. The rotation is definately competitive enough to win games.
Right now, they have a mind blowingly low payroll at around 75 million. If Sandy didn’t have to operate the team on this shoestring budget and was able to raise it to just 130 million, he’d be able to spend an additional 55 million.
130 million is not a unreasonable budget for a NY team that owns its own regional sports network and receives an additional 25 million a year in naming rights…all while playing in their new ballpark.
55 million!! Now, add for arguments sake, Nick Swisher, Michael Bourne, and Klye Loshe to the team. It probably wouldn’t eat up all 55 million and all three players would probably not need to be signed for more then 4 years. Certainly not Bourne or Loshe who have yet to even find a market. Suddenly, we’d have a lead off hitter and gold glover in center. A number 2 starter that would make the rotation pretty dame good. And a switching hitting outfielder that puts up 20/85 every year while getting on base 37/40% of the time.
After the RA trade, the team would still be primed to continue contending through upgrades at catcher and more top pitching. And just next season, they have another 50 million off the books when Santana, Bay, and Fransisco all are gone; further helping in fine tuning the roster when even more young players are ready to help.
I don’t think any of this is unreasonable; especially when Sandy states the mets are looking to win this year while continuing to just funnel resources into the Wilpons debt payments.
OH MY!!! I CANT TAKE IT ANYMORE…….
THE EXCUSES FOR ALDERSON NEVER STOPS WITH YOU…lmao….
According to you EVERYTHING is wrong with the Mets EXCEPT ALDERSON….He takes NO BLAME in your eyes….Youre making it sound as if he is a puppet GM which he is far from…
You should change your name to…………TheExcusesForAlderson
Hi Truth,
I figured that out yesterday too – he had close to $60 million in 2012 that was no longer tied up to to just three roster players (KRod, Beltran and Reyes) and two who were released (Castillo, Perez). Less than two months into the job he said having that money would give him more flexibility in 2012 that he did not have going into 2011:
“I wasn’t hired to apply a Moneyball approach to the New York Mets. I would not have accepted the position were I required to run the Mets on a shoestring budget. On the other hand, I did come in with my eyes wide open. I did recognize that there would be some payroll restrictions this year, keeping in mind that when everything’s said and done our payroll will probably be somewhere between 130 and 140 million dollars. We’ll probably be in the top four or five in all of baseball. So, the problem is not that we don’t have resources, the problem is that we have limited additional resources to spend this year. So, what you see today or what you’ve seen over the last two weeks shouldn’t necessarily be representative of what you see over the next two or three years. But we do have to get through a somewhat difficult period from a standpoint of our payroll because we already have most of it committed.
“My business philosophy is that we want to be prudent under all circumstances but New York is not Oakland.”
That does not sound like an individual who was duped by Selig and the Wilpons about the financial situation before he came over but rather an individual who was trying to dupe you, I and all the others instead.
Here is the transcript that I attached the other day should others want me to still back up for them what I claimed to have had previously posted.
http://www.amazinavenue.com/2010/12/10/1869167/transcript-of-sandy-aldersons-conference-call-with-bloggers
But maybe somehing changed along the way.
Like the budget shrinking with the Wilpons’ not being able to support operating losses with the Mets due to their other businesses hitting cash flow issues at the same time due to a struggling economy and the Picard lawsuit – which also must have cost millions of $ in litigation and lawyer fees, besides limiting their ability to receive fresh bank loans with a 1 billion $ claim looming for at least half a year.
Again, even without the financial issues, rebuilding an expensive and underachieving roster may have been the right call anyway. With the cash flow issues, it probably was the only call – barring the decision to play ” all or nothing” and investing heavily in hopes of giving the old core of players one final shot in 2011. With the downside for the Wilpons being losing the franchise.
And while Strasburg and Harper are obviously ueber- talents the Nats lucked into by finishing worst in the right years, they certainly aren’t the main reasons for their turnaround. Neither was the expensive signing of Jayson Werth.
The main reason was building a strong young roster with players such as Jordan Zimmerman, Ryan Zimmerman, Ross Detwiler, Danny Espinosa , several nice bullpen arms, Wilson Ramos and a farm system that was deep enough to trade for a key piece like Gio Gonzalez last winter when the Nats were ready to take the next step.
That’s the situation the Meta should be in a year from now. Trade for the Gio Gonzalez of the 2014 off season and cash in on some of the young talent procured and developed between 2010 and 2013. Besides building with it.
The difference between the Mets and Nats is that the Mets didn’t need to be as terrible as the Nats and probably not as long. By cashing in on Beltran & Dickey, they have received the high end talent, you wouldn’tget this advanced unlessypu pick in the top 5 of a draft multiple years.
Whether it’ll all work remains to be seen….
Maybe if….Maybe When….
Maybe if they got Roy Halladay instead of Jason Bay they don’t lose 50 Mil in 2010 and make 50 Mil instead…..
