Call it media hype, selling papers or just plain stupidity. But every year someone somewhere mentions a Christmas Tree free agent present a team is supposed to pick up. A Free Agent that is supposed to solidify a team’s spot in the post season, or just give the fans hope.
This year, the Mets, like in past years, are not going to provide a free agent present for the fans. On the contrary. The Alderson and the Mets actually took a present away-if you believe some writers.
It you didn’t know better, it would be like Alderson turned into the Grinch and stole a piece of Christmas away from all of us in the Dickey trade. Sent a Cy Young Award Winner away and left us coal in our stocking and burned down the tree as he went up the chimney.
But as a Met fan, I believe that what Alderson has done this Off Season has been more, much more, than signing some free agent who is close to being over the hill.
Let the GM from across town do that job.
No. What Sandy Alderson did for the Fans is that he gave us all Hope.
Hope in the form of two very good young players that were the jewels of TWO organizations and making sure a great third baseman never wears another uniform besides the blue and orange. In my eyes, when Wright signed his name to that contract less than a month ago, Alderson had his star for the top of every Met fan’s Christmas tree.
When Alderson picked up the best hitting catcher prospect Travis D’Arnaud (who was once the best prospect the Phillies had) and pitcher Noah Syndergaard from the Blue Jays, he put them in a big box with red wrapping paper and labeled it 2014. And slid it right under that tree…..next to another present that has wrapping paper on it from last year. In that present, there is Zack Wheeler and Matt Harvey just waiting to jump out and play….but not just yet, I think if I look real careful, there is a label that reads 2014 too.
This Christmas Met fans, smile and look forward to Spring Training.
And while your at it, hug your kids, wife and call up your parents.
28 comments
Stickguy
12/24/2012-8:34am at 8:34 am (UTC -4)
I know Knog will disagree about Wright and “every met fan”. Personally, I wanted him traded (part of my “blow this mother up and rebuild right” gameplan), but in the end, I actually think the deal was reasonable. Yes, a couple of years too long most likely, but those are the PR/marketing/face of franchise bonus years. And actually cheap, compared to today’s market, and likely chump change (as in what Vicky gets) by the time he is getting on in years.
So, I am OK with the DW deal.
and other than that, yes, there has never been a focus on anything prior to 2014.Though I don’t think Sandy actually is focused on that year. Just some nebulous “future” time when a miracle occurs. Job 1 was stabilizing the financials enough to keep the team/owners out of BK (seems to be done). Anything beyond that is just gravy.
at least there are a few guys to hope for in 2014 now. Not sure where any more are coming from, since this FO seems to have no actual creative juice (or balls to try a big move), because if they did, I think Alverez is the perfect storm for the Mets. Exactly what they need, now just go do it damn it!
I remain skeptical that they will be in play for any good FA after 2013 too, so better hope the couple of prospects are legit.
darknova306
12/24/2012-12:12pm at 12:12 pm (UTC -4)
No new legit positional talent is coming into the organization for the next couple years unless Sandy decides to cash in some of the pitching prospects on the trade market. DW should’ve been shopped. So Kong’s not the only dissenter about Pretty Boy being the star on the top of the tree.
Alvarez would be a really nice bold move for this team to make right now. Too bad there’s almost no chance of that happening.
TX
12/24/2012-12:35pm at 12:35 pm (UTC -4)
With no positional help coming, it is all the more reason to keep him.
gategem
12/24/2012-7:53pm at 7:53 pm (UTC -4)
You and Knog are not the only dissenters. Add me to that group. Considering the return SA received in trading Beltran and RA it can reasonably be expected that a similar haul would have resulted from trading Wright catapulting the Mets farm system to rival the very best. In a few years the Mets may have fielded an elite team. Now we can only hope that in three years from now when hopefully the team improves that Wright’s performance is not in precipitous decline.
Petey
12/24/2012-8:57am at 8:57 am (UTC -4)
Hmmm…looks like Santa brought you Kool-Aid.
Here are the 3 “prospects” that Sandy Auctioneer obtained for Mark McGwire. T.J. Matthews, Blake Stein and Eric Ludwick.
How did that hope turn out?
srt
12/24/2012-9:29am at 9:29 am (UTC -4)
Every GM ever made some questionable and bad moves – along with the good. Talking about the past moves with a different organization has no bearing on the here and now though.
Petey
12/24/2012-10:21am at 10:21 am (UTC -4)
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” -George Santayana
This is not about questionable or bad moves. This is about a GM and ownership that are straight up lying to their fans. I don’t want to hear about not having any money when Jeff Wilpon specifically said that there would be more funds to be spent this year. Every single move that Alderson has made involved cutting or deferring money. This isn’t about talent scouting, this is about playing us fans off as $63 suckers. Alderson is Selig’s friend and Selig is Wilpon’s friend. They are ALL in cahoots. Demand better!
srt
12/24/2012-11:23am at 11:23 am (UTC -4)
You may not want to hear about lack of funds, but it’s a reality – to any fan paying attention.
As to lying to the Met fan base – no argument from me there. If Jeff was never quoted again on anything to do with team, it would be too soon.
Not a doubt in my mind that SA was part of the package deal the Wilpons struck with Selig to save their team. I’ve thought that almost since he got here.
