”It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way…”
Which brings us to John Mayberry Jr. and Scott Rice.
The Mayberry signing makes tremendous sense. One of the keys to a good organization is one that puts its people in a position to succeed. Mayberry is simply not a full-time player; that’s not to say he does not have value. Rather, he’s tremendously valuable against LHP. He has a career .857 OPS against lefties and last year he notched a .913 OPS against southpaws, with 5 HR in 70 ABs.
In a role where he gets around 200 PAs and does not have to play center field, Mayberry is a wonderful fit with the 2015 Mets. In an ideal world, they would have signed him to form a straight platoon with Matt den Dekker in left field and saved the cash they spent on Michael Cuddyer. Still, it’s a good move and we should celebrate whenever the team makes a move such as this.
And then there’s the club’s second dance with Rice.
Many people enjoyed refried beans. It’s hard to believe that there’s anyone who would go out of their way to get twice-cooked Rice. Under ordinary circumstances, this would be a signing for the Triple-A club, with the major league portion of his contract merely a face-saving clause for the player with little to no chance to pitch in the show.
But this is a team that believes in the absolute necessity of having two lefty relievers in its bullpen. While the fan base has PTSD reactions to having watched Rice, Carson, Schoeneweis et al. fail, management seems to recall the good times of bringing in a lefty with two outs, the bases empty and trailing by five runs and having said southpaw end the inning without allowing additional runs.
One could argue that all the Mets are doing with employing the LOOGY strategy is putting one of their pitchers in a position to succeed. However, there are (at least) two things wrong with that point of view. First and foremost, Rice simply did not succeed and there’s no reason to think he’ll succeed in the future. Second, while putting Rice in a position to succeed, the end result was making it harder for the rest of the bullpen to do the same.
In 105 games with the Mets, Rice has a 4.18 ERA and a 1.485 WHIP in 64.2 IP. What about that line screams, “Give me a second chance?” If those numbers were put up by a righty reliever, it would earn him a ticket out of town. Kyle Farnsworth was released after putting up a 3.18 ERA and no one is clamoring for his return. And if Farnsworth was micro-managed like Rice to ensure favorable matchups, the discrepancy would have been even greater.
Thumbs up on the decision to bring Mayberry aboard. And forgive me for feeling like the digit extended towards me by management with the Rice signing isn’t a thumb.
It’s nice to read a positive take on Mayberry, a player I’ve never liked. One of those guys who does less with more. However, perhaps in a limited role — used wisely — he can be a useful addition.
His 3-year splits vs. LHP are .256/.316/.500. Obviously, the HR power is what drives his value, and OPS. He’s hit in two very friendly environments for RH bats, Philadelphia and Toronto. Now he gets Citi Field.
One weird note about his year last season. He had a monster year as a PH. Hit .400 with power. But as a starter, he hit below .175. Strange. I don’t know what it portends.
I have mixed feelings. They went cheap, since they have no money. Dumpster diving. But, well, an intelligent Dumpster dive! I expect him to fall short of Scott Hairston. It seems to be how they are building this team: Roll the dice on long shots and hope it works!
On Rice, it looks to me like a decent thing to do. A humane gesture. He got injured on our watch, was effective in 2013. He doesn’t mind the minor league food and, well, we kind of owe him a solid. I mean, I wish they had the resources — say, Colon’s $11 million — to pursue a quality LH arm in the pen. But since we are Dumpster diving here, too, might as well get some quantity since it’s likely most of these guys will fail miserably.
I am personally not counting on a full year of quality work from Josh Edgin. Hasn’t happened yet. But maybe!
My guess is that the majority of Mayberry’s PH assignments came versus LHP.
I was so hoping he had a PH appearance versus Rice where he homered but no such luck. He’s 0-1 lifetime versus Rice. Not a huge surprise but the most PA he’s had against any pitcher is the 38 he’s had versus Jon Niese.
As for Rice, I guess I would be okay with the humane aspect but it’s likely that TC’s usage pattern caused the injuries and is it humane to bring him back to the same torturer?
The Mets have mismanaged Edgin since he got to NY and if he doesn’t deliver a full season in 2015, it’ll likely be because of organizational incompetence rather than any shortcoming of the player.