Maybe if the sign Cliff Lee in 2011 We don’t have that 2 games dif between us and the cards that some here seems to think was TOO TOO MUCH to overcome in July and meant punting on a team above .500!
Maybe when we STOP trading or letting go the BEST PLAYER from that year EVERY YEAR we won’t have to worry about where the money to pay bills will come from NOR worry about not being able to pay the bills we already have!
Maybe IF, HOPE HOPE HOPE….
Good points.
But I don’t believe they’ve got even 20 MIL to spend on the big league roster.
Here’s my problem, if we had kept two players we already had under control, Reyes and Dickey, then we really would be a couple of pieces away from legitimate contention.
Reyes
Tejada
Wright
Davis
_________
D’Arnnaud
Newuwenhuis
Duda/Baxter/Brown/Cowgil
Dickey
Niese
Harvey
Santana
Gee
(Wheeler)
__________
Francisco
Edgin
Parnell
Mejia/Familia
Hefner
Ramirez
__________
Now I don’t know if this is a team that can contend, but consider two additions. Say you could get Upton and Valverde, maybe add Farnsworth or one other decent arm for the pen. Not unreasonable. You’d be looking at
Upton 9.75 million
Dickey 12.5 million
Reyes 10 million
Valverde 6.25 million
Farnsworth 5 million
That would be an additional 43.05 bringing the budget to 128.5. Which is relatively low for a NY club.
Reyes
Tejada
Upton
Wright
Davis
D’Arnaud/Buck
Nieuwenhuis/Dekker
Duda/Baxter/Cowgil/Brown
Dickey
Santana
Neise
Harvey
Gee/Wheeler
Valverde
Francisco
Edgin
Farnsworth
Parnell
Trade Murphy for some left-handed bullpen help.
Starting to look like a contender yet?
I don’t know, the bullpen still isn’t the greatest but the lineup looks tough and the starting pitching looks pretty solid too. What’s frustrating is this could be had for under 130 million. Sure, Reyes’ salary is due to balloon after 2014 and Upton is due for a big increase too, but Santana would come off the books by then making a 125 million budget sustainable.
Even if we could bump up to 110 million we could probably make a run at a wildcard.
But it’s not happening.
I’m still bummed we didn’t re-sign Reyes.
Your projected line-up includes both Dickey and D’Arnaud? How are you getting D’Arnaud on this team without giving up Dickey? Blue Jays were looking for a front end starter. Johan is out of the question, Gee doesn’t qualify, they weren’t given up Harvey (who hasn’t got that tag of front end starter yet), so that leaves Niese. Even if they would have taken Niese, we probably would have had to give up another prospect as I don’t think they’d be interested in either Thole or Nickeas w/o Dickey.
D’Oh …
Ok I goofed there.
Ok no D’Arnaud … sooooo … we’d need a catcher.
I don’t know, maybe it just doesn’t work. You’d have to add or trade for a catcher, you’re looking at another 5 – 7 million depending on who you could get or trade for.
The more pieces we’re missing the further out of reach contention gets … so maybe Sandy is right. Maybe it just doesn’t make sense to even try and sign these guys.
Tear it down, keep just enough for the team to have some semblance of respectability.
If no one shows up, all the better maybe it will hasten the departure of the Wilpons.
If we’re looking at adding 46 million in (hypothetical) salary (including players we’ve already let go) just for a shot at a wild card, it gets unrealistic.
Sandy is right. Makes no sense to add any major $$ deals to this team. We really aren’t 10 or even 20 million in salary from contending.
Getting D’Arnaud and keeping Dickey? Works for me – LOL
Still bummed Dickey won’t be on the mound at Citi Field come opening day.
Hi srt,
It’s really going to hit home hard when we see R.A. for the first time in a Toronto uniform, just like it was for many of us last year with Jose wearing something other than the orange and blue.
Watched a clip last night of all RA’s highlights on the mound in 2012. Truly was a special season for him and us fans.
If all goes well for Dickey we should see him at the ASG at Citi field.
“the Mets roster at this point dictates that they are far from adding one or two great pieces ”
I think the point most people here seem to gloss over is we would not be more than one or two pieces away if we had not gotten rid of all the pieces we HAD in what is roughly a two good pieces to get one count!
we gave away MORE pieces than we got!
And if we are not one or two great pieces away it’s because we made ourselves that much further away than we were when we started!
Had we kept Dickey, Reyes, Beltran, Pagan and K-Rod, the 2013 payroll / budget would actually only be at about 130 or so million $ (plus the money Wright, Santana & Bay deferred which doesn´t count against 2013 cash flow, just official payroll which would probably be in the 155 million $ range then).
