Sandy Alderson will be officially introduced as the Mets' new general manager on Friday afternoon, according to a team press release. The new GM is already making calls to set up his front office; Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that Alderson has reached out to Paul DePodesta and J.P. Ricciardi to strengthen the Mets staff. Both worked under Alderson in Oakland and went on to become MLB GMs. Here are the rest of the updates on the Mets:
- Alderson's contract is for four years, reports Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com.
- The Mets and agent Arn Tellem, who represents Hisanori Takahashi, have received permission from MLB and the MLBPA to push back the deadline for signing Takahashi, probably for about a week, according to David Waldstein of the New York Times. Adam Rubin reported earlier today that the sides were considering extending the deadline.
- The Mets signed 16-year-old third baseman Elvis Sanchez out of the Dominican Republic, according to Ben Badler of Baseball America.
- Royals bench coach John Gibbons will not interview for the Mets' managerial opening, according to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News (on Twitter). Phillies bench coach Pete Mackanin could become a candidate, according to Martino.
- Alderson "almost certainly will hire a low-profile manager … whose main focus will be to carry out the vision of the new general manager without drama," according to Sherman.
- Gibbons, Clint Hurdle, DeMarlo Hale, Bob Melvin, Terry Collins, Don Wakamatsu and Chip Hale are candidates to manager the Mets, according to Dan Martin and Joel Sherman of the Post. Joe Torre, Wally Backman and Bobby Valentine are longshots to manage the team.
- Friends of Alderson say he will look for an experienced manager, according to Sherman.
- A's special advisor Grady Fuson, who worked with Alderson in Oakland and San Diego, told Martin that Alderson will be prepared at all times. "He'll read every game report from the minors every night. He’ll know every prospect by name, height and birthday," Fuson said. "He’ll know the top 50 guys in the draft. He’ll have his hands on everything and won’t be blindsided by anything.”
I wouldn’t mind Clint Hurdle or Chip Hale as the manager
Jp Ricciardi is exactly what the mets need.
This is obviously sarcasm, but as long as Ricciardi isn’t writing checks and isn’t the GM, it won’t hurt. I trust Alderson’s perspective. DePodesta would be an even greater addition. The Mets are transitioning from a front office that ignored sabermetrics to a front office that should use them full blown. That’s awesome.
Agreed. Ricciardi may not have been a good GM but he was good at a lot of other things; that’s why he was hired as a GM in the first place. It seems that Alderson will be putting him in a position where he’ll excel. He knows Ricciardi’s strengths.
Wondering why Ken Oberkfell gets minimal love here — he’s managed many of the younger Mets in the organization since 2001 with success.
“He’ll read every game report from the minors every night. He’ll know every prospect by name, height and birthday”
Preparation, that’s a Marine for you.
Worst case scenario, Melvin is hired. I don’t him, and the Mets certainly don’t need him. Hurdle is cool, but the fans want Backman.
If Alderson is always so prepared, why is it the Padres drafted such horrible draft classes under his direction? This guy doesn’t have a strong eye for talent anymore. It’s straight downhill from here for the Mets. Get ready for a roster of cement-footed ‘sluggers’ and pitchers who rarely reach 90 on the gun.
The drafts were not “under his direction.” He was the CEO, not the GM or the Head of Scouting. You can blame him for not hiring the right people to conduct those drafts, but you can’t blame him for the draft picks themselves. With rare exceptions, owners and presidents don’t micro-manage the decisions of what are basically middle-managers. If anything, I would say that Alderson is exactly the kind of businessman smart enough to learn from past mistakes, and he will be far more involved in the drafts with the Mets than he ever was with the Padres.
Everything I read during his Padres tenure suggested exactly the opposite. He micro-managed everything and everyone. The organization was dysfunctional because there were to many different people to report to depending on what one was working on.
Also, he did hire his people. Grady Fuson was the director of scouting while Sandy was in San Diego, and Sandy hired him away from the A’s. Sandy also brought in DePodesta as the Assistant GM – and oddly enough, there were several reports that Towers reported to DePo (his assistant) when it came to getting approval for trades.
I personally believe Alderson and his people have seen the game pass them by when it comes to evaluating talent. I guess we’ll see who is correct.
I admit I don’t follow the Padres on a day-to-day basis. If that’s true, then that’s a wacky way of running an organization. It’s definitely true Towers and DePodesta didn’t always see eye-to-eye, and it’s easy to see how Alderson may have taken a shine to a fellow Harvard alumni. I agree the game may have past him by; it’s been a long time since Sandy GM’d a team, but it’s easy to get excited about him taking over the Mets, giving his background.
Riccardi and DePodesta will both help in their own ways if they join the Mets staff. It would be interesting.
They should make Lenny Dykstra the manager. I’m sure he’ll do it for ashtray money.
I can see it already, J.P. gets hired and begs Alderson to sign Gibbons.
Can Kevin Mench and Brad Wilkerson aka “Mencherson” be far behind?
frank thomas and bj ryan first!
Besides the obvious manager hiring first and foremost, I hope plan B is to start focusing on a strong leaders to run their minor leagues which is the biggest problem with Omar I had. I thought he did a pretty good job on the major league club and for every Heath Bell there was an RA Dickey but I think the condition of the minor leagues is their biggest weakness and problem. They cannot keep up with the likes of the Red Sox, Yankees or Phillies if they don’t have the chips to make trades without giving away the farm [system]. I’ve heard good things about Rick Hahn [Chicago] and Logan White [Dodgers]. Good job so far Wilpon’s don’t stop now…
Ew. Take off all of the candidtaes off that list except for DeMarlo Hale. Put in Lenny Dykstra, Tim Wallach, Bob Brenly, and Brian Butterfield please 🙂
“Alderson will be prepared at all times. He’ll read every game report from the minors every night. He’ll know every prospect by name, height and birthday,” Fuson said. “He’ll know the top 50 guys in the draft.”
Sounds like he *might* be a candidate to take over the opening in my keeper league.
The Mets need some Rich Harden love and a Luis Castillo extension
meh