Sandy Alderson spoke with reporters for the first time since the end of the season. At the GM meetings in California, the Mets president spoke about the team’s difficulty finding someone for the front office and the moves the Mets have made so far.
Here are three takeaways from the executive’s media session:
Blame New York, Not Us
Alderson spoke lengths about the location of the team as a reason why suitable front office candidates are denying the Mets. Executives are unable to handle the pressure put on them.
“If it’s looking to be comfortable, this is probably not the place to come,” Alderson said.
That never seemed to be a talking point last season as the Mets went on to hire Jared Porter and Zack Scott to prominent positions within the organization. It’s now year two of a search for a proper president of baseball operations and Alderson is trying to deflect blame from himself and the red flags that have popped up regarding the internal promotion of his son Bryn to assistant GM this past summer while the Mets had no structure in place.
The Mets are currently on their 20th rumored candidate for either president or general manager.
“There’s no tanking in New York,” Alderson said. “It’s always a competition. It’s always a desire to win. There are lots of factors that come into play. But I would say it’s not unforgiving, but it’s a demanding place. Which I enjoy, by the way.”
Alderson enjoys it so much, he’s been with the Mets since 2010. Helping them go to the playoffs twice. No tanking in New York.
Making Claims
Without a proper front office setup, the Mets are still looking for ways to improve and bring in players before a potential work stoppage in December.
“We are continuing to function,” Alderson said. “We made qualifying offers, we continue to look at the waiver wire. We’ve made several claims although we haven’t gotten anyone at this point. So at this point, we’re continuing business. While we don’t have a GM for these meetings, I don’t consider that a serious omission.”
The Mets made two no-brainer moves extending the qualifying offer to Michael Conforto and Noah Syndergaard. Conforto has already rejected his. It’s also likely the Mets put in a claim for surprise cut Wade Miley. He landed in Chicago because they had a higher waiver priority.
“We’re actively looking right now, we’re talking to players and not just the headline players but there are minor league free agents, depth pieces that are really important that we continue to talk to,” Alderson said. “We’re not just sitting on our hands at this point.”
Coaching Staff Incoming?
There’s a point this offseason where the Mets will have to hire a coaching staff if they still don’t have a GM in place. Alderson says they’re not there yet but it has been discussed.
“We do have one coach,” Alderson said. “The good news in that regard is that aside from maybe Oakland there’s nobody else looking for a manager. So in that sense, we’re not competing with three or four other clubs. I think the circumstances are somewhat favorable just because there isn’t a lot of competition.”
The Cardinals replaced Mike Shildt internally, the Padres hired Bob Melvin from the A’s. It leaves just the Mets and A’s as the only teams with open manager jobs. No candidates have been identified yet. Jeremy Hefner is the one returning coach from 2021.
The Mets do not expect to hire a manager before a GM, Alderson says.