Your 2013 Opening Day roster:
SP: Dickey – Niese – Santana – Harvey – Gee
RP: KRod – Francisco – Parnell – Edgin – Familia (or Burke) – a 2nd lefty to be added via free agency or trade – Hefner (or Laffey)
Lineup:
1) Reyes, ss
2) Pagan,cf
3) Wright, 3b
4) Beltran, rf
5) Davis, 1b
6) Murphy / Tejada, 2b
7) Duda, lf
8) Thole, c
Bench:
veteran backup C free agent, say Kelly Shoppach
Turner, if
Tejada, if (or Murphy, see above)
Cowgill, of
Baxter, of
Officiall payroll: 155 million $ (actual cash-flow: about 130 million, barring any additional payments).
This “fantasy” team probably projects to win about 85 games in 2013 – maybe a few more if Matt Harvey has a major breakout and should finish in 3rd place in the NL East, a tad up on the aging Phillies and a tad behind the Braves and certainly behind the Nationals who have a more dominant pitching staff and a deeper bullpen. The trouble spots are at C, in the bullpen and in the OF defensively. Plus of course, a farm system that remains pretty barren at the upper levels. Sure, some potential complementary players such as Mejia, McHugh, Nieuwenhuis, Valdespin, Flores, Lagares or Gorski await in the upper minors – but there´s little to no high ceiling talent available to either trade or to build around going forward. Basically, what you have is what you have.
Which means to sustain success beyond 2013, you probably have to dig deep into the free agent market again. You do free salary by dropping Santana, Bay, FF – and in this projection – Beltran & KRod as well who are both free agents, which drops the official payroll by over 80 million from 155 million officially to about 75 million. Add deferred payments to Bay, Santana, plus salary spikes for Wright, Niese, Dickey (who you extended to the same deal he got in TOR), plus arbitration for Ike, Murphy, Tejada, Thole, Duda, Parnell and Gee and the 2014 payroll projects to be around 120 million entering the 2013/2014 off-season.
On your shopping list that winter:
- a veteran closer.
- depending on whether Mejia or McHugh or someonele else from the minors steps up, a # 4 or 5 SP
- a fulltime RF
Free agent targets could be:
RHP Matt Garza (5-years, 85 millon $)
OF Corey Hart (3-years, 30 million $)
and trade Mejia and Flores to the now rebuilding Phillies for Jonathan Papelbon (2-years, 25 million, plus an option left on that deal).
So, the 2014 payroll is now approaching 160 million while the team probably still isn´t as good as the Nats and maybe on a level with the Braves. Still, a couple of injuries and you neither have the depth you need in the minors nor the payroll flexibility to fight that off.
Again, this is all hypothetical, of course. And there´s no guarantee the current approach of a rebuilding around youth will lead to better and more sustainable success going forward. In fact, all it guarantees is a lesser shortterm product. However, if done properly, the POTENTIAL for mid- and longterm success is probably higher. Whether you agree with what has transpired or not, let´s keep our fingers crosses
well, why not insert Hamilton? Greinke? or every other FA in the last 1-2 years. because 4 of the 5 guys you listed all hit FA, and were available to every team. The mets really only had control over Dickey. The rest, able to go to 30 teams and find an offer they liked, just as with the rest of the FA pool.
“Which means to sustain success beyond 2013, you probably have to dig deep into the free agent market again”
Which you all seem to think you have to do anyway don’t you?
Only with my team you need to do LESS FA shopping…and don’t require a GLUT of OF to be available
Reyes would be locked up till 2018…
Dickey would give you two more years to develop a pitcher to replace him at minimum but being a Knuckleballer maybe more.
Pagan would be locked till 2017 at 10 Mil per.
Wright till 2020
The potential needs would be limited to:
Re-signing Beltran or whichever OF you guys think we are going to spend on next year when you finally break open that piggy bank you been stuffing in the name of payroll flexability
Replacing Santana (which we have to do regardless of the Dickey trade but had an option here before the trade)
Replacing Thole (which we have avoided by instead trying to look for a Pitcher to replace the Cy Young Pitcher)
Im my scenario Duda and Tejada/Murphy are decent trade chips to go along with a Flores…
If that teams projects to you to 85 Wins in 2013 THAT IS one maye two players away from contending…Far closer than anything this year which is far further away at 70 Wins or less.
But there is also one more perk that Fantasy team gets you….
the REALITY of a profit at the gate instead of a deficit in the ledger!
85 Wins would draw enough fans to the game to pay the bills…
Having a 155 Mil Payroll would not be a problem that gets used like a Crutch to not go after the players we need…
There would be no excuse to sit on our hands and let the rest of the league improve thier way past us because 85 Win is NOT “TOO FAR AWAY TO TRY!”
And in the end the farm is no less barren than it will be once Wheeler and d’Arnaud get here…
With all that had to be let go to get those two they both would have to be Hall of Famers to just EQUAL the combined performance of all those who have left.
And in regards to Wheeler we could have traded Beltran to get Wheeler and STILL got Beltran back by going after him in FA and signing him to a new deal which turned out to be a PAYCUT compared to what we WERE paying at the time….
We could have had our Wheeler and still had Beltran chewing through MLB Pitching at the heart of the order…
The issue that seemingly gets lost is the fact that your going to spend the same amount of money or MORE to get to the 85 Wins you project for that team….
