Back in 1986, The New York Mets were the talk of The Big Apple. The team
won 108 regular season games and then rallied to defeat The Boston Red
Sox in The World Series. Going past ’86 the team was destined for a
dynasty that never came to fruition. Immaturity on that team left us
wondering what could have been. Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden both
battled drug problems and their careers were never the same. We then
saw ” The Worst Team Money Could Buy” according to Bob Klapisch in
reference to The 1992 Mets. The Mets then saw a revitalization in the
late ’90s when they acquired catcher Mike Piazza from The Florida
Marlins. Piazza’s Mets made The World Series only to fall to The New
York Yankees in 2000. The Mets had a resurgence in 2006 having the best
record in The National League only to fall to The St. Louis Cardinals in
game seven of The National League Championship Series. The core of that
team was Jose Reyes, David Wright, Carlos Beltran, and Carlos Delgado.
This quartet was expected to bring The World Series Title back to
Queens.
Consecutive collapses in September left The Mets at home watching the
postseason in 2007 and 2008 as the team bowed out on the final day of
the regular season. The wheels officially fell off in 2009 when the team
won 70 games after Sports Illustrated picked The Mets to win The World
Series. After an abysmal 2010 change was finally made.
Manager Jerry Manuel was shown the door and he was nice enough to hold
the door open for general manager Omar Minaya who received the same
fate. Sandy Alderson was brought in to be general
manager/housekeeper/principal. In his first season he is putting a stamp
on this squad. In spring training Alderson sent malcontents Oliver
Perez and Luis Castillo packing even though it counted as 18 million to
the team’s payroll. Alderson hired a manager that was a reflection of
him on the field in Terry Collins. Both Collins and Alderson are
no-nonsense and it shows with the attitude of the team. The 2011 Mets
are a scrappy bunch and they don’t give up which is why they are hanging
around in The Wild Card race.
Alderson came into a situation where the house was holding four aces and
he had to find a way around it. The Mets have the owner in Fred Wilpon
who got caught up in the dealings of Bernie Madoff which hindered his
finances. Wilpon then built Citi Field to be the new home of The Mets.
This is the new home that Met fans have been staying away from. Because
of these situations, Alderson entered free agency with a coupon book on
signing talent.
Alderson has kept the team relevant while developing the minor league
system. Pitchers Matt Harvey and Zach Wheeler could be the future of the
rotation and they will have the luxury of Citi Field favoring pitchers.
Harvey was the team’s first round pick in 2010 and the big right-hander
is making his way up through the system as he dominated A-ball and has
now graduated to AA. Wheeler was the player that Alderson coveted and
received him by trading All-Star outfielder Carlos Beltran to The San
Francisco Giants. Beltran was having a bounce back season with The Mets
after two injury filled seasons in 2009 and 2010. Alderson knew that
Beltran wasn’t in the future plans of the team and therefore it was
imperative that The Mets were able to get something back for Beltran.
Going forward Alderson knows that he must re-sign Reyes. Losing the
dynamic shortstop would leave a void at the top of the lineup and
destroy an already fragile relationship with the fans. The Mets are
building a team of home grown talent that the fans can relate to. Fans
can enjoy seeing players start off in Brooklyn and work their way up
until they arrive in Queens. It is important due to the teams pedestrian
all-time stats. Reyes along with third baseman David Wright will own
most of the franchise’s offensive stats in a season or two and neither
player has played with the team for ten years. This is a franchise that
has a history of trading players away to early or getting a player that
is at the end of his career.
Alderson is trying to change this. This team is not built to compete
with The Philadelphia Phillies or The New York Yankees this season and
maybe next season as well. The Phillies are at a championship level and
it doesn’t make sense to try throw rocks at a team that has a machine
gun. The Yankees are The Yankees and they don’t have a problem opening
up the vault to get who they need. The Mets won’t do that especially
when they have 40 million committed to pitcher Johan Santana and
outfielder Jason Bay for 2012.
Alderson has used his brain. He traded closer Francisco Rodriguez to The
Milwaukee Brewers to free up money to re-sign Reyes. The Mets will have
an opportunity to show off their stadium in 2013 when they will host
The All-Star Game. For their sake and the sake of the long suffering fan
base, greener days are ahead and Sandy Alderson is leading the way.
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