This all assumes Alderson will allow Rice to be called-up at any point. After the whole Tejada’s still in the race for SS mess, maybe Alderson is finally starting to put his foot down with Collins a bit. Or maybe it’s just a sham, I don’t know.
I see him as a waste of roster space.
I like the Mayberry signing, which will improve the club defensively and offensively in the OF, when a LHP starts. My fear is that Collins will try to “get Duda going” against LHP, like he has done in the past.
Yes, they needed a RH bat to perform that role, so in that sense it was a good signing. And . . . only $1.5 million . . . we could afford it!
So you are correct that it will improve the club defensively and offensively.
However, they are once again aiming very, very low. But I guess we’re all used to that by now.
Collins does what Sandy tells him to do. That’s the relationship, that’s why he has the job.
Yes, we will all faint if they ever make some big moves (i.e., ones that entail spending serious money).
As for Collins, I think that he goes with vets sometimes—until ordered by Sandy to play the younger guys. Check some of his past quotes….
If the Mets carry 12 pitchers then the 13 position players (barring any other moves) are probably: D’Arnaud, Recker
Duda, Cuddyer
Wright, Murphy, Flores, Tejada
Granderson, Lagares
and choose 3: Mayberry, Capt. Kirk, MdD and Campbell
Hmmm!
Norm, MDD has an option left. There’s your answer.
Mayberry being used as a right handed hitting bench player/platoon player was a good signing. He fills a need at an affordable price. The question I have is will TC play him in a platoon?
Rice was signed to a minor league deal and should only see the major league team if Edgin gets injured.
Sean Gilmartin a starting left handed pitcher taken in the Rule 5 inherited Dice K spot as the long man in the bullpen. Mejia, Familia, Parnell, Black, Edgin, Torres and Gilmartin are now the 2015 bullpen with still one excess starting pitcher needed to be traded and no place for Montero, Syndergaard, Matz, Bowman and Mazzoni.
If Harvey skips starts as planned, then Black, Edgin or Torres will need to be optioned to make a roster spot for the replacement starter.Black, Edgin or Torres will have to remain in the minors for ten days. Gilmartin is not allowed to be sent down. I don’t think that is good team building for the bullpen.
So much pitching and still no experienced starting shortstop.
I don’t think you should pencil Gilmartin into the bullpen. Odds are against him making the roster.
I dunno.
Let’s assume they don’t bring anyone like Eveland in and the competition for second bullpen lefty is among Alvarez, Gilmartin and Rice. My money would be on Gilmartin, unless he blows up in Spring Training. Rice starts off in the minors and is the first callup, regardless of which RP gets injured or ineffective.
So, now my fear is that we wind up with three lefties in the pen.
3 LOOGY’S! God help us! I can see TC drooling at such a notion. Kinda like Homer Simpson with candy. Please Brian don’t give management any ideas outside the box.
Reminds me of the classic Simpsons episode when Homer manages a softball team stocked with ML players. At a key moment, he pinches hits for Darryl Strawberry, explaining that it was a LH pitcher. “I had to go with righty.”
I cant think of a single team that did less than the Mets this past week. Opportunity was there with everyone being together and our hero couldn’t match up with anyone. Kind of reminds me of someone who asks me all the time: “Do you think it’s the you or the rest of the world?” My answer is always the same: “It’s everyone else, nothing wrong with me.”
Rice is a minor league signing. Big deal. Mayberry was the 25th player, big deal. Our team is soooooo good, they don’t need to upgrade.
Would you have been any more happy if Gee was traded this week instead of sometime in the next few weeks? Was there any player traded that you thought the Mets should have gone after?
It’s nice to make moves, but you shouldn’t make moves for the sake of making moves. There were plenty of idiot trades/signings this week, and you should be glad the Mets weren’t a part of them.
I am very pleased that happened. I’m not asking them to be like the Dodgers, A’s, Cubs, Mariners, Marlins, Braves, Nationals, White Sox or Blue Jays and be creative or anything like that, but for a week now just about every team did something to improve themselves.
