After ’17 dud, big challenge ahead for GM

Sandy Alderson wants the challenge. The Mets general manager said rebuilding this team after it bottomed out is something he wants to do and feels a responsibility to do. So Sunday, after starting with the cosmetic change of having Terry Collins step down as manager, Alderson said he appreciates the chance to try again with the Mets.

“It’s been a disappointing season, I think we have more in us. I personally take a lot of responsibility for unmet expectations. I am happy to have the opportunity to try to correct that,” Alderson said, confirming he will be back in 2018. “Any season is a challenge. A season following a season like this one will be challenging.”

The Mets are expected to soon announce that Alderson, who turns 70 next month, will be back on a two-year deal. While that leaves open the option to continue with the Mets beyond 2020, assistant GM John Ricco has been positioned as the obvious heir apparent.

But the Mets wanted a steady hand during a period where they are selling change.

In a winter when the Mets are touting their changes, pushing out Collins and pitching coach Dan Warthen as well as head trainer Ray Ramirez, Alderson seems like an odd choice to be the face of those changes.

After a disaster of a 2017 season, Alderson has to take a long look at how he led the Mets here. He will have to admit he is as much to blame as any of those who paid for it with their jobs this week. So the real challenge will be changing the thinking and the culture of the organization as they try to hire a new manager over the next few weeks.

While the Mets’ history with poorly-handled injuries precedes him, they certainly have not improved under his watch. The roster that he brought into spring training was poorly constructed, in part because the Mets had to re-sign Yoenis Cespedes and protect themselves by retaining Jay Bruce and could not move him until after the trade deadline. Despite knowing Jeurys Familia would miss some time because of a looming MLB suspension (and already saying they were concerned about the workload of the back of the bullpen), the front office did not go out and get any help for a bullpen that turned out to be the worst in Met history.

Under Alderson’s tenure, the farm system has not kept up with major league needs. After pushing out Triple-A manager Wally Backman, considered one of the best talent evaluators in the organization, Alderson admitted Tuesday that he has to make changes because their prospects were simply not major league ready when they got to the big leagues this season.

He inherited a farm system stocked with power pitchers like Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Michael Fulmer (whom he traded for Yoenis Cespedes). He made the choice to draft position players to put around them and has yet to have any of them make a real impact except Michael Conforto. Dom Smith, if he continues to develop in the big leagues, could be an everyday player with surprising power, but Brandon Nimmo (picked right before the Marlins grabbed Jose Fernandez) looks like he will be just a solid fourth outfielder in the majors. Kevin Plawecki has come on in his latest stint in the big leagues, but he still needs to prove he can stick.

Alderson has made some good trades, most notably turning 2012 Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey into Noah Syndergaard, Travis d’Arnaud and minor league prospect Wuilmer Becerra. His signing of Bartolo Colon as a stopgap after Harvey went down with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in 2013 turned out to be brilliant, but giving Michael Cuddyer $12.5 million and giving up a draft pick was just one of several bad signings (Frank Francisco, Chris Young, Shaun Marcum).

Alderson oversaw the dismantling of the Mets, going from a payroll of $149 million in 2010 to $85 million in 2014 (according to Cot’s contracts) and will likely be managing a trim down in payroll again from a 2017 Opening Day payroll of $154 million. They will have to do that without further alienating their fans. he Mets are at a crucial point internally and admit they need change.

They need to make the right hire for a manager and turn the organization around. The Mets expect Alderson to set them on the right track for the future, and that may be his biggest challenge yet.

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