Sandy Alderson: Signing Stephen Drew “Unlikely”

Sandy Alderson is confirming what most of us have known all along — signing Stephen Drew is “unlikely.”

“We haven’t ruled it out, but I think doing anything is unlikely,” Alderson told MLB.com on Tuesday. “I think that Stephen will always have other opportunities. We continue to monitor his situation… I know there’s been a lot of speculation about Drew and the Mets, but at this point, that’s what it remains — speculation.”

The speculation is that the Mets would only be willing to sign Stephen Drew for one or two years but that he is seeking more. Besides, if all he can get is such a short-term deal, he would most likely just go back to Boston which has reportedly offered at least a year.

Alderson has spent considerable time over the past few weeks propping up Ruben Tejada, telling the world how great he is doing at that conditioning camp, how he is still young, etc. Just as the Mets bad mouth players when they are out the door, they also boost their existing players in an effort to sell them to the fans.

But the fans are not that stupid. We all watched Tejada last season, how much he regressed. Maybe his entire problem was indeed related to his alleged poor work ethic; if so, that can be fixed. If not, it will be another painful season at shortstop.

Stephen Drew is not a game-changer, but he would have been an upgrade at the position, whether Tejada is at the top of his game or not. It is a move a large market team would have made, but of course, the Mets do not operate like one anymore.