However, we have two corner outfielders signed to contracts that were done early in the off season two years in a row and left us scratching our heads and without flexibility. Maybe we could have gotten Kemp or Bruce and flip them next year if our kids are ready? Another point is the point about the SS. While we all want to see what Flores can do, the chance was last year. Problem is the manager wants to make the Hall of Fame so he can’t play the youngsters. So, we get Tejada, again!!, and several retreads every year.
If I was GM, I’d be upgrading my roster every chance I get. Is Tejada better than Cabrera? No. Out Tejada, in Cabrera, because to me Cabrera will be a backup until he proves he deserves the job and can stay healthy. But, Cabrera is speed as a leadoff hitter and we need that, while I’m still looking for a better solution. I’m therefore creating flexibility in my roster.
Not sure why you’re so focused on this one week. Yes, it would have been nice to say the Mets were apart of the crazy 2014 winter meetings, but like i said earlier, you shouldn’t make moves for the sake of making movinge. The offseason at this point is about only at the halfway mark and there’s still a lot of time for something to happen.
We should wait until the end to make our evaluations on how this offseason went.
Just like how playoff teams shouldn’t be anointed at the all-star break, you shouldn’t judge an offseason halfway through.
In addition to what Name said, I don’t think the Brewers did anything at all.
Also,
Orioles did nothing.
Rays did nothing.
Since Mayberry doesn’t count as a move, then the Cardinals signing Mark Reynolds was also a non-move.
The Giants made a run at Lester but technically did nothing.
I’m indifferent about Rice. It looks like the Mets are going to have a lefty competition to see who comes out on top in ST. I like the Mayberry signing. They were lacking in RH power off the bench. He’ll get enough PA’s to justify the signing and it’s only one year.
I’m kind of excited by the Jung Ho Kang news. I hope Sandy makes a play there. I get that the Japanese market hasn’t produced a lot of good players, but if Kang can be a Matsui type, then I hope the Mets get the right to negotiate and get this guy.
They also should get Yoan Moncado as an IFA. He would replace the number one pick lost in the Cuddyer signing.
It would be nice Scott if our pathetic ownership had the means to sign Moncada, but not having much of a signing cap for two years would be hard to swallow. Admittedly, I don’t know much about IFAs. Would not being able to spend more than $300K hurt alot, a little, or not much? Also, that kid Kang is starting to interest me more and more. They better make a move before other teams start thinking that way.
Inertia Gus. Inertia. After finishing with their Arb. players payroll is going to hit 100 million. I think Sandy alluded to that fact at the Winter Meetings in regards to shedding some payroll in order to maintain “flexibility”. It’s like sitting on the can and re-positioning yourself.
It could hurt a bit, but it might even out with what they would have spent on a number 1 pick. I’d have to do more research, but I know Moncado is a possibility
Scott, please don’t tease me but I have very little hope left when it comes to these people. The reason isn’t so much that I disagree with their decisions, but rather the pace in which they make them leaves the team handicapped. For example:
-The Mets made it clear in September 2012 that they were losing patience with Tejada. Then, in September 2013 they wanted to upgrade at SS. So, why wasn’t Flores put at SS in May 2014 so we can see what he has? What were we waiting for?
-By late May, everyone realized that CY was a flop. Why wasn’t MDD inserted in the lineup so we can evaluate? What the heck was Abreu doing here?
-Last winter, I called for both Gee to be traded. Gee for sure wasn’t going up in value, and I felt Colon, Montero, Wheeler, Matsuzaka, and Niese would be enough and Gee was excess. What did they see different from this year?
This spring, I would be playing Murphy at 3B and trade him as a 2B/3B along with Niese to any of the following: Rangers (I know they have Beltre), Giants, Yankees, Tigers, Indians, Angels, or Diamondbacks.
I’m a big believer in better to trade a player a year early than a year late. I think Beane made a great move trading Donaldson, but he should have gotten much more.
And it’s not a pinkie either Brian! So let’s return the favor and make sure we as fans show Our displeasure with every means at our disposal to show SA and Co. What does this guy have on the Wilpons? Photos? A taped conversation? An email? The FO makes some dumbfounded moves which makes it so hard to cheer for our team at times. Just leaves you scratching your head.
Alderson doesn’t have anything on the Wilpons. He’s running the club exactly the way they want him to. They don’t have money to spend and they want a GM whose main goal is to keep payroll reasonable.
