Like The Who said, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”
Technically, your New York Mets have yet to officially name Sandy Alderson as the new General Manager, but that’s mostly out of respect for the World Series than anything else. Mets fans everywhere can rejoice as the hiring of Alderson is set to start a whole new era of Metropolitan baseball.
Or is it?
The “Sandy Plan” was the topic of an article in this mornings NY Post by Dan Martin. It’s a good read for any Mets fan who wants to know more about the new guy in charge and who had little interest in watching the Knicks open the season in Toronto. Even as a Yankees supporter, I recommend checking out the article.
That being said, the following quote from a former Alderson co-worker should come with a few red-flags:
“It’s a totally different job when you have the revenue to work with that he’ll have with the Mets,” one former associate said. “But having the background of having dealt with a lack of revenue will only help him now.”
Well, that’s all well-and-good, except that it sounds exactly like what was being said about the last guy who held the GM spot for the Mets. If you remember correctly, Omar Minaya was applauded for his ability to build a contending team in Montreal despite the Expos being owned by the other 29 teams and financial resources being, well, limited.
The prevailing thought was that if you just give Minaya the means, he’ll be able to build a champion. And by means, we mean dollas.
And we all know how that turned out.
Yet that’s the exact tune we are now hearing about Sandy Alderson. Grady Fuson, who worked with the Mets NEW general manager in both San Diego and Oakland, had this to say:
“He realizes that there are different expectations in New York,” Fuson said. “And that there should be no five-year rebuilding process when you have the resources the Mets do.”
So all of a sudden the Mets aren’t a rebuilding process? ‘Cause they have the money the Wilpons made off Bernie Madoff and a GM who won a World Series when the first George Bush was President?
I dunno, Met fans. Y’all love to jump down the Yankees throats, but it seems to me it’s your franchise that keeps repeating history. And unlike the history of New York’s CONTENDING Baseball team, the history of the New York Mets doesn’t seem like something worth repeating.
This article originally appeared on The NY Sports Digest. If its off-beat and it’s about the Mets, Yankees, Knicks, Giants, Jets, Islanders, or Rangers, than The Digest is the spot to get it. Stop with the mega-sites and get a feel for the true pulse of New York at www.NYSportsDigest.com
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