Adam Rubin of ESPN New York published a review last night of Sandy Alderson’s upcoming biography “Baeball Maverick: How Sandy Alderson Revolutionized Baseball and Revived the Mets”. In his review, Rubin highlighted Alderson’s comments on Terry Collins‘ job security and what happened behind the scenes in the Carlos Beltran trade. Here are some of the most interesting details.
- Amid reports manager Terry Collins‘ job was safe last August, Collins’ chance of returning actually was 51 percent, according to Alderson, who told Kettmann at the time: “Frankly, for me, that percentage has been eroding.”
- Alderson was upset about a drop in walks. “We can’t just throw up our hands and say, ‘We’re not being selective at the plate anymore, so much for that,'” Alderson said. A meeting with hitters saved Collins’ job.
- Alderson approached Peter Greenberg, the agent for Jose Reyes, in June of Reyes’ walk year, but the GM was rebuffed in extension talks. Alderson never made an official offer that winter, but informally indicated the Mets genuinely were prepared to bid $100 million.
- “The sad thing is if we sign Jose, we’re just maintaining the status quo. We’re not improving the team,” Alderson told Kettmann at the time.
- The Mets initially had insisted on Gary Brown, Brandon Belt or Zack Wheeler for Beltran. Belt was preferred.
- Ruben Tejada is one of the few criticized. “Gradually you come to the conclusion that Tejada is just a placeholder,” Alderson said. “He’s not a long-term guy for us.”
Thoughts: There’s a lot of great information here, but I am wary of the authors portrayal of Alderson. Rubin notes that the book has an “excessively positive” tone, and it’s ridiculous to say at this point that the Mets are “revived”.
The Mets have yet to achieve a winning season during Alderson’s tenure as GM, so I don’t trust that the author will evaluate Alderson objectively after making a statement like that on the cover.
Despite its potential slant, I agree with Rubin that it’s still worth reading. I would just recommend being skeptical and cautious about some of the claims made within the book.