Alderson just got an extension. If they were in any way, shape or form unhappy with him – that wouldn’t have happened.
It’s interesting that Alderson did not turn around and extend Collins at that point.
The Wilponzis are an embarrassment to New York City and to Major League Baseball. They run this team like a single A operation out of some backwoods hick town and wonder why the fans aren’t clamoring to get to “the new Ebbet’s Field.” MLB has to get them out.
I agree. It’s really a shame that a NY team is so hampered by such a limited budget. The Mets as they stand right now could still very easily finish 4th in this division: the Nats are still the team to beat, the Braves always manage to find a way to be competitive and the Marlins look to be improved.
Going into this offseason, I was thinking of Mayberry as a bench player, and like many others said, I can see him playing that Hairston role(strictly batting against lefties). He’s done well as a pinch hitter, so he should warm to the role.
As for Rice, It can’t really hurt to have him as insurance at AAA. Actually, by the way TC used him, the Mets might’ve guilt signed him.
If thus was another team, would it reconsidered a good signing for depth?
As said above, we are aiming low. Not that I have a replacement handy, but it seems to me that there must be a kid or younger player in our system who could benefit from 200 At Bats, and who is reliable defensively rather than signing a 30 year old who might not bat his weight.
With such a pitching staff as we have, I fear that Sandy is still going for that “under-valued” player…the RA Dickey who everyone else has given up on, who then became the Cy Young winner. I think the “under valued” has been played out already.
This may be an emotional reaction but it feels like the Target for the Mets is someone cut from another team…
Open the wallet, and they will come.
TexasGus wrote, “By late May, everyone realized that CY was a flop. Why wasn’t MDD inserted in the lineup so we can evaluate? What the heck was Abreu doing here?”
Exactly my point. Waste of roster space. There was no reason a 40 year old should have been playing on a non-playoff team, while 24 year olds sat on the bench.
Well said, TexasGus.
This signing is not just a “ho hum” type, but it could be that he may falter, yet still get playing time due to the ego of Alderson.
Chris Young, according to Two Guys Talking Mets Baseball, was actually flirting with a major league record of the lowest average in a large amount of bats in the modern era.
My guess is that either Sandy read it, or was told about it and finally gave in.
With no right field Bronx porch, Curtis Granderson J-Bayed himself right out of favor with Met fans. He was a rally killer.
I would rather lose with a 22 year old kid, and have hope for the future, than with a 32 year old who cannot produce.
A bit off topic, but in line with this winter, listening to Matt Harvey talk sounds like he is not only maturing, but is not going to accept losing. This is good to hear. Tom Seaver did not share the “lovable losing” attitude of the NY Mets circa 1967-68.
Some athletes do not grow up. Michael Del Zotto may be one of them; incredible talent but pathologically immature.
Harvey wants to win more than be on Page Six.
He, along with Zach W, Noah, and our ROY, all deserve to have the most productive bats in the line up; not the wealthiest.
I hope Granderson has a decent year. I hope he does not have an “average career year” because those numbers aren’t anything extraordinary.
It is nice to see David Wright working out, hopefully with a good shoulder. Otherwise, his contract will be a terrible dragging down of one of the cheapest teams in MLB today.
Peter, do you ever get the impression Alderson is more “happy to be here” than he is about winning? Not saying he doesn’t care about winning, but wondering how much does it burn him to win? How bad does he want it?
His body language often seems self satisfied. He may be, in his view and the owners’ view, doing a “very good job.”
This presupposes that they wish to keep payroll down as low as possible, yet produce enough wins to be competitive so that attendance rises.
He may be handcuffed, but there is one thing that we do know about him:
He is not comfortable with admission of error. Great leaders learn from their mistakes and sometimes don’t even “mind” being wrong, if they can make it right. (See W Churchill)
Alderson dug his heels in with Chris Young. I think, based upon the few statements from the manager indicate a rift between them last year over the line up.
Every so often an undervalued jewel shows up. I think Alderson sold this philosophy to an ownership not driven to win, but driven to show a profit, regardless of the drive or a championship. I am under the impression that if we were this close to a World Series and the one Free Agent signing, or the one huge trade to put us over the top would do it, ownership would not allow it to be done.