And your going to have to find TWO guys worth signing in 2014 to get to that 85 Wins in 2014…
Meanwhile we could have had those 85 wins in 2012, 2013 and 2014 which means there would be plenty of money to buy whoever it is you THINK your going to buy in 2014 with lots of players to trade for kids to restock once you sign them. Now you have a playoff type team that has a restocked Farm to keep that winning going or improve someone else
Maybe one of them even gets you d’Arnaud!
You know – I wouldn’t be surprised if Sandy comes out with a book in a few years’ time and calls this period of his life with the Mets – the worst time of his life.
It makes no sense for him to make jokes and laugh about how bad the situation is unless he himself realises that he is powerless to operate normally.
Maybe I’m wrong and he really does believe what he’s saying – but I reckon he’s too smart for that. He sure comes across like he doesn’t care – which makes him the perfect person to gut a team.
This is a ploy to throw us off the track. There is a big colossal blockbuster deal he is working on that if word leaked out would blow up in our face. “Sam, give me another boilermaker.” “Lou you’ve already had six I have to cut you off and will you stop babbling about the Mets. You’re starting to disturb the other customers. Their not interested in the blockbuster deal. They all think you’re nuts.”
Ok if you really must know. The secret blockbuster deal is Ollie Perez for Jordany Valdespin. Now don’t bother me anymore.
Tell me something, how in the hell can sandy be focused winning this year when the idot owners and sandy himself don’t sign free agents or even make more trades to better us as a whole team, new look, new attitude, players who can say we want to win, not just say it but believe it. Where is this taking place. I’m really sandy and wilpons, who are you trying to kid. We have money at least use some of it to get the players. Like get upton, broune, pitching, lets’s go. Stop letting the yankees be the talk of the town, now is the the time for the mets to make noise. Please it’s time, do you understand if u can’t do it then get out so that we can win.
Are there any standards on this website? Alderson did not say that Brian Wilson’s velocity “was not where it needed to be” and then you draw a conclusion that “it doesn’t appear that anything is happening there”.
That quote does seem to be the opposite of how it was phrased on MB.
Sandy said Brian Wilson‘s velocity was good during a private workout last week and he was pleased with where he is in his rehabilitation from Tommy John Surgery, but he only threw 20 pitches during the session.
This is how it’s transcribed on ESPN. “There was no real issue about velocity. It wasn’t there,” Alderson said. “So he’s got a ways to go.”
This is in synch w/what I heard.
Sandy’s unique approach to bettering the club:
Ready….
Aim…
Aim…
Sandy Alderson knows as well as I do that he is blowing smoke. Doing next to nothing in terms of improving the team for 2013 pretty much tells you that we won’t contend at all. If he would pick up some quality major-leaguers (and not just signing minor league guys to play those positions), then I might have a different stance. At this point however, he continues to blow smoke up our butts and so if he doesn’t do much by spring training, then I can safely say we won’t be contending anytime soon.
I thought this was interesting too. I assumed it was low money lots of pt from Mets and higher money and less abs from Yankees. This makes it sound as if ABs are a hold up for both teams.
Lol forgot the quote
Sandy said the issue right now in their negotiation with Scott Hairston is how much playing time the team is willing to commit to him.
“If one or two things might happen, that might affect [Hairston's] playing time,” Sandy explained.
Sandy said they are looking at other options to Hairston first, although he said the chances of that happening are “50/50″ right now.
It’s January 18th!!! Are you still holding Sandy’s torch for him any believing that there are significant moves coming?
Matt Harvey and David Wright are going to spring training in eight days!!!
Terry Collins is already there waiting for them!!!
The equipment truck is on the road!!!
You are way to gullible and Sandy has you wrapped around his finger.
The blame here is Sandy Alderson who refuses to spend. It’s his fault, period!
He tells us he has money. He’s said it a number of times this offseason including just a few days ago.
There is however, an apparent disconnect between the hemispheres in his brain. The part that knows there’s money to spend, is controlled by the penny-pincher who can’t bear to part with anything including money and low cost players he wants to control. He’s a GM in name only who lives in a make-believe world he’s created, one in which he thinks suave talk expressing a desire for something is effective cover for lack of substance, lack of coherence, and lack of action. He should just do us all a favor and hand in his resignation, clear the way for a GM who actually knows how to run a major league team in any market, let alone in major one.
With all the deferred payments, I agree that SA has money to spend – if he elects to.
Probably about 15 to 20 million he could spend right now for 2013 purpose without any problem.
Of course, the general question is: Why should he ? And on who ?
In the summer of 2011, the Mets decided to break up their core.
Beltran was traded for a top prospect.
Reyes was let go (for draft pick compensation).
Dickey has been traded for two top prospects and change.
Those three moves have been the key decisions over the past 18 months and will go a long way towards defining Alderson´s tenure.
