Sandy Alderson on WFAN Thursday
Sandy Alderson appeared on WFAN Thursday afternoon, and he was unusually candid about not being happy with the current state of the Mets.
Mike Francesa started the 30 minute telephone interview by asking about the Mets off season. Alderson responded, “It’s an incomplete, but there’s still time in the semester,” and then he laughed heartily, as if what he said was so funny.
Alderson admitted that it has been a slow off season, saying, “To say we have been patient is an understatement.” He said he is hopeful of additions to the team before Spring Training. Without going into detail, Alderson said, “There are a number of things were are currently involved in pursuing.”
Apparently that is in the outfield, about which Alderson said, “Outfield is not a strength at this point, there’s no question about that… there is a need for an upgrade at virtually every one of these positions.” When Francesca asked if the Mets were still in the mix for outfield help, Sandy Alderson admitted “we are.” Asked to handicap the odds of landing someone, Alderson used the “50-50” cop-out.
The possibility of landing another outfielder is apparently having an effect on the Scott Hairston negotiations. Alderson said money is definitely an issue, but there is also “a question of playing time. If one or two things happen, it might effect his playing time.” When asked if the Mets want to see what they can pull of before committing to Hairston, Alderson said “yes.”
As far as the bullpen, Sandy Alderson admitted to being “uneasy” about it. But he said there are plenty of quality young guys vying for spots, so there will not be a need for “low ceiling stop gaps.”
Alderson said overall, he is “not happy with where we are in preparation for 2013,” but he is not giving up on the season. He said while he is looking forward to 2014 and beyond, “My dominant eye is on ’13… where we are now is not where we want to be opening Spring Training. It is conceivable that’s where we’ll be, but its not where we want to be.”
When Alderson said the obvious that the Mets are not in “fine tuning” mode, Francesa said they seem to be in “subtraction” mode. “You took 20 wins (R.A. Dickey) off a 74 win team.” Alderson let out a belly laugh for some reason.
Speaking of Dickey, Alderson did say something very interesting about that trade process. At one point the Mets were interested in two players from a particular team. The team wouldn’t give the two players for Dickey. But after the Mets made the deal with Toronto, the team called back and offered the same two players for Travis d’Arnaud. Alderson turned them down.
And finally, speaking about d’Arnaud’s chances of making the team out of Spring Training, Alderson said something that is appropriate for the entire state of the Mets. “I don’t want to create false expectations on the part of our fans.” Don’t worry, Sandy Alderson, there’s no chance of that.