After a long process, the Mets have cut their search for a new general manager down to two candidates, neither of which is a surprise to anybody.
Josh Byrnes and Sandy Alderson have been favorites for the job ever since the Mets’ offseason began. Some people like Byrnes and some people like Alderson, but it all matters on who the Mets like. This week, the Mets are interviewing Byrnes and Alderson for the second and last time.
Their decisions will be based on what they hear on these last interviews. As of now, it’s looking as if Sandy Alderson has the job already, but you never know with the Mets. Byrnes is an attractive option—he’s young, smart and built up a bunch of young studs in Arizona, but he just couldn’t get the ball rolling.
Although Byrnes couldn’t make the D-Backs perennial winners, I think he could easily make the Mets perennial winners. After all, the Mets are a lot different than the D-Backs: They are a big-market team and things usually come easier when you’re a big-market team.
Even though it hasn’t been that way for the Mets in recent years, most people would agree that the Mets should have played better, but they play the games for a reason. If the Mets surprise everyone and hire Josh Byrnes, I wouldn’t be mad with that decision.
I would prefer Alderson, but if the Mets hire Byrnes then I guess they saw something in him that they didn’t see in Alderson. Either way, Alderson is still the front runner and I like that.
There are many reasons why most Mets fans would like to see Sandy Alderson at the helm. One of the main ones is experience. Alderson has been around the game for a long time, most recently working as the VP of Baseball Operations.
He is highly regarded among baseball, and is a proven winner. He built the 1989 World Champion Oakland Athletics, and mentored one of the best general managers in the game, Billy Beane.
Alderson also would bring an idea to the Mets’ organization; recently, it has seemed as if the Mets haven’t had an idea for the future. Alderson would bring in an idea and do everything in his power to make that idea a reality.
The owners of the Mets, the Wilpons, are said to have recently been using general managers as their “puppets.” In other words, the Wilpons were the ones making the decisions, not the general managers. I don’t think that would be a problem if Alderson got the job. He is experienced and the Wilpons will trust him and follow his vision.
Josh Towers was the Padres CEO when Alderson was their general manager.
Towers was quoted in the New York Times regarding Alderson, saying, ”I trusted Sandy Alderson, and in this game, that’s huge…You always knew where you stood with Sandy, [he] was always one of those guys who wasn’t afraid to think outside the box…He was all about making sure you think through everything before making the decision. Sandy is a smart guy. He’ll have a network of people he’ll bring in who will make that organization better if he gets the job.”
The Mets’ hunt for a general manager is coming to an exciting end. Change is the air for the Mets, and all fans are looking forward to who will take the Mets’ general manager job.
I think the Mets will pick the right guy for the job, regardless of who they pick. It’s a new era for the Mets and it’s going to start off on the right foot with whoever they hire.
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