I hate to say I told you so, but much as I speculated on August 1, the Mets never placed Bartolo Colon on waivers as many had considered a foregone conclusion. Joel Sherman of the NY Post confirmed as much.
There were assertions made that Sandy Alderson was willing to give away Colon to any claiming team just to get the salary relief and with no players coming back to the Mets. As I said at the time, that was “preposterous.”
Here is what I wrote back then:
I never believed the Mets were simply going to let Colon go to anyone who would take his salary. I don’t know why everyone was running with that story which I initially called preposterous.
Sandy Alderson would never simply just give the guy away. As I’ve said repeatedly, it would reflect negatively on him as he did quite the sell job on the fan base after signing him and trying to justify that second guaranteed year.
Simply giving him away would also fan the flames that the Mets are STILL in financial distress, something they’ve been trying hard to extinguish.
I’m pretty certain Colon gets moved in the offseason which should be easier to do especially if he finishes the season off healthy and effective. Is it a risk? Of course it is, but Sandy knew that when he gambled on that second year – something no other team in the major leagues was willing to do.
Look, as a couple of my MMO colleagues already argued this month, there’s also nothing wrong with hanging onto Colon. There’s no guarantee that Harvey returns from Tommy John Surgery in his 2013 form. It may take a year to get back to that.
There are also concerns about Jon Niese and Dillon Gee, and quite frankly, if I were in Sandy’s shoes – those are the two I’d be shopping and you’ll likely get a lot more in return.
