Team President Sandy Alderson will be busy between the end of the regular season and the expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement on December 2.
The Mets will have to make decisions on their coaching staff, front office, and free agents.
Alderson hosted his annual end-of-season press conference on Wednesday night, touching on all of these subjects. He expressed his disappointment with how the Mets season ended and provided clarity on the franchise’s next steps.
Here are five things we learned:
1. Coaching Staff Decisions Made Soon
The most pressing decision will be what to do with the current coaching staff.
“Coaching staff decisions on the manager and coaches will be made after the season, I hope as soon as after the season as possible. I always think that’s the best practice,” Alderson said.
The future of manager Luis Rojas will likely be decided before the Mets hire a President of Baseball Operations.
“I’m big on process but ultimately results matter,” Alderson said. “If you don’t have good results over a period of time, then the process may not survive. So I’m appreciative of all those positives that have been mentioned over the course of the year and Luis’ relationship with the player but ultimately we have to be governed, to some extent, not just by the process of what goes into the results but the results themselves. As we approach the end of the season we have to be realistic about the result and what the results have been.”
2. What the Mets Want From a President of Baseball Operations
The search for a POBO will begin after the regular season and begin no later than the end of the postseason. Alderson chose not to divulge on any names currently in the Mets search and declined to speak about the candidacy of any individuals, including Theo Epstein.
Alderson instead spoke about the search process and what they’re looking for in a candidate. The Mets had difficulty filling the role last season because of teams declining interviews. He’s optimistic situations improve and the Mets arrive at the right place.
With the hiring of a POBO, Alderson will go fully go back to what he signed on with the Mets to do and that is the President of the team.
“I’m hopeful we can find someone who is going to be invested in the team long term,” Alderson said. “And we’ll get in the weeds and provide us with the leadership and expertise that we need on the baseball side. From my standpoint, I’m happy to turn that over to someone that we find who’s more capable.”
3. No Progress on Free-Agent Decisions
The Mets have yet to reach decisions on what to do with their top four free agents Michael Conforto, Noah Syndergaard, Marcus Stroman, and Javier Baez.
Both Conforto and Syndergaard are available for a qualifying offer, a decision that won’t be made until five or so days after the end of the World Series.
“Conforto has been a stalwart for us over many years, drafted by the Mets, and had an immediate impact during 2015. We think very highly of Michael and that’s a decision we will have to make,” Alderson said.
Alderson stated how nice it was to see Syndergaard return to the mound on Tuesday night and to see him healthy. Syndergaard expressed his desire to return to New York in press conferences Tuesday night.
The Mets have not started talks with Stroman. He’s valued “very highly” by the organization for the way he’s performed this season after not pitching at all in 2020.
Alderson paused for a little bit before discussing the return of Baez.
“Is it possible? Yes. Is it realistic? Maybe. It’s hard for me to put odds on it,” Alderson said.
4. Potential Work Stoppage Looms
The MLB collective bargaining agreement expires on Dec. 2. If it does then all work must cease and the Mets and every other team must manage around the break in offseason action.
Alderson expects a lot of action to take place up until and through that date.
“There’s a new one to be negotiated and that does create a number of different questions,” Alderson said.
Questions Alderson has are if there will be a DH in the National League, an issue that won’t be resolved until the start of Spring Training. There’s also no idea where the competitive balance tax threshold will be. That impacts roster composition and financial commitments.
“We’re not going to be operating as if there will be a work stoppage,” Alderson said. “We will be operating with that possibility in mind. Every club will be. The implications are not limited to the players.”
It’s still too early to think concretely about what will happen because of the distance away it is, Alderson said.
5. Increased Candidate Vetting
The Mets claim they will attempt to increase their vetting of job candidates after the situations of Jared Porter and Mickey Callaway arose this past season.
“I made it clear that we would do what we could do to expand the process,” Alderson said. “Both identifying candidates, doing backgrounds on candidates, and that has been the case. On the other hand, there’s never a perfect background investigation, there’s never the ability to perfectly predict what circumstances might arise. I think we’re being more fulsome in our review process and broader in the types of people we talk to.”
“To the extent that we can to make sure the process is more systematic, deeper, broader. That includes feedback from as many different sources as we can possibly get,” Alderson added.
Alderson was asked about the Mets’ possible signing of Trevor Bauer last offseason. Alderson reiterated there were lots of questions about him they attempted to answer and the process was a “good one.” Bauer is currently on administrative leave as his sexual assault probe continues.
“That’s an unfortunate situation, and the good news is it didn’t happen on our watch,” Alderson said.
Interim GM Zack Scott has had very little contact with the team since being placed on administrative leave. The understanding is his situation will be resolved in October and then they will review his status for next season.
