The best parts of Sandy Alderson's introduction as new Mets GM came after the televised press conference. Adam Rubin's list of talking points from the media's subsequent conversations with Alderson and the Wilpons has some great news regarding both eating contracts and the slotting system for the draft.
- Releasing players with guaranteed contracts. (Obviously, the reference was to Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo.) Ownership expressed a willingness to eat money.
"We sort of know who you're talking about," Jeff Wilpon said.
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- Slotting system/draft. Major League Baseball recommends signing bonuses based on a prospect's draft position. The Mets try to be good MLB citizens and adhere to that system, but that appears as if it will change under Alderson and they will spend over the recommended amount to exploit the system, as other big-market clubs do.
The Yankees and Red Sox have better farm systems than the Mets because those clubs are willing to go over slot much more frequently. I wondered if Alderson would end up adhering to the slotting system because he has been working for Bud Selig and MLB. But Alderson spoke at length about developing homegrown talent, and if he's serious about that, the first thing he will do is put the Mets on equal footing with other big-market clubs.
Alderson also spoke of wanting to have a competitive team in 2011 rather than waiting until 2012, when tens of millions of dollars of payroll come off the books. If he's as serious about 2011 as he sounds, he won't have Oliver Perez or Luis Castillo on the roster.
I can't blame him if he has Ollie play winter ball in a last-ditch effort to establish some minimal value for him, since if Ollie gets cut, someone will pick him up just for his potential. But who is going to want Castillo, except maybe as a temporary fill-in if their second baseman is hurt? Alderson can make a nice splash right away by cutting Castillo now.
When I wrote the title of this piece, I was thinking not just of Springsteen, but of looking forward to a July Fourth when the Mets were once again in contention. Then I remembered that the Mets were in contention on July 4, 2010. They were 46-36, two games behind first-place Atlanta. They were three games ahead of the Phillies, though the Phillies had been besieged by injuries. The Mets were also 4 1/2 games in front of the 41-40 Giants, who are now halfway toward winning the World Series.
The Mets' collapse in the second half showed that they still have a ways to go. The one false note in Alderson's news conference was when he suggested that the Mets would have done better with another 800 at-bats from Jason Bay and others. If the Mets had several hundred more at-bats from the 2010 Bay, they might have done worse.
But the Mets' strong first half shows that there is a foundation to build on. Alderson seems like a guy who can find the spare pieces that winning teams like the Giants manage to obtain but generally eluded Omar Minaya.
After today, I'm not just looking forward to 2012, but 2011 as well, and a festive summer at Citi Field.
Will Sandy Alderson turn around the Mets? Tell us what you think.
Showing posts with label Sandy Alderson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sandy Alderson. Show all posts
Friday, October 29, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Sandy Alderson can do better than Lee Mazzilli for Mets manager
If the Mets want to energize their fan base, Lee Mazzilli as manager is not the way to go. I was surprised when Fox 5's Russ Salzberg made that suggestion last night after the World Series game and now Squawker Lisa has written about how the Daily News' Bill Madden has said the same thing.
I don't even want the real Joe Torre, much less another of his bench coaches after the unsuccessful tenure of Willie Randolph. The only person with a Yankee connection that would interest me at all would be Joe Girardi if he somehow became available. Unlike Randolph or Mazzilli, Girardi has actually been a successful manager, in two different places, and has a ring to show for it.
Girardi's bullpen moves in the postseason were certainly questionable, but after watching Jerry Manuel make questionable bullpen moves all year, I'd be more than happy to endure them in the postseason if it meant the Mets would actually have a postseason.
Plenty of managers were more successful the second time around, such as Terry Francona. Maybe Mazzilli deserves another chance. But it shouldn't be with the Mets.
I never understood why the Mets were considering Allard Baird for GM after his poor showing in Kansas City. And Josh Byrnes ended up getting fired in Arizona after some questionable moves.
In retrospect, the Mets should have looked more closely at Omar Minaya's record in Montreal, which included one of the worst trades in recent memory - a brief rental of Bartolo Colon for top prospects Grady Sizemore, Brandon Phillips and none other than a 23-year-old Cliff Lee.
The most important thing about a new manager is that Alderson be allowed to make his choice and show that he is his own man.
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As for Game 1 of the World Series, I don't think it's necessarily bad news for Texas, which had an even more devastating loss in Game 1 of the ALCS and came back to crush the Yankees. But San Francisco is looking like a team of destiny, getting great production from a patchwork lineup that has Aubrey Huff, Pat Burrell and Cody Ross in key roles. It sounds like something Omar Minaya would have tried, except that the Giants made it work.
With all the speculation about Cliff Lee, nobody ever stopped to think about what would happen if he did not pitch well. Suddenly, Lee has a career World Series ERA of 4.79. And it's not just from this game - as Lisa already noted, Lee gave up five runs in Game 5 last season against the Yankees. So that makes two straight World Series starts in which Lee has given up at least five runs.
Lee's overall postseason ERA is still great at 1.96, but he's no longer in the same statistical class as Sandy Koufax and Christy Mathewson.
The best thing for the Yankees would be if Lee gets shelled again, costing the Rangers the Series. Texas would be a lot less inclined to break the bank for him, and the Yankees could probably get him at a cheaper price than when he was being compared to Koufax and Mathewson.
I don't even want the real Joe Torre, much less another of his bench coaches after the unsuccessful tenure of Willie Randolph. The only person with a Yankee connection that would interest me at all would be Joe Girardi if he somehow became available. Unlike Randolph or Mazzilli, Girardi has actually been a successful manager, in two different places, and has a ring to show for it.
Girardi's bullpen moves in the postseason were certainly questionable, but after watching Jerry Manuel make questionable bullpen moves all year, I'd be more than happy to endure them in the postseason if it meant the Mets would actually have a postseason.
Plenty of managers were more successful the second time around, such as Terry Francona. Maybe Mazzilli deserves another chance. But it shouldn't be with the Mets.
I never understood why the Mets were considering Allard Baird for GM after his poor showing in Kansas City. And Josh Byrnes ended up getting fired in Arizona after some questionable moves.
In retrospect, the Mets should have looked more closely at Omar Minaya's record in Montreal, which included one of the worst trades in recent memory - a brief rental of Bartolo Colon for top prospects Grady Sizemore, Brandon Phillips and none other than a 23-year-old Cliff Lee.
The most important thing about a new manager is that Alderson be allowed to make his choice and show that he is his own man.
*
As for Game 1 of the World Series, I don't think it's necessarily bad news for Texas, which had an even more devastating loss in Game 1 of the ALCS and came back to crush the Yankees. But San Francisco is looking like a team of destiny, getting great production from a patchwork lineup that has Aubrey Huff, Pat Burrell and Cody Ross in key roles. It sounds like something Omar Minaya would have tried, except that the Giants made it work.
With all the speculation about Cliff Lee, nobody ever stopped to think about what would happen if he did not pitch well. Suddenly, Lee has a career World Series ERA of 4.79. And it's not just from this game - as Lisa already noted, Lee gave up five runs in Game 5 last season against the Yankees. So that makes two straight World Series starts in which Lee has given up at least five runs.
Lee's overall postseason ERA is still great at 1.96, but he's no longer in the same statistical class as Sandy Koufax and Christy Mathewson.
The best thing for the Yankees would be if Lee gets shelled again, costing the Rangers the Series. Texas would be a lot less inclined to break the bank for him, and the Yankees could probably get him at a cheaper price than when he was being compared to Koufax and Mathewson.
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