With the recent news about Mets‘ equipment manager, Charlie Samuels, Sandy Alderson is facing his first Mets off-field issue. Welcome to the New York Mets, Sandy!
As far as the incident goes, Alderson has been handling it extremely well. He is preventing it from becoming a five-star production and seems to be keeping it under control for now. Samuels has been busted for betting on Major League Baseball games.
When Alderson got word of what Samuels had been up to, he suspended him on the spot. Not bad for the guy’s first problem. I have a strong feeling that if the Mets’ old front office was still intact, this would have been a much bigger problem.
The media probably would’ve been all over it. Even though this situation is still a huge problem for the Mets, and the media is indeed covering it pretty well, I guarantee you that Omar Minaya would have turned this situation into a mess.
Like many Mets fans, I am happy that Omar Minaya is gone, but I do feel that he wasn’t as bad as most fans made him out to be. He drafted some good talent and signed some big players, but it just didn’t work out in the end.
Although he made good moves, he also made many mistakes. One of his worst qualities as a general manager was his ability to handle off-field issues. It seemed that he always lost control of things, and the stories were turned into a media monster.
Not to mention, he also gave out many bad contracts, but we aren’t here to talk about Omar Minaya. This a new Mets era, and all eyes are on new general manager Sandy Alderson.
In my opinion, Alderson handled the Samuels problem very well. He handled it professionally and prevented it from turning into a fiasco. With that, we all know that this won’t be the last off-field problem Alderson faces.
Despite his great handling with this situation, the question is if he will be able to put up with situations like this in the future?
The best case scenario is that Alderson cleans up the organization, and no off-field problems rise, but the chances of that happening are very slim.
I believe that he will be able to put up with most of the off-field situations as well as he did with this one. Just like any great general manager, he will drop the ball a couple of times, but he should handle the majority of the problems well.
You’d be silly to think that Alderson didn’t know what he was walking into when he signed with the Mets. He knew that a major cleanup of personnel was in need, and problems will rise.
He’s currently working on getting his assistants, and it’s going great so far. Former Blue Jays general manager JP Ricciardi was added to the Mets front office last week, and now Alderson has his eyes set on Paul DePodesta.
DePodesta is currently working for the San Diego Padres, but that’s not keeping Alderson from pursuing him. Alderson is trying his best to pry DePodesta away from San Diego, and as of now, it looks like he is doing a good job of it.
There’s a big three in Miami, but the Mets might have their own big three soon. The big three won’t consist of superstars on the field but superstars in the front office. If Sandy Alderson successfully brings Paul DePodesta to Queens, then three of baseball’s greatest minds will be united.
Sandy Alderson, Paul DePodesta and JP Ricciardi are all strong believers of sabermatrics. A system in which stats such as on base percentage and slugging percentage hold more value than traditional statistics like batting average, stolen bases and home runs.
If DePodesta comes to Queens, here’s how the Mets front office will function. Alderson will make all of the final decisions and share every bit of his baseball knowledge with the organization. DePodesta is balanced in all aspects of the game. He’ll bring a great amount of insight on many situations. Ricciardi will evaluate talent and suggest players for the Mets to draft.
With these three guys around, the Mets will have one of the best front offices in all of baseball. Despite the lack of success for DePodesta and Ricciardi as general managers, they will definitely contribute greatly to getting the Mets where they need to be.
DePodesta and Ricciardi may not be the best fit as a general manager, but they will be superb assistants.
The offseason is in its early stages, but many things are already happening for Sandy Alderson. As previously mentioned, getting Paul DePodesta is currently Alderson’s main target. After DePodesta decides where he wants to be, then Alderson will set his sights on getting a manager for the team.
Things aren’t going silky smooth for the Mets right now, but Mets fans have been lucky to see how Sandy Alderson handled his first big problem. This may have been a blessing in disguise.
Sure you never want to see problems occur within the franchise, especially when the person has been with the organization for a long time, but it was good for Alderson to get an early test. In my opinion, he passed with flying colors. As of now, Sandy Alderson is on a mission, and it seems to be going great.
The New York Mets have a new slogan, and I am totally behind it. It’s a simple one with a strong message, “In Sandy We Trust.”
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