Oct 21
O.K, so maybe I enjoyed the Yankee debacle a little too much…but when you see Yankee fans crying and complaining, you just have to add to it as much as possible….which is what I did.
However, now that the off season is almost here, let’s concentrate on the Mets.
Today’s question: Do you have faith in Sandy Alderson? Do you think Sandy is going to make some good moves this off season and improve this team?
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15 comments
Stickguy
10/21/2012-8:21am at 8:21 am (UTC -4)
no, not really.
but, define how you interpret “improve the team”. If you mean to address the holes enough to compete seriously for the WC this year, than absolutely not, and I doubt they will even try.
the gray area is LT improvement. and here, sadly, I think the only improvement will be time taking it’s natural course, and Bay and Santana contracts expire. which in theory will improve the team, and certainly lower the payroll..
However, at that point, the team on the field is not likely to be any better (or different, if they do actually cave to fan opinion and resign their only viable trade options to bring in talent). So, they will have a mediocre team, with hopefully some additional young pitching making a difference, and some more money with no decent FAs to spend it on.
does any of that make the team better? no. But, that is just on the field.
can sandy trim enough off the expense side to keep the team financially afloat? Probably, so by the standpoint of the owners and the commish, he will be a raging success.
anyway, since your question was about making moves, then I still vote no. Since about the only moves that can really make a major (Mo Vaughn cannonball into a kiddie pool) difference is trading Wright and Dickey for actual talent upgrades (guys that have a real chance of being part of the nucleus to build around by 2014) without taking away from the same (Ike, Neise) are ones I don’t think they will make.
so unless Dickey and Wright draw a line in the sand that is too much for the old mans blood (and tell them it ain’t moving”, he won’t trade them, and last years team will be hear again, with a few spare parts shuffled.
The fact that there wa an almost credible source reporting they might even try to use Bay again is enough to eliminate all hope of anything passing for big, bold, creative or forward thinking.
Rustyjr
10/21/2012-8:25am at 8:25 am (UTC -4)
In a word – yes I do
wanny
10/21/2012-8:53am at 8:53 am (UTC -4)
Thats three words
Trs86
10/21/2012-9:05am at 9:05 am (UTC -4)
I have faith that he will bring the team back to financial stability while trimming worthless players and infusing new build around players through the draft and trade. Do I have faith this will be done by 2013 or even 2014, nope.
kingman 26
10/21/2012-11:46am at 11:46 am (UTC -4)
Did you even have to write this, or did you just copy and paste your comments from 2010 and 2011 at this time?
What does “infusing new build ” mean?
Does it mean not signing many draft picks and trading for Torres and Ramirez types?
He sure has done that thus far.
The team won:
79 in 2010
77 in 2011
74 in 2012
Thy faith sir is both impressive and rather blind.
SaltyGary
10/21/2012-9:07am at 9:07 am (UTC -4)
His lack of moves at the trade deadline broke my faith. Also, since they are not going to increase payroll I don’t feel there is much they can conceivably do anyway.
For the people that were not upset at the lack of deadline moves their reasoning was there were too many holes to fill so why bother. You bother because it’s about improving and there has been no improvements to the ML roster yet.
So, I am not going to get all up in arms like the blgosphere because they weren’t the first out of the gate to get a no impact guy like Young, but if they don’t do something radical to shake things up I really don’t know how I can justify things like the MLB package next year. IF they do nothing again I don’t think Winter will heal this fan until the business model changes.
Stick
10/21/2012-2:47pm at 2:47 pm (UTC -4)
well, they did add one of the better RPs and arguably the best SP for the 2nd half in July. They just came up from the minors.
the real debate about the missing deadline moves is were you trying to add anything for the playoff push or actually add players to build on for this year and beyond?
Paul
10/21/2012-10:55am at 10:55 am (UTC -4)
No – he’s largely hamstrung by the contracts awarded to Johan Santana and Jason Bay by his predecessor and ownership’s financial situation, but Alderson has not had an especially inspiring track record with his moves to date.
TX
10/21/2012-11:27am at 11:27 am (UTC -4)
This will the make or break point for me on judging Sandy. I definitely think he was brought in to help get the finances sorted, but to also have the club become competitive again. He’s had enough time to evaluate. This offseason we need to see some marked changes.
kingman 26
10/21/2012-11:34am at 11:34 am (UTC -4)
First off, the Yankee “debacle” was losing in the ALCS after winning 95 games. Which the Mets have managed to do one time in 12 years now. Debacle? Not really. I detest them too and was glad they lost, but making the final four ain’t no debacle.
As for the question?
It’s irrelevant. Sandy’s not here to build, improve, or implement any “plan.” Believing otherwise after the last two years is simply ridiculous.
