Twitter Reacts to “Coward” Sandy Alderson
After Sandy Alderson did nothing at Thursday’s trade deadline, I posted a story calling him a “coward” for failing to make the team better. Well, that post got more of a reaction on Twitter than anything I have ever written.
While plenty of people supported my stance, others were vocal in their opposition. Whether it was threatening to smash their phones after reading it to not believing I was serious to criticizing me while admitting they did not read the article, readers were quite upset that I dared to speak badly of St. Sandy.
Certainly everybody is entitled to their own opinion, but I cannot understand how any Mets fan can be happy today — happy that the team is exactly the same while the Mets are on a pretty good run that can lead towards contention. Without reinforcements that run is doomed to failure. Alderson could have fixed the Mets flaws but he chose not to. Are you telling me there was not one available hitter out there who is better than Chris Young.
Instead, Alderson was his usual passive self.
“While we were active in conversations, although not super-active, we just didn’t reach any deals,” Alderson said. “Going in we didn’t intend to be sellers and we didn’t intend to be buyers; we were looking at the market and what it would dictate.”
How about dictating the market yourself? That’s what good general managers do.
Speaking of good general managers, ESPN.com had a quote late last night from an unnamed National League executive about the wheelings and dealings of A’s GM Billy Beane and his counterpart in Detroit, Dave Dombrowski. It speaks volumes about them, of course, but also about general managers who behave like Sandy Alderson has with the Mets:
I tip my hat to Billy Beane. He’s got a lot of guts to do what he did, and the same with Dave Dombrowski. You can’t be scared if you’re trying to win, and he’s never scared. You utilize your scouting. You utilize your instincts. And you have to have the courage to make a move.
Alderson acts like a man who is scared; scared of making a wrong decision that might come back to haunt him. Why do you think it took so long to decide between Lucas Duda and Ike Davis? Why do you think he refuses to deal from strength and trade one of his many pitching prospects for a much-needed bat?
The answer is fear. And as long as Sandy Alderson is too paralyzed by fear to make a move, the Mets will never win.
there’s a certain point when it’s just not worth it to make a trade. i’m not sure where alderson was in trade talks but the rumor was that he was asking for a lot. i honestly didn’t think the mets had a chance for a run this year, so i’d rather them try next year when they’re at full strength (harvey). Also, i think it’ll be a lot easier to make a trade in the winter when everyone’s looking to improve their team, not just contenders. for that i give alderson a pass here, although he certainly doesn’t deserve one for the past few years. But everything sandy says is a crapshoot, i’ll believe it when i see it
that being said though, if the mets did go in this direction then they MUST stop playing chris young. play only starters and guys who may contribute next year (kirk, den dekker, flores, etc.). Sandy’s always stuck on neutral b/c as you said, he’s too afraid of making the wrong move