11
2013
Another Season Of Watching And Waiting In 2013
An article by 
“I’m not punting 2013, I’m simply waiting for 2014″
Sandy Alderson has not made a Major League Signing in over a year. The Mets are currently the only team in baseball to have not signed a player to a Major League contract this offseason. With that said, can you guess who the last player to ink a Major League deal with the Mets was?
It was Ronny Cedeno… I’ll give you a second to gather yourself.
So far this offseason, Alderson has made what looks to be a very good deal for the future of the club. Travis d’Arnaud and Noah Syndergaard may have very promising futures ahead of them, but for now they are just prospects. John Buck was an odd addition for this coming season. Yes, he’s most likely an upgrade over Thole, but at $6 million dollars he is hardly a value. With Buck and minor league deals to utility players like Collin Cowgill and Aaron Laffey, it’s difficult for me to believe that the Mets will be very competitive this season.
Some fans believed that hanging onto R.A. Dickey this season rather than trading him would have made the team a .500 ballclub. That may be so, but what does that do for the organization when you look at the big picture? Another mediocre finish that would net us a middle of the pack draft slot? A 39 year old starter for our 2014 rotation the year after? Another season with no meaningful games in September and a fan base that will continue to stay home and negatively impact the team’s bottom line?
Even without Dickey, 2013 won’t be a total loss and there’s still a few good reasons for fans to stay tuned in. As a fan, I’m excited to see a full season from Matt Harvey as well as the debuts of Zack Wheeler and Travis d’Arnaud. But other than that, what do we as fans have to look forward too?
Bringing back Scott Hairston would be nice, but that won’t change much.
The Mets won 74 games in 2012, and at the rate things are going, I find it hard to believe that they can win that many games again in 2013.
Why Is Alderson so afraid to spend the money he has?
The team will save a few million by deferring Bay’s contract. Yes it still counts toward the payroll, but solely for determining whether the Mets owe any luxury tax (yeah, right). This was freed up cash…
The non-returns of Torres, Pelfrey, Rauch and Ramirez save another $15 million or so. Lastly, David Wright gifted the Mets another $8 million by agreeing to defer part of his salary for 2013. Where did all that money go?
The offseason is not over yet. I get that. But with nobody really left who can make a significant impact, how will this team be an improvement over last year’s model?
Lets face it, Met fans, we are in a for another dismal year in 2013. This upcoming season is just another year of shedding salary and waiting for the kids to develop and hopefully make some impact.
About the Author: Dan Valis
I am a staff writer for Mets Merized Online. I am a Mets team analyst with a focus on the minor league system, as well as the major league club. I am a lifelong New Yorker who was born and raised to be a Mets fan. The ups and downs of being a Mets fan is what makes following this team so much fun, but at times so frustrating. You can follow me on Twitter @BgAppleMetsTalk.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 42 | 30 | .583 | - |
| Phillies | 35 | 37 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Nationals | 34 | 36 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Mets | 27 | 40 | .403 | 12.5 |
| Marlins | 22 | 48 | .314 | 19.0 |
Last updated: 06/19/2013
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“Another Season Of Watching And Waiting In 2013″
Yup.
It’s sure looking that way.
Hope for the best. Wait out this year, suck enough to get a protected pick next year and sign your FAs accordingly to fill in closer and OF spots. Let the kids mature, and you’ll know what you have or what you can cut bait with. Patience ain’t so fun, but it’s needed.
And I still think they should spend some money on some OF and BP pieces. An extra 10 mil spent will prob. at least make the team a tad more competitive and ideally translate into extra rev at the turnstyle.
Anderson loves folks like you. Celebrating a rotten team for a draft pick. R there any baseball fans left?
Maybe Sandy will come up with more snarky remarks for other teams that elect their players to the ASG
“ASG election of “Kung Fu Panda” shows the value of a cute nickname. Surprised Giants fans didn’t elect a “ball dude” to start at 3B.”
Sandy Alderson – Twitter
I’m sure Sandoval would take a discount to come play in Queens !
Dan,
Despite the pessimism, there is still plenty of time this offseason for Alderson to spend some of that $160 mil cash the owners just got from the bank.
not many players left worth spending it anymore though
thats freds money has nothin to do with mets how could you even think that way shame on you
While I’m very much behind the rebuilding I certainly wouldn’t mind signing Hairston, Valverde and either Marcum or C. Young to shortterm deals and give some of the younger players like Mejia and Valdespin a bit more time at AAA. While those players won’t turn the Mets into playoff contenders, they’d certainly make them more competitive in 2013 – with no downside going forward….
