An MMO Fan Shot by Matt Stephens
In 2013 the Mets hosted an event where you could ask Sandy Alderson questions. It was pretty lame. It was right in the midst of the Michael Bourn saga, and every question was about that. It wasn’t fun. This time around I think things went a little better. Sandy was definitely more insightful, and though he reiterated his usual points, it was more sincere than he’s been in a while.
Tonight I spent the night at that same event at Citi Field where all four GMs answered questions from the fans. I don’t think Ricciardi or DePodesta was asked one thing though. Alderson received the bulk of the questions and Ricco chimed in on occasion.
I recorded the event and transcribed the most interesting questions and answers to the best of my ability. They aren’t all exact word for word, but I did not put words in anyone’s mouth. The questions and answers are shortened and paraphrased to make this article an appropriate length. Below are these questions and answers along with some commentary. A indicates Alderson.
Met Fan: I was pretty optimistic going into this off-season but I don’t see a lot of improvement. We finished 17 games out of first place, and the Nationals, Marlins, and Padres all improved substantially while we’re just adding Cuddyer and Harvey. You made the statement ‘I’m expecting to improve by 10 games, but I don’t think we have the numbers to support that. It’s been 30 years since the World Series, and I’d like to get back there.
Alderson: “”Let me clarify what I said. I didn’t say that we expect to improve by 10 games, I said that we have the capacity to improve by 10 games, and that I believe. The question boils down to what the hell have you been doing the last two months and that’s a fair question. We signed Cuddyer almost immediately, and the timing on that was solely based on Colorado’s qualifying offer. We knew it was going to be a short-term contract and wanted an outfielder that could hit left-handed pitching.”
“The question became, will Wilmer Flores play shortstop for the Mets? The short answer is yes. In the last two months, we’ve considered a lot of things, but we aren’t in Miami’s position. They had obvious holes and third base and first base and filled them. Though we don’t have an All-Star at every position, we don’t have gaping holes either.”
“Travis d’Arnaud may not be an outstanding player right now, but it doesn’t mean we need to chase someone better. We admittedly looked into 8-10 shortstop possibilities but as far as what it would cost, in terms of prospects and money, we weren’t willing to make those deals. We spend a lot of time looking at things, and it isn’t because I’m overly cautious. I’m very comfortable with what we have.”
Note: After this Howie Rose, the event’s moderator, brought up the topic of Amed Rosario and asked if his future impacts current decisions at the shortstop position. Alderson said that for prospects who are that far away, their impact is not even considered. There is more focus put on Matt Reynolds who is close to the major leagues and is ready to contribute.
Met Fan: Can we expect a double play combination of Amed Rosario and Dilson Herrera and where will they begin this season?
Alderson: “Dilson will start at Las Vegas and Amed will be at Savannah. It is possible that he reaches Port St. Lucie by the season’s end. That combination is something we can project, but it also leaves out a lot of prospects and current players when you plan on something like that. Amed is far away, and we can make projections like that as we prepare to build a sustainable model for the future. We don’t want to be a one -year wonder. The goal is building a team that will continue to compete for multiple years.”
Note: This was followed by a guy who praised Sandy for keeping Flores and begged him not to trade him. The fan said he saw Melvin Mora when he watched Wilmer Flores, and he advocated not making any moves. After that, Sandy smiled and said, “Good night everyone!” Best quote of the night.
Met Fan: With the first 26 games against the NL East and the Yankees, how important is the start to the season?
Alderson: “We played very well against the NL East last year, with one obvious exception. When they signed Max Scherzer, my response was, how much worse can we be? It’s extremely important to establish a fighting posture against these newly constructed teams, and I think the first impression is critical, as is the last impression. We hope it goes reasonably well. We started off well last year but things tailed off. The beginning of the season is important.”
Note: Howie then asked Alderson if Matt Harvey is going to be the Opening Day starter, and Alderson rambled on about how he’ll be 16 months removed from surgery, he should be ready to go… and things like that. He added that though Harvey’s innings will be team controlled, he doesn’t want to use the term limit. Sandy added that both sides are satisfied with the number that has been agreed on, but he refused to share that magic number. The expectation is that he’ll be ready for the postseason, but a decision has not been made as to whether or not Matt will start Opening Day or the home opener.
Met Fan: Congratulations, you’ve established one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, but you can’t deny that you have more pitchers than you have spots. How can you make sure that you are getting enough value for the players that you want to give up?
Alderson: “Let’s assume we want to make a trade. We have a player and an assumed value and our negotiations start from there. We constantly keep in mind during any negotiation, what is our escape route, our best alternative. Yes we have 6 for 5, but at the same time we don’t know what might happen in Spring Training. We have to be prepared in the event of an injury. We think about if we’re going to be happier standing pat. The market changes, and our evaluation of players changes with it. You can’t manufacture a deal that easily if you really focus on getting value in return. We can always use excess pitching. It won’t go to waste.”
Note: Ricco reminded everyone that we don’t have to make a deal now, and cited the Byrd deal as an example of how waiting out sometimes proves to be a good move.
Metsmerized Online: When you look back at your internal team meetings after the season, and the offseason strategy and goals that came out of it, how do you grade the job you did this Winter, and do you have any regrets? Did you accomplish what you hoped to accomplish?
Alderson: “I’m not going to grade myself. I’m more of a pass/fail kind of guy. That test will come starting Opening Day. We signed a couple of players early and spent the rest of the time evaluating what we had against what we could acquire. We’ve done a lot of monitoring but we haven’t made a lot of moves.”
“The rotation is absolutely set. There isn’t a need there besides monitoring our current players. We have plenty of bullpen guys though there isn’t an established veteran. People talk about a left-handed reliever, but it is very difficult to predict relief pitchers. We felt better going in with guys on minor league deals or players we have options on.”
“Looking at position players, we are reasonably happy with where we are. You fans can issue the grades, you aren’t shy, but we’re ultimately excited for the beginning of Spring Training.”
Note: Ricco added that when the season started we’ll be able to judge the team better, and he also said that Kevin Long was a more important addition than fans think he was. I guess we’ll have to see about that.
The last question was my favorite. A young kid stood up and said this…
Met Fan: Would you call this a failed season if the Mets don’t make the playoffs?
Alderson: That’s a very good question. We have higher expectations than we ever had for this season. Let’s see how things go over the course of the season. If we don’t make the playoffs, we’ll absolutely be disappointed, but depending on what happens, that isn’t the only definition of success or failure.
Final Thought: I liked what he was saying until that last answer. It is a failed season if the Mets don’t make the playoffs. I realize he can’t say that, but it is true. Until he admits that, the message is that mediocrity is okay and that must change. How many more of these events will I have to go to and be told that we’re going to be competitive?
An MMO Fan Shot by Matt Stephens