Basically, will it have been worth it, saving the rougly 40 to 45 million $ per year it would have cost to retain those three going forward and getting Wheeler, D´Arnaud, Syndergaard, Plawecki, Reynolds and Becerra instead (Thole & Nickeas for Buck is a wash in all that and probably won´t have any sort of meaningful impact).
So, would you rather have these 6 kids, two of them close, the other 4 more lottery tickets of higher & lesser upsides and 40+ million extra $ to spend over the next few years or Reyes, Dickey and Beltran under contract going forward and a better chance to win shortterm ?
I don´t think there´s an obvious answer. I do prefer the “youth” & rebuild approach, having been quite underwhelmed by 20+ years of “quick fixing things” over here, though I acknowledge there´s a lot of risk involved that the young players do not pan out in a big enough way.
Likewise, there would have been risk involved with the “keep the old core” together approach as well. Like again paying with tomorrow´s money for today´s success and creating a payroll situation not in line with team performance that cannot be handled by at least the current ownership group.
Actually, keeping them and not spending aggressively to improve that team shortterm would have been the “half-assed” and worst effort. Something people are wrongfully blaming Alderson for imho.
Basically, what has happened – in spite of what PR BS he has stated in terms of “not giving up on 2012 / 2013″, blah blah – has been a pretty extensive rebuilding over the past 18 months. To put it differently, over the past 3 off-season, the Mets have spent about 25 million $ total on ALL the free agents they have signed – or about what it cost to sign Luist Castillo to a 4-year deal.
Ok so according to Alderson besides Toronto there was another team that was interested in Dickey but wasnt willing to give up 2 of there prospects that Sandy asked for…..
But right after Sandy got the deal done with Toronto they got a call from the previous team who wouldnt part with there 2 prospects for Dickey saying they were willing to give up 2 said prospects for Travis d’Arnaud……
All I can say is d’Arnaud better be a mega-stud, because I cant see why you wouldnt give up 1 high end Prospect for 2 more high end prospects that you were willing to give up Dickey for….
(I’m assuming it was 2 big prospects since Sandy asked for those 2players and he wouldnt give up Dickey for less since he holded out for more in the Toronto trade).
The truth is Leroy They say they got two top prspects but that deal was all about getting d’Arnaud…Snydergaard was just a throw in to sell it.
If he had traded Dickey then turned around and traded TD he would have had nothing to point to to justify losing Dickey.
Wow. tough crowd. The man said the offseason is not over yet. If he signs Hairston, will the hating stop?
Hating?
We hate that he has been here 2yrs going on 3 and hasnt improved the team….
And Hairston sucks…he doesnt sure up anything, he is a platoon LF at best and he is a terrible defender in the OF…… Id rather have Delmon Youngs terrible Defense in the OF if I had to choose between the 2 at least he wouldnt have to be platooned.(FYI Im not interested in Young but prefer him over Hairston)
Is it possible to critique Aldersons work so far without being called a hater…or being accused of hating…thats such an lazy overused word
” If he signs Hairston, will the hating stop?”
Well, I reckon that he’d have to replace the outfielders he got rid of, the home grown all star short stop he didn’t resign, the Cy Young pitcher he got rid of and on and on.
But sure, if he signs a platoon outfielder then all the hating will stop.
Ray,
I agree that there is still time, however torturous this is for Met fans. But, resigning Hairstin, a platoon OF who was on the 74 win 2012 edition, will in no way shape or form appease anyone paying attention. He needs a legit SP5, a legit closer, and either a legit CF/leadoff hitter, a legit RH power bat, or both. While that won’t position the with the Nats or Braves roster-wise, it will at least offset the trade of RA and position them to be respectable/competitive in 2013. It will also provide a decent environment for the core to develop and be added with AAA promotions, when they can trade off some pieces to make room on the 25-man should they somehow not be in the WC race.
Hating? Are you bipolar or something? Do you only see things in black and white, and hot or cold? Criticism of moves and non moves is hate? What is wrong with you? You have no business commenting on a blog because you seem to think everyone must fall in line with your philosophy which about 50% of us think is flawed.
Yes there are people here that hate alderson. You dont have to be here long to find that out, Then if anybody dares to try to defend the current regime they get called names like bi-polar, crazy, stupid and cultists, Metsie wants to know how come so many people on his side of the argument get banned here. Maybe thats part of it.
Hairston was a tongue in cheek reference, but just go look at the comments on the hairston thread. SA is such a cheapskate because he wont give in to hairstons demands (which nobody else is either)
I guess some people just need to let off steam and thats ok. When you cant have a discussion without attacking people who have a different view, then it becomes a problem.
Just as there are people who FAWN and DROOL over Sandy’s droppings….
You guys want to call one side extremists but the truth is there are a lot more extremists on the LOVE SANDY side than there are fans who just want to see this team get better and don’t care if Sandy Alderson is the name that does it….
No one here hates Sandy….We hate what he has done which is a a whole lot of nothing but waiting for something to come accross his desk.
And it doesn’t matter who did that he would get called out and bitched at….
