John Harper of the Daily News summarizes, more eloquently than I ever can, why there are no more passes for Sandy Alderson and that he better start putting his Moneyball where his mouth is.
The Godfather of the Moneyball concept that turned Billy Beane into Brad Pitt, Alderson took over as the primary Mets decision-maker two years ago with the reputation as a GM who could find value in undervalued players — someone who would work a little magic with trades and under-the-radar free-agent signings.
Other than Wheeler, there has been little evidence of that so far. In fact, Alderson got smoked last winter on the Angel Pagan trade, as it turned out, as the world-champion Giants quickly gained a measure of revenge for the Wheeler deal, since neither Andres Torres nor Ramon Ramirez helped the Mets in 2012. And so far the Mets GM hasn’t done so well signing relievers, from D.J. Carrasco to Jon Rauch to Frank Francisco.
So as the GM meetings begin in Palm Springs on Wednesday, it seems fair to say Alderson has plenty to prove over the next few months.
That’s some good advice for Sandy. I’m glad to see the media is finally catching up with me as the Daily News, Newsday, and the Post all came out with pieces today calling for some action from this front office, and that the ownership or financial situation can no longer be used as crutches for their inaction. Teams under worse constraints have done more. Teams with players who are also albatrosses have done more. Those GM’s are making a fraction of the $3 million that Alderson gets paid as one of the highest compensated executives in the game. Plus Sandy is flanked by two more assistants in Ricciardi and DePodesta who are earning top dollar as well to assist in his decision making. This three-headed monster has made a nice chunk of change off of our misery.
The time for stalling and waiting is at an end. The time for real change is now. No more empty words and hollow promises, please. Instead lets see a sign that you still have a pulse and that you know how to navigate these new waters which are so different from your heyday in the eighties.
Let me see you hold your own with the likes of this new wave of younger, energetic, enthusiastic, progressive general managers that have taken last place teams and transformed them on a dime and in a year or two.
Maybe you should be taking lessons and jotting down notes from your other 29 colleagues who have all passed you by and are deep into this new era of doing business in baseball, especially your former student Billy Beane who can now run rings around you.
The sharks are now circling the waters and they smell blood. It’s now or never for you as we begin to ponder a list of your replacements. We need a general manager who can navigate this franchise with this entrenched ownership and not use it as an excuse to sit back and get paid handsomely for doing essentially nothing in two years aside from shifting the organization in reverse. I knew you promised we’d be going in a new direction, but I thought you had something a little different in mind.
We can’t do anything about the ownership, and only a fool would think otherwise. But we can certainly do something about you. So as you head to the GM Meetings today, keep these five little words in mind; it’s do or die time.
