During the third inning of Tuesday night’s Mets broadcast, general manager Sandy Alderson joined Gary Cohen and Ron Darling in the booth.
Alderson is disappointed with the team’s performance this season, particularly with some of the players he acquired for this transition year who did not perform to his expectation.
He no doubt was referring to Collin Cowgill, who he expected to become the team’s leadoff hitter and regular center fielder. Cowgill batted .157/.173/.294 before being demoted to Triple-A after only 19 games.
Andrew Brown failed to make the opening day roster and batted .200 during a brief call-up.
Shaun Marcum, who was signed to a guaranteed $4 million dollar deal, was supposed to replace R.A. Dickey. But the right-hander started the season on the DL, missed nearly a month, and has a 6.59 ERA in five starts since being activated.
Left-hander Aaron Laffey was released after posting a 7.20 ERA in four appearances including two spot starts, and relievers Greg Burke and Scott Atchison have struggled, each with 4.50 ERAs on the season.
Sandy is also concerned with some of the players whom he considered to be part of the future core. When asked to explain who he was talking about, he declined to comment saying only, “I think Met fans know who I’m talking about.”
He left off saying that it’s very tough to watch the team play and not be able to do something to help. However, he will remain patient, but not too patient. Alderson said he would look to some of the younger players in their system to improve the major league roster and named Rafael Montero, Zack Wheeler and Travis d’Arnaud as those who could help.
After the game, SNY analyst Bobby Ojeda pointed out that Alderson looked like a man who is very dejected and very disappointed with some of the moves he’s made in putting this team together. He certainly was different than what we’re used to seeing. There were no jokes this time. I think Sandy realizes that it’s time for him to stop talking about the future and deliver on it already. It’s time to produce something tangible. I believe a lot will be riding on how Wheeler and d’Arnaud produce once they are promoted – especially Wheeler.
It will be interesting to see how this drama unfolds… My gut tells me that by the end of this season, Sandy Alderson will either be on very solid footing or a very slippery slope and I’m leaning toward the latter. His fate will be tied to Wheeler’s immediate performance. Stay tuned…
