Mets 2013 Outfield: More of the Same?

It is accepted throughout all of baseball that the Mets need a complete revamping of their outfield. Even casual fans of the Mets know that. However word has apparently not filtered down to the only person whose opinion actually counts — Sandy Alderson.

ESPNNewYork.com reports that Alderson answered a slew of questions about the state of the team at the GM Meetings on Thursday. When it came to what to do with the outfield, Alderson only had alleged comic responses.

“What outfield? We’re gonna bring those fences in another 150 feet.” When asked where the outfielders would come from, Alderson said,  “A cardboard box?” Hilarious.

Alderson then got serious when asked about specific players who could be manning the outfield at Citi Field in 2013.

On Lucas Duda, he said, “He’s very definitely in the mix. We’re counting on him.”

Kirk Nieuwenhuis? “I think he may be. It’s conceivable.”

He also said Scott Hairston has a better chance to return now that Jason Bay is gone. “I think it helps. As I said, it gives us more flexibility and it subtracts one more candidate from our outfield. So in both ways it probably enhances Scott’s chances of coming back.”

So an outfield of Duda, Nieuwenhuis and Hairston. And this was Alderson being serious! Haven’t we seen this before? How well did this combination fare in 2012?

Now, Alderson has proven that he is an expert liar and that nothing he says should be taken as truth. In this situation, Alderson is probably right not to tip his hand. And Duda and Nieuwenhuis are still Mets property; no reason to denigrate them in public.

But you’d hope Alderson would have said something like, “Yes, the outfield was a problem in 2012. We need to upgrade that area next season.” That would at least give Mets fans hope that Alderson is actually working on making the team better rather than his usual sticking with the status quo.

Then again, maybe Alderson is finally telling the truth, that this will be the outfield. Let’s pray that he’s lying again.