Most could care less about Sandy…The arguments aren’t about Sandy it with the people who think his gas is perfume and he has some midas touch….
Well the guy has won just one WS since 1989 and that encompasses his ENTIRE CAREER IN BASEBALL!
But for some reason there is a small group of LOVERS who thinks everything he does is the smartest move that can ever be made….
Yes, because Hairston’s gonna solve all their problems, right? Hairston or no Hairston, there’s more work to be done with pitching.
The Mets are the fourth best team in their division in year three of Sandy. The Mets have a minor league system which ranks in the 15-20 range in baseball in year three of Sandy. If you look at our MLB talent, you can’t help but rank it but fourth best in our division in year three of Sandy. I’m sorry but I see nothing that says Sandy has done an even mediocre job. Setting things straight and focused on winning 70 games is what this post should have led with.
A lot of experts see the Mets´ system in the top 10 or at least top 15 range and as much improved.
Baseball America isn´t as high of the system because they do not like the upper level talent at all beyond Wheeler & D´Arnaud (i.e. two elite prospects acquired by Alderson) while acknowledging that there is plenty of promise & depth at the lower levels (i.e. again mostly players acquired over the past couple of years under Alderson) – yet too far away for their taste to be a factor.
I see that you already edited your original post, Lerner. You initially said something like Francesa was trying to trip him up and Sandy kept hitting them out of the park?
I’d love to know what goes through that tiny little biased brain of yours sometimes.
Anybody who heard the interview knew that Francesa was lobbing softballs at him and gave him a dozen free passes.
He was never once asked to reflect on things he categorically stated he would do this offseason in their last interview in October.
He was never grilled about the outfield that he said would be significantly improved.
They both thought it was a joke that Dickey took 20 of the Mets 74 wins to Toronto with him and those wins have yet to be replaced.
Yes, he really hammered him, didn’t he? Only in your mind.
It was bad enough that Sandy and Co. have done nothing but make the team progressively worse since they’ve gotten here. Every year, they create more holes on the major league squad. That is indefensible. Then to make things worse by consistently lying to the fanbase about how “next year” they’ll have more money to spend when “next year” never comes, to make trades that weaken the team even more, and then to pull out the tried and true tactic of smearing or mocking players they illogically decide they no longer want could not be any more disingenuous. The Mets brand has been ruined. And they keep a straight face the entire time they lie to us, and they keep lying. They should have a slogan for this season — “2013 NY Mets – Your Daily Dose of Misdirection.” I guess you can now call it “Metsdirection” instead. Means the same thing.
Bravo, Jack.
I don’t see how it could still be construed that Sandy came on board with the dual purpose of helping the Wilpons retain ownership of the club and either retain it (as some of us felt it could) or turn it into (as others thought it needed to) a competitor when to do the former means sacrificing the latter.
Sandy is of the new breed of corporate general managers who do not look at baseball as a game but as a business to be run for the sole purpose of what a business intends to do – make as much profit as possible. If that can be done by investing less in a team, so be it.
THIS!!!
I couldn’t have said it better myself! )Well I probably could if I asserted myself, but I don’t feel like it right now. )
Sandy Alderson “interviews” combine the hilarity of open mic night with the candor you’d expect from someone giving grand jury testimony. He’s absolutely infuriating.
(Compliments of AA):
Alderson: Well, I’ll tell you what’s interesting, Mike. We had been talking to two or three teams about R.A. Dickey, and we had an interest in a couple players from one team and we were prepared to make a trade to that team for those two players. After we made the deal with Toronto, we got a call from that team — they wouldn’t give us the two players for R.A., but they called us and said, “We’ll give you the two players for Travis d’Arnaud. Straight up.”
******************************************************
I’d really like to know who that mystery team was and the two players.
You can read all about it here at 8 AM. It wasn’t such a mystery, but his story was certainly something you’d find in the humor section.
I dont know any other GM in baseball that puts other players and GM’s on blast more than Sandy…
I guess Sandy doesnt have aspirations of being a GM somewhere else ( unless Bud says so )
I’ll tell right now who that mystery team was. Just reading that made me immediately think Bradley & Bogaerts from Boston. Remember how it was talked about Alderson was in talks with Boston for Dickey for those two but Boston balked? Combine that with the fact that Boston probably wanted to upgrade from Saltalamacchia.
it also makes sense in that Toronto would not likely have been willing to deal him directly to boston.
if that was the case, are those 2 guys worth more than Travis? Not a clear cut answer, but it certainly seems that what the Mets did get in total is worth more than that Boston package.
if it was Profur + Olt, then I say YES
Profur right now is 19, and if all goes as projected, will be the best SS in baseball in a few years
Just moving Tejada to 2B ( who really is a smart player but doesnt have great range ) + adding a nother really good fielding SS would help the defense out exponentially.
