Adam Rubin pops the question: “Has Alderson Been Effective?” on ESPN New York this morning.
The Mets may be headed for their fifth straight losing season in 2013, which would be their third straight under Alderson. And the current GM no longer has what he inherited from Omar Minaya to blame when Alderson quips, “What outfield?”
Rubin gives Alderson plenty of credit for his two big trades that landed Zack Wheeler and Travis d’Arnaud for former Mets stars Carlos Beltran and R.A. Dickey, and also says he unearthed some cost-effective free-agent signings during his tenure, such as Chris Capuano, Chris Young and Scott Hairston.
Some of the things in the not-so-good- column included:
- Failing to employ a strict commitment to rebuilding from the outset of his regime that included trading Jose Reyes — rather than letting him walk as a free agent.
- Not all his trades were winners, case in point: last winter’s deal of Angel Pagan for since-departed Andres Torres and Ramon Ramirez.
- Failing to add a piece when the Mets climbed to seven games over .500 in early July last season and then when they faded, not trading Scott Hairston despite plenty of interest.
- The largest contract he has awarded to a free agent in three offseasons as a GM is Frank Francisco‘s two-year, $12 million deal which hasn’t worked out.
He concludes that while fans do sense a better future and many seem somewhat forgiving right now, the tide can quickly turn against him if the Mets stumble early, and he is unlikely to escape the ire of fans, even if better days may be ahead.
Read the full article here.
No matter how bad the Mets perform in 2013 or how angry some fans may get, I would speculate that Alderson will serve out all four years of his deal and possibly even get a new extension as well by the end of this year.
It was always widely expected that Alderson would be here for the long haul, and that any turnaround with regard to the team’s performance wouldn’t happen for at least 3-4 years.