He is here at his friend Bud Selig’s behest to do precisely what he has been doing—be the spokesman/frontman for absentee ownership. That is what he has done for two years, and what he clearly will continue to do until he is gone, which I imagine will be in one year.
After that, we MIGHT see increased spending on a major level with the Johan/Bay deals gone, but if we ridiculously overspend on aging/declined Wright, then that possibility will be severely constrained.
The bottom line is simply that this team is owned by a man in a terrible financial position, who through his mouthpiece has made it clear that there will be no significant uptick in payroll this offseason. When combined with Alderson’s atrocious track record (Francisco/Rauch to fix the pen and the ultimately abominable Pagan trade) there’s absolutely zero reason to expect any serious Alderson-created improvements for 2013.
I am not saying there is no hope—the pitching staff has massive potential, as the rotation can be excellent, especially with Dickey. As it seems very possible that the bullpen will be very different, possibly FF/Parnell/Mejia/Familia/Edgin/Carson, there could be huge improvement there.
The offense, defense, and speed will still be bad, but the team can probably improve on 2012 simply on the strength of the pitching.
Knowing the recent Mets, they probably give Wright a ridiculous deal and trade Dickey, which will hurt this scenario, but if Wheeler turns out well, they can still have very good pitching.
But no, I have no faith because I have watched what has happened the last two years, because Alderson’s few moves have been mostly terrible, and because events paint a very clear picture of a team whose management is focused on survival and where, unfortunately, on-field product is not near the top of the list of priorities.
darknova306
10/21/2012-1:04pm at 1:04 pm (UTC -4)
“However, now that the off season is almost here, let’s concentrate on the Mets”
Well, this is a Mets related site, so that makes sense.
Faith in Sandy? I have faith in him looking after the Wilpon finances. He’ll also likely sign Wright to an Omar deal that helps kill the team’s flexibility down the line. Then he’ll sell a broken fanbase on promises of Lucas Duda and Ike Davis combining for 80 homers, and all the pitching potential (because that always turns out the way you hope…).
The majority of what we’ll see in these comment threads this winter will be whining about fans on other sites whining about Sandy. This could be the worst Mets offseason in recent memory…
srt
10/21/2012-7:31pm at 7:31 pm (UTC -4)
I guess I must be in the minority here b/c I’d like to see both Wright and Dickey extended. If that does happen, I don’t expect to see any major moves, even though the FO alluded to turning over the roster somewhat. Just don’t see how b/c:
– we’re not increasing payroll
- we’re not going to be in any of the better FAs
- we don’t have many trade chips.
Now….if either Dickey or Wright doesn’t sign, then I expect to see them dealt before opening day. And that could be very interesting as to what the return(s) may be.
As I’ve said many times – starting to sound like a broken record – SA #1 goal coming here was to save the team for the Wilpons. Mission accomplished, in the short term. He won’t be here long enough to see the team in post season, let alone a championship.
Stick
10/21/2012-8:19pm at 8:19 pm (UTC -4)
well, project this out, with those 2 signing being the first dominos.
MHO is that if they sign them, there won’t be any other moves this off season of note, other than shuffling spare parts. So, I hope you liked the 2012 Mets because you are about to see them again.
so what about 2014? Hopefully wheeler is in the rotation and doing something. Other than that, a few different Pen arms, and what? Dickey and Wright 2 years older than they were this year with extensions just kicking in.
what about all that money coming off? subtract the increases for guys like Ike, a few buyouts, and maybe, maybe they have the money to spend for 1 “big” or 2 medium FAs.
is that going to be enough to put the 2014 team over the top? And even bigger question, is it going to represent the beginning of an ascension, with a solid foundation that is going to produce a consistent winning team the rest of the decade?
gategem
10/22/2012-12:20am at 12:20 am (UTC -4)
“Do you have faith in Sandy Alderson?”
Any decision now would be based strictly on emotion. The best I can offer is I have faith he will continue to trim the payroll and assure continued controlling ownership by the Wilpons.
“Do you think Sandy is going to make some good moves this off season and improve this team?”
I don’t even know if that is a 2013 primary goal. But even as a secondary goal he may get lucky.
Stickguy
10/22/2012-8:20am at 8:20 am (UTC -4)
my opinion on the matter is that the primary, overriding, essential goal of the team is to stay solvent. Competing in 2013 is a distant #3, behind trying to put a foundation in place for 2014/2015 and beyond.
But, they are smart enough to know that the best way to accomplish goal #1 is to put more arses in the seats. So, doing something to energize the fan base (causing them to actually buy tickets) is a good thing (as long of course as it does not set goal #3 behind!)
like you said, they will add some players and maybe get lucky (it does happen)but sadly it looks like the only big moves would be dickey and wright signing extensions, which does absolutely nothing to improve the team, and based on this past season, will do little to sell tickets.