And Profur has a great bat
I do love really good catchers
but we already are deep with that position
Juan Centeno if given the chance, will be a .280 hitter with great defense
Profar is arguably the # 1 prospect in Baseball right now and was deemed untouchable by Texas in any sort of trade talks.
No way the Rangers offer him for anyone other than Giancarlo Stanton or David Price, maybe.
Certainly not for Justin Upton, RA Dickey or Travis D´Arnaud. Neither straight up nor with Mike Olt added…
SRT, Toronto gave the mets the 2 best prospects it had left. All the better prospects went to Toronto on the Reyes deal. Just wanted to point that out.
My wife just said “they are losing money, too bad, it’s their own fault”.
She is so right. And it started after Shea was demolished when the Wilpons showed indifference to the average fan by making the cost of going to a game too expensive and creating an atmosphere of being a second class citizen by catering to those with money with so many entrances off limits to most and cutting off a good portion of left field so the exclusive restaurant below could be angled more towards home plate at the expense of all those sitting in the upper left field promenade starting right behind third base.
Then Sandy came on board and only added to that resentment.
Lerner, you got to stop drinking the kool-aid dude…Do you owe Sandy or something?
The comment above wasn’t made to derogatory toward you Lerner, even if it sounds that way…I just can’t see how you can continue to defend Alderson when moves were made financially and with comtracts and additional revenues to improve the team now, but he continues spoon feeding us this BS
Mike, Craig is one of the biggest sandy lovers in this site along with JesseP, Donal, SRT, TRS and others… No need to apologize, you are just lucky enough to maybe not see his articles about how great sandy is. I understand the need to be scare for calling out an immortal, but the truth is the truth.
To me it really just comes down to this. There are two kinds of people here: Those who are willing to wait for it to be done correctly, and those who are not, and that’s just the way it is going to be until next offseason. Doing it this way takes longer and hurts a lot more, but it has high potential to pay off mightily in the end. Next pitchers and catchers day is judgement day. Going into next year right now assuming no multiyear deals signed this winter, the payroll will be as low as its going to be, so they have the ability to start from scratch, which is pretty clear is the plan. That means maximum payroll flexibility to do whatever they’d like.
It is fairly obvious at this point that all decisions up to this point have been with the rest of the decade in mind. No short-sighted decisions. So moves that will be made with 2013 in mind will only either be made if they benefit the rest of the decade as well, or don’t restrict the rest of the decade in any way. Michael Bourn is an example of a short-sighted move in that he will probably help the team in the next year or two but chances are he probably won’t live up to the contract he receives, so there is possibility of dead money. Dead money equals more of Wilpons money down the tubes and less payroll flexibility (we know all about that, its called the last four years). Combined with the fact that the Mets lose a pick. Those who want to throw David Wright back at me, save it. It can’t be used as an example because it was clearly a marketing decision just as much as a baseball decision.
Those who come on here daily and talk all the Sandy doesn’t care about winning, he’s somehow sabotaging the Mets, just have a warped sense of what the hell is really going on here. These are most likely the same people who are saying that he is just here to save the Wilpons ass. These people don’t realize what a contradiction that is. Sandy and co. are 100% all about a sustained winner because a sustained winner/annual contender is the only thing that saves the Wilpons and gets them back in the black, which was most likely the #1 goal coming into this and the reason they were brought here in the first place. The good thing about it is that everybody wins. The fans get a winner, and the Wilpons get to keep their franchise.
“There are two kinds of people here: Those who are willing to wait for it to be done correctly, and those who are not”
OR….
Those who assume everything Sandy does is CORRECT (no matter how dumb it sounds) and if you just HAVE FAITH there is gold at the end of this Moneyball Rainbow
And those who question moves based on the moves being made and the crap that comes out of Sandy’s mouth when he tries to explain them or explian why there IS no move using MONEY as an excuse for BREATHING!
What I don’t understand is why so many wish to see Sandy as a baseball person instead of the business person when it is so obvious by his own conversations about baseball that he does not have the professional awareness to be in charge of such matters. He knows the game, yes, but as an admitted “observer” which clearly different than what is required of an executive involved in evaluation, team strategy, etc.
It does seem that Sandy believes he is that type of individual, based of course, on his analytical mind deciphering statistical information. That seems to be the mindset of many of the new breed of general managers that are business people with no background in the sport.
So part of the support for Sandy comes from those who contend that through advanced statistical analysis Sandy became a self-taught evaluator of baseball talent versus the traditionlists (like me) who say that is not possible on an executive level. The other part comes from those who do not see him as only that business executive in the game of baseball and thus his moves (even if based on sabermetrics) are seen from the point of the ledger book.
CB, how are you Mate?
“It is fairly obvious at this point that all decisions up to this point have been with the rest of the decade in mind.”
Farily obvious to whom?
Sandy was sent in to run the Mets by Bud Selig. His orders were to get the Mets financially solvent because of the trouble Fred was in as a resulf of the Madoff scandal.
This was never to be a planned rebuilding effort but an attempt by Selig and Fred to get the Wilpons to hold onto the franchise.
