Sandy Alderson Misreads Market — Again

Sandy Alderson might be a bright guy, but he certainly does not know how to read the baseball market. And that is a big problem when you run a baseball team. His latest inability to spot trends could cost the Mets dearly in 2015.

Remember when he thought he could get Jhonny Peralta with some sweet talk and a couple of million dollars? Remember when he thought he could easily trade Bartolo Colon when he needed to? Those are nothing compared to his misreading of where baseball has been going these past couple of years, when hitting, not pitching, is at a premium.

Alderson seemed to have a plan — stockpile young starting pitching, then fill the holes in the lineup. Perhaps he would even use his excess to trade for a power bat.

But here’s what happened instead — suddenly no one had hitting and everyone had pitching. So when Alderson needed to go out and find hitters, the best he could do was Curtis Granderson and Michael Cuddyer; two hitters on the downside of their careers. And when he went to trade his extra pitchers, no one wanted them because everybody has them. Maybe teams would take Noah Syndergaard, but Alderson does not seem inclined to trade him. Instead, he dangles the likes of Dillon Gee, Jonathon Niese and Colon. No one is biting.

I did not see this coming. And neither did you, probably. But we are not supposed to. Sandy Alderson and his fellow “genius” lieutenants were supposed to spot these trends. Other teams did and made sure they had the proper hitters in place. Not the Mets.

A lot of readers tell me they are tired of my Alderson bashing. You know what? I am, too. But what else can I do? I cannot ignore his repeated failures. None of us can, because they are right out there on the field 162 times a season.