Sandy is Dandy

[batmagadanleadoff]

[fimg=333]http://exhibitions.nypl.org/lunchhour/archive/fullsize/c7466b6a525b9126e3130907c4b2ca35.jpg[/fimg]

Reasons to Love New York - 2013

26. Because Sandy Alderson Is the Best G.M. in Baseball
By Will Leitch
Published Dec 15, 2013

If you�re a passenger in a defective plane, the best you can hope for is the best pilot possible. Say what you will about the state of the New York Mets, they still have a winner in charge. You think it�s bad? If Sandy Alderson hadn�t been steering, we�d be at the bottom of the Hudson right now. Almost every move Alderson has made since taking over in 2010 has been golden. The Mets� farm system, decaying when he took over, is now near the top of the majors, headed by pitchers Noah Syndergaard and Rafael Montero. But his specialty is the pump-and-dump: The best example is R.?A. Dickey, a cheap free-agent-to-be the Mets swapped for Syndergaard and Travis d�Arnaud from Toronto. (Syndergaard is now one of the top pitching prospects in baseball and was only the second most valuable player in that trade.) Alderson had done the same a year earlier, turning Carlos Beltran into Zack Wheeler, at the time the Giants� pitching future and now the Mets� likely opening-day starter. In an age when prospects are the highest-�valued assets in the game, Alderson, somehow, pried away three top ones for players with expiring contracts. No other G.M. has been able to wrangle up even one player like that in a similar deal. The Mets are still a mess, but Alderson is the last person to blame for that. And don�t look now, but he may even have brought them to the verge of being good. When Matt Harvey returns in 2015, anyway.

http://nymag.com/news/articles/reasonstoloveny/2013/sandy-alderson/

Edited December 16, 2013 by Guest

[Lefty Specialist]

Bottom line is that even with the best pilot, it's still a defective plane.

[Edgy MD]

I don't think that's the bottom line.

[Ceetar]

grain of salt.

After all, reason number 25 in that series is

25. Because Derek Jeter Is About to Become a Publishing Mogul

[Zvon]

Sandyman says we can compete! I assume he means for more than 3rd place!

After adding Bartolo Colon and Curtis Granderson, Mets think they can contend in 2014: Sandy Alderson But the GM added that he still has work to do on his club, including shoring up shortstop and first base. The team has been actively shopping Ike Davis in the offseason but have found no takers just yet. Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/sandy-mets-goal-compete-2014-article-1.1546092#ixzz2nfnAY6Qq

[dinosaur jesus]

If Sandy just wants Ike off his hands, I'll take him. I might have to sell the car, but I don't use it much anyway.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I think Leitch is a fraud trafficking in pretending to understand the Mets but I agree: Sandman has done good.

As an example if he wanted a used car for Ike he'd have got one already. I think when it does go down, if it goes down, it could be something interesting. This is not a deal where he just releases the guy a la Bay.

[Guest d'Kong76]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: And don�t look now, but he may even have brought them to the verge of being good. When Matt Harvey returns in 2015, anyway.

I wish people would put Harvey to rest already and the notion that
he'll be back as some kind of re-born savior fifteen months from now.

[Edgy MD]

The illustration looks as much like Bush as Alderson, doesn't it?

[Frayed Knot]

"... The Mets� farm system, decaying when he took over, is now near the top of the majors, ..."

Neither half of that statement qualifies as even remotely accurate.

Edited December 16, 2013 by Guest

[Guest d'Kong76]

I briefly met him, Sandy not Bush ... I don't think it looks like
either of them.

[G-Fafif]

Will has his talents, but serving as all-knowing sage of New York sports is not one of his strengths.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

"We'd be at the bottom of the ocean?" What's this "we" stuff, Redbird?

Frayed Knot wrote: "... The Mets� farm system, decaying when he took over, is now near the top of the majors, ..." Neither half of that statement qualifies as even remotely accurate.

"It's gotten significantly deeper, and developed a handful of top-flight prospects" might be more to the point, but it's not quite as snappy.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: "We'd be at the bottom of the ocean?" What's this "we" stuff, Redbird?

Exactamundo, Webber. Hey Leitch take your birds-on-a-bat and shove it up your edgy Midwestern ass.

[ashie62]

For me personally, if we can get into 2014 sans Ike Davis and Duda I will offer Ashie Kudos to Alderson.

To see those guys back at the major league level as Mets just gives me flashbacks to some pretty bad baseball...

Hoping for the best..

[batmagadanleadoff]

NY Mag: Alderson MLB's best GM
December, 17, 2013
By Adam Rubin | ESPNNewYork.com

Will Leitch in New York Magazine has named Sandy Alderson the best GM in baseball, despite records of 77-85, 74-88 and 74-88 in his three seasons presiding in Queens. "You think it�s bad?" Leitch asks. "If Sandy Alderson hadn�t been steering, we�d be at the bottom of the Hudson right now." Leitch asserts that: � The Mets' farm system is among the best in baseball. (Baseball America ranked it tied for 11th in late October.) � Alderson has turned Carlos Beltran, R.A. Dickey, Marlon Byrd and John Buck via trades into Zack Wheeler, Travis d'Arnaud, Noah Syndergaard, Wuilmer Becerra, Vic Black and Dilson Herrera. Contracts like the ones to Frank Francisco and Shaun Marcum and trading Angel Pagan are not mentioned. Nor is actual winning. So apparently waiting out bad contracts and auctioning off valuable pieces for high prices qualifies as being the best in baseball.

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/80165/ny-mag-alderson-mlbs-best-gm

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

NY Mag: Alderson MLB's best GM December, 17, 2013 By Adam Rubin | ESPNNewYork.com Will Leitch in New York Magazine has named Sandy Alderson the best GM in baseball, despite records of 77-85, 74-88 and 74-88 in his three seasons presiding in Queens. "You think it�s bad?" Leitch asks. "If Sandy Alderson hadn�t been steering, we�d be at the bottom of the Hudson right now." Leitch asserts that: � The Mets' farm system is among the best in baseball. (Baseball America ranked it tied for 11th in late October.) � Alderson has turned Carlos Beltran, R.A. Dickey, Marlon Byrd and John Buck via trades into Zack Wheeler, Travis d'Arnaud, Noah Syndergaard, Wuilmer Becerra, Vic Black and Dilson Herrera. Contracts like the ones to Frank Francisco and Shaun Marcum and trading Angel Pagan are not mentioned. Nor is actual winning. So apparently waiting out bad contracts and auctioning off valuable pieces for high prices qualifies as being the best in baseball. http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/80165/ny-mag-alderson-mlbs-best-gm

Roobie is butthurt because the Mets grant him as much access to Sandy as they do to the Mom's Basement Social Media Guild.

[Edgy MD]

That does read like some sour grape spitting.

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

Big time.

And frankly, while Francisco and Marcum didn't pan out, they were short-term deals and worthwhile risks. It's the long, expensive deals that damage teams. I'll take Sandy's track record.

[Ceetar]

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Big time. And frankly, while Francisco and Marcum didn't pan out, they were short-term deals and worthwhile risks. It's the long, expensive deals that damage teams. I'll take Sandy's track record.

yeah, those seemed like okay deals in themselves just didn't quite work out.

I'm not, and wasn't, thrilled with say the Pagan trade but baseball players are violtile and you're never going to have everything go right.

There are minor things too, like Rick Ankiel, which never seemed smart. But then you've got Hairston and Byrd so I figure his OF record is above average anyway.