Sandy Alderson: Don’t Expect Off-Season Spending

Perhaps feeling a sense of camaraderie, Sandy Alderson opened up to a group of veterans at a VA hospital in Manhattan Monday, telling the truth probably for the first time since his induction into the Marines. However, it is a truth Mets fans really do not want to hear.

Alderson said we should not expect a spending spree this off-season.

“It’s gonna be prohibitive, but improving a team isn’t always a function of just dollars spent,” Alderson said. “Most of the improvement that came from the Mets this year had little to do with the overall [spending] … so it doesn’t equate. We’ll have some flexibility. We’ll be able to do some things. We just have to see what’s there.”

After years of lying about increasing the payroll, at least it is nice to hear Sandy Alderson come clean for once. However, it means the Mets may not be able to acquire the players they need to be contenders. Alderson has often said that trading young arms for bats is not the best way to build a team. So if he will not make trades or spend for free agents, how will he fill the holes?

It seems Alderson is hoping for internal candidates to take over those roles, mentioning “young players that are coming through.” He could be talking about Wilmer Flores and Dilson Herrera, who have looked pretty good so far. It is becoming that Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Matt den Dekker, who are both decent players, are not the answer in left field, which is why Alderson admits, “we need to add maybe one or two veterans next year.” But if he’s not going to spend big on them, the best we can look forward to is another Chris Young-type signing.

In the end, you can expect the 2015 Mets to look a lot like the 2014 version. A delusional Sandy Alderson told the vets, “we played a lot better this year than we did last year.” It certainly does not show where it counts; in the win-loss column. Do not expect that to change in 2015, either.