I keep telling myself theres plenty of time to improve this team but pitchers and catchers report in 1 month. This is the norm for this organization. They either wait and wait till a player has exhausted every option and settles with Mets and their cheap contract ( thats when ownership pops open the champagne) or players signs with another team, our gm says price was too steep or players signs with another team and reveals the Met cheap tactics that pissed off agent and client. Remember Derek Lowe and Molina 2 month negotiation process? it was like watching paint dry and they both got pissed and signed with other teams. Def good we didnt sign them but Omar then signed Oli and tried to convince fans it was their plan from the beginning. Difference with Sandy is he will lose out on players and then sign nobody.
sooo you’re saying signing Ollie to 3/36 is better than signing nobody?
When you have a team good enough to be considered a playoff contender it’s certainly better than spending 1 Million or 3 million on a guy who can’t pitch….
sooo you’re saying spending 36 million on a guy who can’t pitch is better than spending 1 or 3 million on a guy can’t pitch.
stay hot Metsie, always making tons of sense.
First off your only pending 12 Mill for that year not 36 so your really only spending 10 or 11 mil more than a guy who SUCKS TOTALLY in a single year!
The guy was coming off a 15-10 and a 10-7 season I note how you guys all justified Ramirez, Rauch and Francisco ( Same 12 Mil) based on the same PAST criteria….
He got hurt in 2009 and never recovered….Happens all the time!
Tell me you knew he was going to get hurt that year!
And this is how you can…..
Show me a post from 2008 that has you saying this guy is not worth signing because he will get hurt….
Or predict the first player that is currently healthy and will wind up on the disabled list next year…..
Have fun!
Scott Boras on his players still being unsigned: “It really doesn’t matter what time dinner is when you’re the steak.”
I’m thinking Boras isn’t going to pull any rabbits out of his hat this year.
Have we ever considered if this keeps up that no free agents will ever want to sign with the Mets?
Why would someone in their right mind want to come play for this team, unless it was their last resort?
That’s what we get. You don’t have to “Dumpster Dive” , the garbage comes to you
Rich–I’ve asked this same questions numerous times.
Why would anyone want to play for this shadow of a team that’s much like a minor league club.
Does anyone know what happens to players who have declined qualifying offers (Bourn, Lohse, Soriano) and never get offered a contract how long does the draft pick compensation stay with that player? For instance say they don’t sign by the time spring training starts does the draft pick compensation terminate?
“he’s (Buck) most likely an upgrade over Thole”
Wow, you either are really under valuing Thole or over valuing Buck.
I think the wording should be…”Both Thole and Buck suck…Buck may hit a little more power, but the guy did bat .192 last year!… basically, Buck is Jason Bay, but catching.”
“Some fans believed that hanging onto R.A. Dickey this season rather than trading him would have made the team a .500 ballclub. That may be so, but what does that do for the organization when you look at the big picture?”
Well for it puts you one Power Hitting RH Ofer away from being way above .500!
With a Top Prospect Starting Pitcher ready to make that even better!
We all look at .500 like it’s a wall and if you can’t breach the wall no point walking up to it….
But you can NEVER breach it unless you get close enough to go through it.
And thats a point that is seemingly lost on many Met fans!
d’Arnaud may be a great acquisition and I hope to god he turns into the next great Met Fan Favorite….
Snydergaard may be a promising pitcher but he’s not going to walk us up to that .500 wall for another 3 or 4 years.
So while you might think “We can’t be better than .500 this year why try?” Well you won’t be better than .500 not just THIS year but three or four more years if you do what we are doing and subscribe to this notion if you can’t bet better than .500 no point in trying to be .500!
Cause all your doing is ensuring is that we STAY below .500 for the forseeable future!
Fred is the gm,sandy is the professional bs artist what ever happen to the 110 million we were promised in payroll. It is 5 years to put a minor league team on field. Teams that show up to sprin training ames are suppose to bring at least 5 major league players. do we have 5. we are neck and neck with houston for the worst team in the game, and everyone sugarcoats how good hes doing. with a rookie pitcher on the mound we put only dave the choker[prof. bs artist #2] on the field as are only prof. 9 players valued at 15 million. lowest in baseball . 65 wins should do
if we are rebuilding why do we draft 17 yr old kids and not players like harvey who become major league ready in 2 yrs, I dont think fred likes to pay for those guys !1 was enough 17 year olds dont cost that much . This fred guy can squeeze 6 cents out of a nickel.Thats his only plan and sandy is all for it.
A message to the folks out there…
“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… We want to be prudent under all circumstances, but New York is not Oakland. As I said earlier, I wouldn’t be here if it were.”
Sandy Alderson – December 13th 2010