TX
12/24/2012-12:31pm at 12:31 pm (UTC -4)
OK Scrooge. You can cherry pick that argument however you want the results to be. Put some champagne in your OJ and just enjoy the fact baseball is but a distraction.
srt
12/24/2012-9:32am at 9:32 am (UTC -4)
I’m still bummed RA Dickey won’t be on the mound come opening day – and ‘close to being over the hill’?? What’s close? 3 years? 5?
However, given the Mets financial and minor league situation, I can’t fault this trade. I know he’s only a prospect at the moment but we went from virtually having no catcher anywhere in the organization to having one of the best prospects at that position. One problem solved.
The fact that we got another highly touted pitcher was icing on the cake.
Stickguy
12/24/2012-9:38am at 9:38 am (UTC -4)
IMO, the key for having this “plan” work is getting a good hit rate on the young SP prospects, and being able to convert a few into legit positional prospects. If that fails, we are screwed.
srt
12/24/2012-9:58am at 9:58 am (UTC -4)
This.
If Omar hadn’t given away and/or passed on all those opportunities for draft picks, we might not be in as bad a hole as we are.
Couple that with the Madoff debacle and here we are….sigh.
darknova306
12/24/2012-12:26pm at 12:26 pm (UTC -4)
Just imagine, though, if the Madoff-induced austerity wasn’t happening and the team was still being run the Omar Way. The team would likely be an even bigger dysfunctional mess with a dimmer future. Unfortunately, the Madoff mess was a good thing (in my eyes), cause it’s forcing the organization away from the entitled NYC sports fan mentality of “spending and big names at the expense of actually building for a sustainable future”.
Anyway, regardless, the Wilpons will be around for a long time, so bah humbug to all of us.
TX
12/24/2012-12:33pm at 12:33 pm (UTC -4)
Did an all Chinook IPA. Tastes fantastic. Skâl! (Cheers in Norwegian)
darknova306
12/24/2012-12:56pm at 12:56 pm (UTC -4)
Sweet! Cheers!
srt
12/24/2012-12:56pm at 12:56 pm (UTC -4)
Good points. I’ve thought about that a time or two myself.
If Madoff never happened, I’d be willing to bet though Omar would still be gone. Spending all that money and not much success would probably have been his undoing.
Don’t know who the GM would have been but I doubt it would be SA….
darknova306
12/24/2012-1:21pm at 1:21 pm (UTC -4)
My guess is that Omar would’ve lasted one more year, then been replaced by whatever GM Jeffy Boy thought he could control the easiest.
What… too cynical?
gategem
12/24/2012-7:49pm at 7:49 pm (UTC -4)
And imagine of the ghosts from Christmas past, present, future and whatever visited the Wilpons and the Madoff fiasco had not occurred and they would have been transformed into outstanding owners presenting an elite team year after year? Aw, Jeffy boy would have said bleep you, I’m Jewish.
Mr North Jersey
12/24/2012-7:53pm at 7:53 pm (UTC -4)
“And imagine of the ghosts from Christmas past, present, future”
Talk about timing. Here you reference ghosts from Xmas past and I publish a video with that theme right after.
SaltyGary
12/24/2012-9:47am at 9:47 am (UTC -4)
Yea he gave me hope. Hope that I’ll have more money in my pocket because I won’t be dumb enough to drop any money on them this year.
Mr North Jersey
12/24/2012-10:27am at 10:27 am (UTC -4)
Haahahaha
SaltyGary
12/24/2012-9:55am at 9:55 am (UTC -4)
And Merry Christmas Folks. All the best to you and your families!
srt
12/24/2012-9:59am at 9:59 am (UTC -4)
Same to you and yours, Salty!
Angelo
12/24/2012-10:02am at 10:02 am (UTC -4)
merry christmas
TX
12/24/2012-12:28pm at 12:28 pm (UTC -4)
Merry Christmas from the PNW.
Interesting article on NBC. How Borne could be signed by a team with a protected pick and then traded for next to nothing to the team that truly wanted him. Though, I wonder if that whole cant be traded after being signed thing works.
And I have no problem, sucking down some home brews and coolade these next couple days. It’s Christmas after all.
Trs86
12/24/2012-12:29pm at 12:29 pm (UTC -4)
Cheer up you bunch of pansies it’s Christmas. Merry Christmas to all!
gategem
12/24/2012-7:36pm at 7:36 pm (UTC -4)
“and making sure a great third baseman never wears another uniform besides the blue and orange. In my eyes, when Wright signed his name to that contract less than a month ago, Alderson had his star for the top of every Met fan’s Christmas tree.”
That’s precisely the reason Wright was signed. Trading him would have resulted in Mets fans taking leave of their senses and leaping off the nearest bridge. Mr. Dimples is the face of the franchise and the dream object of every female teenager that roots for this team. The deal was more than reasonable for the franchise and considering the incoming resources directly attributable to Mr. Dimples probably a smart move. Signing Mr. Dimples was probably the safest move as trading him involved considerable risk if the prospects returned would have bombed. But considering the return SA received in trading Beltran and RA it can reasonably be expected that a similar haul would have resulted from trading Wright catapulting the Mets farm system to rival the very best. In a few years the Mets may have fielded an elite team. Now we can only hope that in three years from now when hopefully the team improves that Wright’s performance is not in precipitous decline.
gategem
12/24/2012-7:43pm at 7:43 pm (UTC -4)
Merry Christmas to all at RDM and to their families.