There is no other explanation that I am able to accept as to why Chris Young had so many at bats before the plug was pulled, or even Bobby A, playing over potential…
I wasn’t always the “ownership hate” carrying member, as I listened to arguments from those who were outraged at ownership. I am now.
Alderson has done a good job with youngsters and his RA trade took guts. But I think he imposed too much upon the manager who, methinks, was forced to play players with Alderson’s initials on their jerseys.
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Sandy Alderson is deliberate, condescending and arrogant — and I say that as someone who likes him.
One thing I would suggest is to remove Alderson’s personality from the mix. Shoot, go one step further and remove him completely from consideration. Frank Cashen is the gold standard when it comes to GMs for the Mets. Despite having considerably more money (on a relative basis) to spend on players, Cashen’s record his first four years in control of the team was much, much worse than Alderson’s.
Cashen didn’t finish over .500 until his fifth year on the job and didn’t make the playoffs until his sixth. If the 24/7 media cycle existed in the early 1980s, he would have been tons more unpopular than Alderson is now. Until Keith Hernandez arrived in mid ’83, his big ticket moves all backfired. It wasn’t until he had built the farm system and had talented youngsters to deal and promote that things turned around.
Because their record was much worse, Cashen enjoyed higher draft picks. In a five year span, he had two overall #1 picks, two fourth overall picks and the fifth overall pick. Alderson’s picks have been: 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th.
Cashen had more money, better draft picks, less interference from both ownership and the media and didn’t finish above .500 until his fifth year. And he’s the best GM the club has ever had.
I expect the Mets to finish above .500 this year, although that might be optimistic. The farm system has been bolstered, has already cranked out talented players and we have high hopes for several still on the horizon.
Do I wish certain things had been done differently? Absolutely and I have been vocal about those things.
Am I pleased with the overall direction and shape of the organization? Yes. I expect average or better production from six of the eight non-pitchers and it wouldn’t surprise me if both SS and RF could reach average. Our SP have great upside and our bullpen is more settled than it was a year ago. Our farm system should have pitchers ready to contribute this year and hitters the following season.
I don’t care about winning the back pages in November. I don’t care that the biggest splash of the Winter Meetings was picking up a #5 OF. I care about playing baseball in October and I think that’s coming sooner rather than later.
I agree with your evaluation of Alderson and would like to add one more word: Hubris. As Peter well said, the one trait that people in high places have that will cause their downfall is arrogance, and Alderson would be best to stop trying to reinvent a roster. Two things about Alderson:
1. He found many more pieces that will be part of a championship team than Cashen did.
2. Alderson does not trust the young player, either. Not just Collins. I agree in that we don’t need Mayberry. These 200 at bats, if they went to a combination. Of Campbell and maybe Puello, what was the problem? Alderson scoffs at his players and brings failures in from other areas to right them and thus lump his chest? Is he really into winning or feeding his ego? I like the guy, but I see what everyone sees too.
Alderson inherited much, much more talent than Frank Cashen ever did.
The better comp for Sandy is M. Donald Grant.
I don’t see that comparison at all. Grant was never a GM.
And as for what Cashen inherited:
John Stearns age 27
Steve Henderson age 26 coming off an .820 OPS season
Lee Mazzilli age 24 coming off an .844 OPS season
Craig Swan age 28
Pat Zachry age 27
Mike Scott age 24
Jeff Reardon age 23
Jesse Orosco age 22
Neil Allen age 21
In the minors were: Hubie Brooks, Mookie Wilson, Wally Backman, Jody Davis, Jose Oquendo and a bunch of other guys who made the majors. They had 14 guys age 28 and younger who had lengthy careers in the majors. Was it overflowing with talent? No, it wasn’t. Was it devoid of talent? No, it wasn’t.
Cashen had the benefit of more money, better draft picks and a friendlier work environment.
Alderson had more talent on hand.
I don’t believe you can say one had a huge advantage over the other. If you want to say that when you look at everything that Alderson had a slight advantage on Cashen – I would not argue that.
