Coward Sandy Alderson Does Nothing at Deadline

Earlier this week Sandy Alderson said it was “unlikely” that the Mets would make a deal before Thursday’s trade deadline. I withheld comment, knowing full well that what comes out of Alderson’s mouth is not always what happens. Well, this time Alderson was true to his word. So time for comment.

Sandy Alderson is a coward. The Mets are four games under .500. They are seven and a half games back in the NL East and six games back in the Wild Card. It would be a stretch to call them contenders, but they are on the cusp of being a contender. A trade or two for a few bats might have pushed them over that edge. Yet Alderson did nothing.

In Alderson’s defense, there were not many impact bats available. Yoenis Cespedes would have been nice, but the Mets did not have a Jon Lester to offer the A’s (by the way, great trade for the Red Sox. Don’t be surprised if Lester re-signs with Boston in the off-season, so they’ll have both players in 2015).

But there had to be something out there that could have made the Mets better. By not making a move, Sandy Alderson took the coward’s way out, and showed the world that he does not think his team, the team he built, is not good enough to contend.

There comes a time when you have to take a risk and just go for it. I’m not suggesting making a move just for the sake of making a move. But Alderson seems so stubborn — asking the world for his trade chips while making token offers for other teams’ players. Just once I would like him to be daring.

Even trading Bartolo Colon (which could still happen next month) would have made the Mets better in the long-term because the $11 million he is owed next season could be put towards improving the offense. Colon will be virtually untradeable in the winter; why would any team give up players and spend $11 million on a soon-to-be 42-year-old pitcher when lots of younger starters will be available in the free agent market at lower prices?

Once again, Sandy Alderson did absolutely nothing to make the team better. And isn’t that his job, to constantly improve the team? It seems many of GMs are able to do it, even those on a limited budget like the one the Wilpons apparently give Alderson. Why can’t Alderson do the same thing?