BOLD WOULD BE BEAUTIFUL
Alderson must explore trading arms for big bat
T HE Mets would be in far worse shape than they are now had they not acted boldly, repeatedly, since Sandy Alderson took over as the team’s general manager in October 2010.
Accepting just one player from San Francisco for Carlos Beltran was bold, and though Zack Wheeler still is raw, his talent is obvious.
Selling high on R.A. Dickey, knowing how brilliantly he had won over fans and some media members, was bold. Drafting high school talent with their first selections from 201113 was bold, too — we need more time to judge the picks, as well as Travis d’Arnaud and Noah Syndergaard.
If anything, the Mets need to be bolder, not less bold, as they try to leverage their impressive pitching depth into steady respectability and possibly even contention. On Saturday, though, Alderson sounded more gunshy than ready to take any leap of faith.
In a questionandanswer session with Mets seasonticket holders at Citi Field, about four hours before the Mets and Padres went at it, Alderson shared his reservations over dealing arms for bats.
“I think one of the problems with trading pitching, no matter how much you have, is you can never have enough,” Alderson said.
“We’re cautious about it. One of the things that makes us particularly cautious is knowing who can or can’t play in New York. If a guy plays well in Seattle, for instance, how is he going to do here in New York? You watch how Curtis [Granderson] carries himself — win or lose, strikeout or not — and there’s something to be said for a guy who knows how to play in New York. It’s a different environment.
For sure, clubs tend to trade pitchers with extreme hesitance. This year’s Tommy John surgery epidemic underlines how one must get quality out of quantity (to steal an old Branch Rickey phrase). Dillon Gee has missed extensive time with a right shoulder blade issue, and Syndergaard is recovering from a freak injury to his left (nonthrowing) shoulder at TripleA Las Vegas.
Moreover, Alderson’s reservations over importing just anyone into this situation are valid. Those who view Alderson strictly as a numberscruncher might be surprised to see him express the thought that New York isn’t for everybody. He’s right.
Nevertheless, sometimes you’ve just got to do your due diligence, trust your scouts and statistical analysts and go for it. Look over at the Yankees. They signed four big names last winter, and they’re batting .500 on those acquisitions, with Masahiro Tanaka and Jacoby Ellsbury succeeding and Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran flailing.
Now, maybe Alderson was just playing coy with his audience. No GM is going to publicly display all of his cards.
Or perhaps Alderson was covering yet again for his bosses, who didn’t raise the club’s payroll last winter after at least intimating they would do so. Would the Wilpons and Saul Katz even sign off on acquiring someone like the Dodgers’ Matt Kemp or Colorado’s Carlos Gonzalez?
“Our payroll this year is roughly the same as last year,” Alderson said to the fans. “If we’re competing, if we’re vying for a wildcard spot or a division championship, I think we have the capacity to make moves.”
Alderson said repeatedly, “We’re close,” and he pointed to the Mets’ decent run differential (266 runs scored and 269 allowed before Saturday’s game) as a symbol they have some breaks coming their way.
They might. They need more than just breaks, though. They need the same sort of boldness that helped elevate them to where they are now — from where they hope to climb far higher.