If all decsions were made with the next decade in mind they wouldn’t have let Reyes go – for starters.
They have gutted the team and have a couple of minor league prospects to show for it.
This isn’t rocket science.
No offense but don’t be passing that Kool Aid by me.
Agee,
Lets see how that Reyes contract looks in a few years before we cast judgement on that one,
…and lets do the same thing with David Wright…aka the guy we paid 138 mil for 8 years
Hi Ray,
The reason why I think Reyes wasn’t going to be re-signed had all to do with money simply because there was no re-investment of the $11 million from 2011 that came off the books, as was the same with no longer having to pay KRod, Beltran, Castillo and Perez.
When it first happened, I gave Sandy the benefit of the doubt because we did have a back-up with Tejada. But because nothing was done with the money saved, it is my guess that if we did not have Tejada it would have just meant another hole to fill – as we saw when Tejada was out for the month.
Tejada did an admirable job at shortstop and if we had not a Jose Reyes before him I don’t think there would be any complaints. Forgetting that Jose was a fan favorite, his speed and stolen base capability meant a lot to the Mets offense, as well as his range and throwing arm helped a bit more in the field.
Hi Joey,
I think Reyes was not re-signed for several reasons. First of all Alderson is totally against second generation contracts. Wilpons dictated the wright contract, Second, as you say is that they had a replacement ready and waiting to play for a fraction of the price, Third and most important is the injury history, Only Loria would pony up the contract jose got. Totally backloaded knowing he was not going to keep him long, Even if by some miracle Reyes has no more leg injuries he has already lost a step and his most valuable asset will become less of an asset over time.
I understand about the money not being reinvested but the days of patching holes had to end, It wasnt working and the whole thing needed to be stripped down and made over. Anyway The Wilpons control the pursestrings and NOT the GM, I hope next time freddy opens the wallet the money will be spent more wisely.
“”He’s the type of guy you want to come and see play, he’s electric,” Toronto general manager Alex Anthopoulos said. “This is a rare guy to find. Leadoff, shortstop, energy, makeup, you can check off every single box. I don’t know that there’s another shortstop like him. I think any GM would love to have him.”
Anthopoulos called Reyes “probably my favorite player in the league.”
“You can’t help but admire what he brings and what he does,” Anthopoulos said. “From that standpoint, the opportunity to get him in trade, we jumped at it. We felt we were pretty deep at shortstop but we’ve never seen a guy like this.
“I don’t know that we’re going to see another shortstop like this in Toronto for a long time. This is one of the great players to play the game and the fact that he’s got a chance to be in Toronto for the next five or six years is so exciting.”
Full article:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/marlins/2013/01/17/jose-reyes-says-jeffrey-loria-told-him-he-would-stay-in-miami/1843689/
Makes me want to throw up. I know one GM who wouldn’t love to have him – the “smartest guy in the room” – Sandy Alderson.
This Reyes thing is the one smoking gun that disproves and Front Office attempt to try to sell us on rebuilding. You simply don’t let this guy go. Especially in the number one market in baseball.
You want to talk about being in the position to fine tune a club – then put Reyes on it and start fine tunning.
Meanwhile this news:
“Alderson doesn’t rule out d’Arnaud or Wheeler for opening day roster”
There is no way that d’Arnaud is with the Mets before the middle of May – Why? because of his ability to eventually become a free agent. That’s the kind of thinking that goes on now when deciding who goes onto the roster.
“Alderson doesn’t rule out d’Arnaud or Wheeler for opening day roster”
With the wilpons in short-term mode…you never know….
they may put travis, wheeler, harvey in baby strollers with David Wright pushing them along as the cover story for their 2013 Met Yearbook
nothing surprises me with these clowns
well, in the last few years, fans certainly weren’t coming out to see Reyes in NY or Miami.
A lot more went to see Reyes than will ever go to see Hairston, Cowgill and Baxter (combined) though….
most will go to see a team that wins, no matter whose name is on the back of the jersey.
“There is no way that d’Arnaud is with the Mets before the middle of May – Why? because of his ability to eventually become a free agent. That’s the kind of thinking that goes on now when deciding who goes onto the roster.”
Please stop acting like the Mets are the only team that does this. Every team does this, with pretty much every big prospect. You don’t have to look any further than Bryce Harper. You think it was a coincidence he made his debut on April 28?
You’re just looking for something else to b*itch about. We’re talking about a whole year of control, for 20 days. Everyone does it. Stop.
Not resigning the National League batting Champion one year and trading the National League Cy Young Award winner the next is a pattern. That’s not rebuilding -that’s gutting.
As I said, it’s not rocket science here.
Tlagee, they are not rebuilding, didn’t you see they resign david wright to an 8 year (undeserving) deal???
Here’s the audio of the whole interview:
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/audio-on-demand/mike-francesa-1/#
This confirms what I have believed for some time. Sandy is a fraud and this franchise is screwing its fans and giving us nothing to root for.