Mike Vaccaro Rips Sandy Alderson New One
After the Mets latest embarrassing loss on Thursday, Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post wrote what was likely the most scathing critique of Sandy Alderson in the mainstream media. Of course, fans of this website have been reading such things for years now. But kudos for Vaccaro for finally writing this column.
The headline says it all — “It’s Disgusting how Jokester GM, Cheap Owners Watch Mets Burn.” Vaccaro starts off by referring to Alderson’s “panic city” comments. Alderson used the term to describe media and fan reaction to the Mets recent losing streak, then used it again sarcastically after Steven Matz’s fine debut, saying to the assembled reporters, “Here they come, the citizens of Panic City.”
The column then moves to its main point — Alderson’s inaction in making any moves to help his floundering team. Vaccaro writes:
There, the GM, Sandy Alderson, smugly waits to be proven the smartest man in the stadium, refusing to help a baseball team that is all but crying for help. Day after day, week after week, he has permitted this team to squander every ounce of its promising start. Day after day, week after week, he has forced his manager to play an everyday lineup that is often composed of one-third Quad-A players.
Day after day, week after week, the Wilpons and their chief henchman, Alderson, have allowed the good will of a hot start and the patience of a fiercely loyal fan base and the daily magnificence of their pitching staff to disintegrate to the point where there’s no longer rage as much as resignation – to another lousy season, another year when a little aggression and a little imagination might have made a difference.
The story is critical of the Wilpons incompetent ownership, calling it “malpractice,” but it saves its harshest words for Sandy Alderson. A reporter tried to point out the Mets had an opportunity to seize control of the division because the Nationals were struggling:
A Post reporter stopped Sandy Alderson to talk about all of this Thursday. Alderson declined comment, saying he had to take his dog for a walk. No. Really. That’s what he said. His dog had to do on a grassy knoll on the outskirts of Citi Field what the dog’s owner has methodically done to this Mets season.
Honestly, you can’t make this stuff up.
It is about time an influential reporter like Vaccaro called out Sandy Alderson for his stewardship of the Mets. It has taken far too long.