But if Cashen is the gold standard then it’s hard to look at Alderson and say he’s a bum or not doing a good job. He’s on target to have his first winning season in the same time frame as Cashen did and there’s even a possibility he may make the playoffs one or two seasons earlier.
We don’t have to like Alderson’s personality. We don’t have to like the mandate from ownership that he’s working under. We don’t have to like his choice in managers. I do think we have to appreciate the job he’s done assembling talent, which is his number one job function.
In order to create that winning environment you need the complete package. Players and a competent manager who understands and puts his players in the best possible situation to succeed. Collins is not that manager. As a caretaker he is adequate. Do you honestly see TC winning a World Series for the Mets? No. The team that Alderson envisioned is starting to come together. The time has come for SA to move Collins to another position in the system and bring in a “manager” who will guide the Mets to the next level.
I’ve been advocating for Collins’ removal since at least May of 2013 and I asked for an honest appraisal of his strengths and weaknesses in 2011.
“I don’t believe you can say one had a huge advantage over the other. If you want to say that when you look at everything that Alderson had a slight advantage on Cashen – I would not argue that”
I was not around during this timeperiod so i’m only going by the record i see.
In 2011 the high water mark was 55-51 on July 29th and in 2012 the high water mark was 46-40 right at the All star break. Both teams collapsed in August though. 2013 after Alderson finished dismantled the team was a disaster but 2014 the team may have turned a corner with intermittent success.
In 1980, the Mets hit .500 a couple times in July after a terrible April. 1981 was a disaster the entire season. In 1982, the team had a great May and was as high as 27-21 in May but collapsed after that already under .500 by the end of June. 1983 was also a disaster.
So judging based on record, it seems to me that Alderson clearly had inherited the better team as during his first two years the Mets were playing at an 85 win pace for more than half the season.
And while Cashen may have had the better picks, Alderson is operating during the wild card+6 division era compared to the 4 division era in the 80s
In 1984, Cashen had built a 90 win team that was left out of a 4-team playoff format.
In 2015, will we sneak in as the 10th team in a 10-team playoff format?
I think you’re giving Alderson too much credit.
And the main reason that 1984 team performed so well was the 11.4 fWAR they got from Gooden and Strawberry, both playing in their first full season.
Cashen deserves all the praise he gets for drafting these two guys. However, the reason he got to draft them is because he had the #1 overall pick in 1980 and the #5 overall pick in 1982. The best draft pick that Alderson had with the Mets was #10
Cashen benefited from having higher draft picks. He hit on Strawberry and Gooden and whiffed on Terry Blocker and Eddie Williams, who were both fourth overall picks. Alderson benefited from having players like Beltran and Reyes to deal. He hit on the Wheeler trade. Perhaps he could have done better with Reyes, but he did end up getting Kevin Plawecki and Matt Reynolds and I’m thinking he’ll get more value out of those two than Cashen got from Blocker and Williams.
My take is that the benefit that Alderson received from better inherited talent was not as great as the benefit that Cashen got from high draft picks and relatively more money to spend. Those benefits that Cashen had resulted in the addition of Gooden, Strawberry, Hernandez and Carter. They also resulted in Blocker, Williams, George Foster and Ellis Valentine – so let’s not pretend that it was nothing but great success for Cashen.
Right now Cashen is the gold standard for Mets GMs. He earned that distinction. But there was plenty of losing and missed opportunities that went along with his success. People need to keep that in mind when judging Alderson.
“My take is that the benefit that Alderson received from better inherited talent was not as great as the benefit that Cashen got from high draft picks”
I disagree.
In 2013, the Mets got 12 fWAR out of Harvey and Wright, 2 guys Sandy had zero involvement with.
And the Mets certainly have the prospects, and with better management (not signing Granny and Colon) would have the payroll flexibility to get the big named player like Carter,Hernandez.
Legitimate question: Did Cashen have any/sign any bad/overpaid contracts?
If Alderson had been able to augment those 2013 guys with high dollar acquisitions like Carter and Hernandez, things would be a lot different. Harvey and Wright contributed 1.9 fWAR last year when Alderson finally had a few dollars to spend.
