Mets Have a New Boss With a Vision

I have intentionally avoided talking about the Mets GM search until someone signed their name on the dotted line clearly saying that they are ready to take on the Mets and NY. I wanted to wait because part of me is angry at baseball while another part of me doesn't have enough energy to get excited about GM Hot Stove. The rest - just sad at the situation of the Mets.

Well, today I can say with certainty that I am back in the baseball business, even if for just a week. The Mets have finished their GM search and have named 62-year old Sandy Alderson as their new GM. I will be honest - I don't know all that much about Alderson and most of my opinion below is coming from what I read on metsblog.com and my boy Matt Cerrone.

Alderson was a Harvard trained lawyer who was hired as General Counsel in 1981 by the Oakland A's. Two years later he was named GM, a post that he kept until 1997. During that time, he hired Tony LaRussa, drafted and 'developed' a number of great players - McGwire, Giambi, Tejada, Hudson, Chavez and led the team to 3 World Series. Since then he has been the CEO of the San Diego Padres and has worked in the Commissioner's office. Clearly he has a good resume.

Here's what I like: he is a man who has a vision of how things should be done. He is going to create a plan that he will expect to be followed at every level within the organization. He is going to create an identity for this team; things will be done the Mets-way. I also love the fact that he is a former Marine who served in Vietnam. The first thing we always have to worry about for any new Mets' hires is whether they can handle New York. I don't think Alderson will be intimidated by the New York media. That is not to say he won't be blind to the pressures. He has said that a 5-year rebuilding plan is unheard of in NY, especially not with the resources the Mets have. Sounds like his change will be one of philosophy and attitude.

Here's what I don't like: re-read the list of players who he drafted....yeah, thats right, the first three have tested positive for steroids. Now I don't know how much responsibility Alderson should bear for this, but it makes me feel a little uneasy inside. I don't know what it is, but yes he put together a winner, but he also put together a team of cheaters. Second, he hasn't been a GM since 1997 - baseball has clearly changed since then. I have to ask whether he can adapt to the new state of the league.


Now this is all great. We can all be optimistic. But if I remember correctly, there was a whole lot of optimism in 2004 when Omar Minaya took over. He had successfully run the dead-beat Montreal Expos for several years, developing talent with a minimal budget. Imagine what he could do with a huge budget, we all said. Well, we saw where that went. He failed this team and its fan base. It started with some bad personnel moves and ended with embarrassing off-the-field stuff. I don't know how Alderson will fix the former, but I have a pretty good feeling he will change the latter. I can only hope I won't be writing this post in another 6 years.

[like the GM search I will also wait to discuss the manager search as we have no idea who the final hire may be]