MetsBlog posted this recap of Sandy Alderson’s comments to reporters this morning at Digital Domain Park.
- His decision to trade or keep David Wright this summer will not directly be tied to their record at that time – his 2013 option is a factor in his situation.
- If the team is contending towards the trade deadline, he envisions an ability to expand the payroll to augment the roster.
- The farm system has improved, and there are players in the system who are close to making an impact at the big league level.
- It isn’t likely either Zack Wheeler, Jeurys Familia or Matt Harvey will be on the big league roster early in 2012.
It’s interesting that he did not deny Wright could be traded, but instead told reporters what factors he would consider most.
“I think that his future is independent of club performance,” Alderson said. “There are certain decisions that one takes that are a function of where a team is at a particular time and so forth. But if there’s anybody on the team whose performance and future is independent of the club’s performance, I think it’s David’s. I think it was presumed going into the [2011] season that depending on what we did and how well Carlos performed and given the fact he was in the last year of his contract that he might be traded at the deadline. David’s case is little bit different. No. 1, there isn’t that presumption. No. 2, he has an option for next year. So I think his situation is somewhat different.”
Wright is earning $15M this season and has a team option worth $16M for 2013 that he can decline if traded.
Alderson also said the same thing last year about spending if Mets were contending – of course the exact opposite happened.
The last point makes sense. No need to rush any of the kids and why start their arbitration clocks before they are fully developed anyway?
