“The Mets aren’t ready to trade most of their team just yet.” writes Dan Martin of the New York Post. That was his takeaway after listening to Mets GM Sandy Alderson respond to comments made by the team’s COO Jeff Wilpon on Tuesday.
While there’s no doubt Jeff Wilpon was correct in pointing out the Mets have “definite deficiencies” on the roster heading into the offseason, Alderson said he believed Wilpon was speaking “off the cuff” when he listed David Wright, Jon Niese, Dillon Gee and Zack Wheeler as the four players whose roles were solidified for 2014.
“I think there are other guys who would qualify to be on equal stature,” Alderson said.
It could be that Daniel Murphy, Travis d’Arnaud and Bobby Parnell could be in that group, but after five consecutive losing seasons it’s hard to say 20-25 percent of your roster is untouchable or even solidified.
“We won 74 games last year, so that’s a starting point,” Alderson also said. “That suggests that improvements are necessary. Finances are always an issue, with every team. But, certainly, we have a lot more flexibility than we’ve had in the past.”
Sandy stopped short of saying just how much flexibility he and Jeff Wilpon are talking about. Remember that even $15 million would classify as “more flexibility” compared to what the Mets have had over the last two seasons on average.
His choice of words are still very guarded and don’t necessarily speak to any dramatic shift, only some extra wiggle room or maneuverability as he calls it.
“We have much more room to maneuver than in recent years and I hope to take advantage of that maneuverability,” Alderson said.
Reverting back to his now customary offseason mantra, Alderson remarked, “we have to see how the market develops.”
And so it goes for the New York Mets…