As for bad contracts, Cashen got negative fWAR from Randy Jones in 1981 and 1982 and the same with Dave Kingman in 1982 and 1983. Valentine gave negative fWAR in a partial season in ’81 and contributed 0.1 in ’82. In his 4.5 years with the Mets, Foster contributed 5 fWAR. In part of his time with the Mets, he was the highest paid player in the game.
I think ALdersons strength is his ability in drafting and rebuilding a farm system but as for signing Free Agents he’s definitely towards the bottom of the list. I get the feeling he has a difficult time in taking the team to the next level and finding the right combination of veterans and rookies as the Mets continue to struggle just to try to play .500 ball. If this team continues to struggle at home I don’t see how any Met fan can expect them to be in a race for a wild card. Need to find and bring in that player who changes the clubhouse culture. I just don’t see Alderson being able to do that.
Winning requires consistent responsibility for ones actions. Along the Kool-Aid path of 4 years to the promised land. Not of a World Series mind you but just to get into the playoffs. Now that we’ve soured on SA’s approach of finding the next Marlon Byrd (see CY), I find it interesting how Alderson goes out and makes a “safe” signing in Cuddyer. Same MO of signing “our guy” early in free agency but another incremental step to improve the team. Isn’t this Sandy’s forte? Tell the fan base how the kids are quickly maturing (on the bench since TC wont play them) and then go sign a 36 year old to play LF. Gus its a smoke screen. Harvey wasn’t signed by Alderson. So hopefully he’s not getting credit for that. Isn’t it the job of the GM to find a manager who understands today’s players and puts his players in the best possible situation to succeed? Is that why we have Collins here? A former manager who has not managed in the Major Leagues since 1999! This is the man the Mets needed to guide the inexperienced youth to the playoffs? What a contradiction Gus! TC the man who was quoted saying that playing kids will end your career as a manager. I’m still trying to figure out why Abreu was here and then asked to come back! Is Alderson for real? Only the Mets can pass off Collins as an acceptable major league manager. We as fans have to endure this crap from the cheapest organization in New York. I would be content to have Jim Dolan as owner of the Mets! That’s how low my expectations have become. At least he knows when to back away and put competent people in charge and let them make the necessary changes for his teams to be competitive. No more kool-aid for me. I’m done.
Can’t blame you Pete, I’ve thought it many times but always knew I’d keep peeking back. That’s why I asked how much does it burn Alderson to win, and how much is “just happy to be the GM of a New York team”. I think it’s more the latter than the former. It’s why so many times we asked if he really gives a crap. I understand patience, but some of these contradictions don’t add up.
When the Mets decide to “move” Terry Collins then we’ll know they’re serious about winning a World Series.
Gilmartin and Mayberry…. I like both moves.
One thing for sure, Brian:
it is Christmas time and you have us talking NY Mets!
It is like Matt Harvey hanging around Florida, each morning asking,
“Is it February, yet? Is it February, yet?”
I don’t think the Wilpons are too concerned about attendance rising. They’re not fools and understand for that to happen they need better players which they cannot afford right now. So long as they draw 2 million fans they can apply the money (100 million+) towards payroll and concentrate on revenue from their other baseball investments (SNY, advertising, etc) to make interest payments on the 2 loans they just refinanced. Last years 80 million dollar payroll (after trading Ike) spoke volumes when team in small revenue markets were raising their payrolls because the new baseball contracts doubled their annual payments to All MLB teams from 25 million to 50 million.
Does Sandy truly believe in his heart that Collins is the man who can win a World Series? When you bring someone who has been out of a job at the major league level for nearly a decade what does it say about the team and the manager? Can you name a team in any sport that has hired a manager who has been “retired” for nearly 10 years? Other than being grateful for the chance to manage again, what does Collins bring to the table? Is he innovative? Is he brimming with new ideas? I know he’s affordable and works very cheap. But who do you see as the manager who should take this club to the next level? Backman? The Mets need to find out now. Otherwise they will waste the promising future this core of young starters will bring in 2015 and beyond.
Just among managers with a tie to the Mets, Jeff Torborg and Bobby Valentine also went 10 years between managerial gigs. Davey Johnson went 11.
In looking up guys I could think of — Eddie Stanky, Leo Durocher and Frank Robinson also went 11 years. I bet there are others, too.